* For your information and input BEFORE 23 JUNE 2003 *

UPDATE #1 ON UNHCR'S STANDING COMMITTEE AND THE FORUM,
AND NGO INPUT INTO THESE MEETINGS
Date: 16 June 2003
ICVA Secretariat

CONTENTS:

1. Standing Committee
2. Forum/Convention Plus
3. Lunch-time Meetings
4. Finally...

Dear NGO Colleagues,

As you most likely aware (and based on our previous message of 23 May 2003 to you ), the Standing Committee of UNHCR will take place from 24-26 June and the first meeting of the Forum, where Convention Plus will be discussed, will take place on 27 June. Both meetings will be held in Geneva. Those NGO invited to the Standing Committee should also have received an invitation for the Forum.

This message concerns the NGO statements for the Standing Committee and NGO input for the Forum/Convention Plus.

1. STANDING COMMITTEE

Under each agenda item, you will find names and contact information of NGOs that have volunteered to draft NGO statements, as well as names of NGOs that have offered to provide input - apologies for the oversight if any NGOs have been left off the list. If you would like to take the lead on any of the remaining statements (i.e. all but the Stateless statement), or would like to provide input on any of the items, please send an e-mail to secretariat@icva.ch. If there is an item with no particular contact information, please send your input to secretariat@icva.ch for incorporation into a statement.

There are also suggestions under some agenda items of the input that your NGO could provide to enhance the quality of the NGO statement. In particular, your efforts on implementing the Agenda for Protection (whether through your own NGO, in cooperation with UNHCR, or with governments) would be most useful to include in the statement.

AGENDA:
(note background documents are posted on www.unhcr.ch/prexcom)

• PROGRAMME AND FUNDING
  • "Update on Programme and Funding for 2003"
  • "Global Report on Activities in 2002".

  **Suggested NGO Input: Given the impact that UNHCR's funding has had on refugees and NGOs in the past, any concrete examples of the impact of funding cuts might be helpful. Issues related to the needs-based budgeting vs resource-based budgeting of UNHCR's budget could potentially be raised under this item....

• INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION
  • "Note on International Protection"
    Volunteered to provide input: British Refugee Council, Amnesty International, InterAction

    Suggested NGO Input: The Note covers a range of protection issues and we may well want to pick and choose to have the greatest impact. Areas to focus on could include: Convention Plus (and the UK proposals) and the asylum-migration nexus, SBGV, human rights of refugees, IDPs, operational aspects of protection (which could also bring in community services and physical security...), voluntariness of repatriation, protection networks and ensuring that NGOs are viewed as true partners in protection, resettlement...

  • "Implementation of Agenda for Protection"
    Volunteered to provide input: ACFOA

    Suggested NGO Input: It would be particularly helpful to hear of concrete actions and efforts undertaken by NGOs in implementing the A4P, whether on your own or in cooperation with UNHCR and/or governments. Specific activities that are referenced by goals, objectives, and actions would be particularly helpful - for example, what work is being done on implementing Goal 6: Meeting the Protection Needs of Refugee Women and Children? If UNHCR has NOT involved you, as NGOs, in a prioritisation exercise of the A4P at the country level, this information would be excellent to include...

    The Canadian Council for Refugees has offered to take the lead in drafting an NGO paper in response to the paper on resettlement, which is an addendum to the UNHCR paper on the Implementation of Agenda for Protection. Any NGOs that are interested in contributing to such an NGO paper should please contact: Janet Dench ccr@web.net. They have already drafted a paper in response to the Working Group on Resettlement's paper that could be a starting point for such an NGO paper. That paper is available on UNHCR's website.

  • "UNHCR's activities in the field of statelessness"
    Volunteer for drafting the NGO Statement: Canadian Council for Refugees, contact: Janet Dench ccr@web.net, with input from JRS

2. THE FORUM/CONVENTION PLUS

The rules of procedure for the Forum are different than for Standing Committee or Executive Committee meetings. NGOs are considered to be at the table, just as States - similar to the format of the Global Consultations.

While presumably this means that every NGO could take the floor, there is the expressed desire on the part of UNHCR, to have some sort of coordination between NGOs on the statements/interventions delivered at the Forum. Also, given that coordinated statements from the NGO side get more attention from States and UNHCR than do individually delivered statements, it is also in the interest of NGOs to try and avoid having too many statements that risk having our messages become unclear and unfocused.

In order to ensure some sort of coordination on statements, we suggest offering the services of the ICVA Secretariat as facilitator in this process. If your NGO is interested in a particular agenda item, or theme within an item, please let us know and we can inform others that are also interested in the same area, in order to ensure that messages do not get repeated. Again, please contact the ICVA Secretariat at: secretariat@icva.ch

The agenda for the Forum is as follows:

1. Opening of the Forum
   • Welcoming remarks by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and statement by the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme (ExCom).
   • Presentation by the High Commissioner of initiatives highlighted in "Convention Plus: Questions and Answers", updated on 20 May 2003. An inventory of situations potentially lending themselves to Convention Plus special agreements will be made available (FORUM/2003/03).

2. Briefing on notable comprehensive arrangements
   • The Forum will receive an oral briefing on lessons learned from comprehensive plans of action that could be likened to "special agreements" within the Convention Plus framework (Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indo-Chinese Refugees (CPA); the International Conference on Central American Refugees (CIREFCA); and the Regional Conference to Address the Problems of Refugees, Displaced Persons, Other Forms of Involuntary Displacement and Returnees in Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Relevant Neighbouring States (CIS Conference).) A short questions and answers session will follow.

3. Convention Plus initiative on resettlement
   • Canada will make a presentation, on the basis of a paper (FORUM/2003/02), on the use of resettlement as a potential tool in Convention Plus agreements. Participants will be invited to comment on the strategic directions and the elements for a potential agreement described by Canada, and to make suggestions on how to move forward on a generic framework on resettlement.

4. Convention Plus: other initiatives
   • Presentation and discussion of other Convention Plus related initiatives; expressions of interest to facilitate special agreements.

5. Chair's summary and closing of the Forum

   **

An informal meeting will be held this week with Jean-Francois Durieux of the Forum/Convention Plus Unit in Geneva this week. He is also planning on having an informal consultation with NGOs during the time of Standing Committee. We will get back to you with details on what comes up at the informal meeting this week, as well as with details on when and where the informal meeting will be held during Standing Committee, as soon as possible.

3. LUNCH-TIME MEETINGS

In the past, we have been able to book a room for informal meetings during the lunch break. We are in the process of trying to get such a room, but have been informed that because of the upcoming ECOSOC session, that this may be impossible....We will let you know as soon as we hear more on this matter.

4. FINALLY...

We will send out another update closer to the end of the week to provide you with an update of where things stand.

If you have any questions related to the Standing Committee or the Forum/Convention Plus, please do not hesitate to contact us at the ICVA Secretariat.

Looking forward to receiving your input and comments and/or seeing you next week,

With best regards,
ICVA Secretariat