Morocco has reaffirmed its commitment to the Global Compact on Refugees, pledging to “spare no effort” to improve the situation of refugees.
Morocco’s Permanent Representative at the UN in Geneva, Omar Zniber, expressed the country’s position on Wednesday, January 27, during a preparatory session for the upcoming Senior Officials’ Meeting on Refugees. The event is set to take place on December 14-15, 2021.
“Faithful to its tradition, the Kingdom of Morocco will spare no effort to contribute to the success of the Senior Officials’ Meeting,” Zniber said before other UN diplomats.
The upcoming meeting will provide an opportunity for UN member states to measure their progress towards achieving the objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees.
Adopted in December 2018, the Global Compact on Refugees has four main goals: “Easing the pressures on host countries, enhancing refugee self-reliance, expanding access to third-country solutions, and supporting conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity.”
The document provides a roadmap for governments and international organizations on how they can help refugees lead productive lives.
Zniber recalled Morocco’s participation in the first Global Refugee Forum in 2019. He also noted the Moroccan government’s sustained financial contributions to the refugee identification operations that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launched on the sidelines of the forum.
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The Moroccan diplomat expressed his confidence that the upcoming Senior Officials’ Meeting would mobilize more global support to the issues facing refugees, taking into account the new challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Efforts must be made so that the humanitarian aspect prevails during this important event while preventing any attempt of politicization or instrumentalization,” Zniber urged.
Commenting on the first UNHCR report on the progress of Global Compact on Refugees—to be released in December 2021, Zniber emphasized the importance of such data collection efforts.
“The report should provide access to disaggregated data, by country, age, gender, and other relevant characteristics,” he said.
The report should also cover an extensive range of areas, including safety, security, registration, specific needs, health, education, and jobs, the diplomat continued.
