Global Refugee Forum: 114m people are refugees or displaced, 90% of world's refugees are in 40 countries

"One hundred and fourteen million people – that's more than live in Egypt and almost as many as are in Japan – are refugees or displaced. Ninety percent of the world's refugees are in just 40 countries.  Seventy five percent of the world's refugees are being hosted by low and middle-income states, yet most financing goes to upper-middle income states. Just 4% of funding is going to countries of refugee origin. With these statistics ringing in our ears, the Global Refugee Forum began in Geneva". Read more.

From Anglican News
By Glen Ruffle

Dated 18 December 2023, 1:35 PM - here is a copy in full:

Anglicans at the Global Refugee Forum

The Anglican Communion’s Assistant Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, The Revd Glen Ruffle, recently attended the Global Refugee Forum. He writes:

One hundred and fourteen million people – that's more than live in Egypt and almost as many as are in Japan – are refugees or displaced. Ninety percent of the world's refugees are in just 40 countries.  Seventy five percent of the world's refugees are being hosted by low and middle-income states, yet most financing goes to upper-middle income states. Just 4% of funding is going to countries of refugee origin.

With these statistics ringing in our ears, the Global Refugee Forum began in Geneva.

Held over 13–15 December, with side-events and build-up events beforehand, the Global Refugee Forum was arranged by the UN's Refugee agency, UNHCR, which gathered the world's states, along with NGOs, churches, faith organisations, and refugees themselves, to discuss the situation and what can be done.

The number of wars across the world is at a decades-level high; climate change is destroying agricultural land; famine and drought is increasing. Unless we invest in addressing these root causes, the numbers of refugees will continue to increase dramatically. Many will lose 20 years of their lives in government processing and relocating before they can properly settle and move forwards.

The sad fact is that UNHCR is still waiting for $400 million of funding promised by the world's states, yet never delivered. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, still host to more than half a million Syrian refugees, has only received 23% of the money promised to help. States can also work smarter: investing in much-need conflict-prevention measures, rather than dealing reactively, and with much greater expense, with every new crisis.

Anglicans, and Christians more broadly, will continue helping refugees with or without state or UN involvement, but it was important to place on the UN map, and to make the world know, that the Anglican Communion's churches are out there, doing the work, and often doing so on minimal budgets without support.

Provinces from around the Anglican Communion contributed to making pledges of what we hope to do over the next four years. Canada pledged to help resettle refugees; Tanzania pledged to advocate for refugees and ensure they receive proper care and have access to things like Savings Groups to build a future. The Province of Alexandria's Diocese of Egypt pledged to give holistic care via Refuge Egypt to help with integration of the refugees flooding into Egypt. The Church of England's Diocese in Europe has numerous projects, led by local churches across the continent, ranging from supporting refugees and advocating for them in Calais through to the distribution of aid in Bucharest.

The Episcopal Church pledged to advocate for the goals of UNHCR, support refugee resettlement and continue its refugee care. And the wider Anglican Communion pledged to place the care of refugees on the agenda at high-level meetings, to make sure Provinces discuss what they are doing and look at collaboration, and also to support the mental health of refugee children and to help develop faith-sensitive care.

States need to turn their pledges into action, deliver the money they promised and invest more seriously in conflict prevention. Beyond that, we hope to see greater collaboration between states, UN agencies and faith groups already doing the work to enable more effective delivery of support to those most in need. People of faith are often those on the front lines responding to crises and have the local trust and influence to begin to identify and address root causes. Strengthening this collaboration will be a focus of our work in the years to come.

It is not too late to add pledges from the Anglican Communion. If you want to explore a pledge, contact glen.ruffle@anglicancommunion.org

 

View original: https://www.anglicannews.org/blogs/2023/12/anglicans-at-the-global-refugee-forum.aspx

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The Anglican Communion’s engagement with the UN

THE Anglican Communion's relationship with the UN is managed by Martha Jarvis, the London-based Anglican Communion Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and by the Revd Glen Ruffle, the Geneva-based Assistant Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

"In essence, we are doing advocacy work – speaking up for those who have no voice – and trying to shape the world with Christian input to make it better. We act as a bridge between the UN institutions on the one hand and the Anglican Communion on the other". Read more.

From Anglican News

By Glen Ruffle

Dated 14 November 2023, 4:48PM - here is a copy in full:

The Anglican Communion’s new strategy for engagement with the UN

The Anglican Consultative Council is recognised as an official observer with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN Environment Programme. Our relationship with the UN is managed by Martha Jarvis, the London-based Anglican Communion Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and by the Revd Glen Ruffle, the Geneva-based Assistant Permanent Representative to the United Nations. In this post, Glen Ruffle outlines the Anglican Communion’s new strategy for engagement with the UN. 

The Anglican Communion has enjoyed observer status with ECOSOC since 1985. In 2021, the Anglican Communion Standing Committee agreed a new strategy to engage in more depth with the United Nations institutions. 

As part of the new strategy, the structure of the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations was changed, to enable a person “on the ground” in Geneva, where the UN’s human rights institutions are mainly based. In August this year, I was able to relocate to Geneva and begin that role. 

Understanding the UN is a mammoth task: both me and Martha, the Permanent Representative, are new to our roles and it’s taken time to work out which institutions do what and how we should and can engage. But as 2024 fast approaches, we are really getting a better view and beginning to have an effect. 

There are two sides to our work: we act as a bridge between the UN institutions on the one hand and the Anglican Communion on the other. Some Anglican Member Churches are formidable advocacy machines; they speak out for truth and challenge injustice. It is easy to work with these Churches and help them engage with the UN. 

Others, however, are facing far greater challenges: it’s hard for them just to hold a church service each week without being arrested, let along think of submitting a report to the UN! So with these Churches, we speak with their leaderships and seek to find ways we can sponsor another organisation’s reports if we cannot ourselves safely say anything directly. 

In essence, we are doing advocacy work – speaking up for those who have no voice – and trying to shape the world with Christian input to make it better. As followers of Jesus, we believe every person is loved by him, that he died and rose to offer the whole world salvation, and that salvation includes the renewal of this world now, as well as at the final judgement. We believe we are called to protect and honour the image of God in each and every person, and in legal language, this is known as human rights. 

In Geneva, human rights are monitored in a building called the Palais de Nations, which houses the Human Rights Council. This institution reviews the human rights situation across the world, and in a process called the Universal Periodic Review, subjects each state to a quadrennial analysis. This process allows other states and NGOs to report on the situation in the state under investigation, and usually results in that state improving the human rights situation within its borders. 

When our Churches engage with this, we can pressure governments to improve and let the world know of the issues our Churches are facing. 

Sometimes there are situations happening now, and we need to speak out urgently. For this the UN has special rapporteurs and “special procedures” – people focusing on specific target areas. They can apply diplomatic pressure immediately when situations deteriorate, and let governments know that the world is watching. This doesn’t always stop atrocities, but it can reduce their intensity. 

We try and encourage our Churches to engage with this process. Very often the UN issues calls for input to ask experts to tell the UN about specific issues, and we encourage our Churches to engage with these. 

Geneva is also home to UNHCR, the refugee agency of the UN. This year UNHCR is holding the Global Refugee Forum, and so we are seeking to gather information on the work that Anglican Communion Member Churches across the world are doing to help and support refugees, and to tell the UN about this work. This will allow states, the UN, other NGOs and potential donors and funders to see the incredible work Anglicans are doing, leading to greater cooperation to help those who are forced to migrate because of conflict, climate change or lack of resources. 

There is so much work that has to be done, and so many institutions and organisations, that unfortunately we have to prioritise certain things over others. But the NGO community is lovely, and we’ve had some great meetings with organisations such as Dominicans for Peace and Justice, Franciscans International, the International Catholic Migration Committee, the Red Cross and the Act Alliance. We are aiming to build connections with the Missions of UN member states over the coming months. 

Right after COP28, there is International Human Rights Day, celebrated each year on 10 December. This year, Human Rights Day will celebrate the 75 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, so we aim to join the UN celebrations – look out for our social media campaign and a downloadable resource to help churches do this. 

After this, the Refugee Forum begins – so it’s going to be a busy December, but it is a privilege to serve the global church in this way, and I often pinch myself and say “Am I really here, doing this?” God has certainly been kind to me. I hope I can be a tool he uses to show mercy to others.”

View original: https://www.anglicannews.org/blogs/2023/11/the-anglican-communion’s-new-strategy-for-engagement-with-the-un.aspx

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