Departing head of the UNHCR claims progress in ten-year term

Head of the UNHCR: "we have made progress" in 10 years Keystone-SDA

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, claims to have made progress after ten years at the head of the UN agency in Geneva. But he also regrets not having been able to do more, as he leaves his post at the end of December.

Among the successes, he mentions the Global Compact on Refugees, a follow-up meeting of which was held from Monday to Wednesday in Geneva. Even if some States criticise it, “everyone refers to it”, the Italian told the press on Wednesday.

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He also wants the European plan for asylum and migration to be applied, a policy that he says is certainly not “perfect”. “We could and should have done more” to improve conditions for refugees, he added.

On Thursday, the UN General Assembly in New York is expected to approve the appointment of his successor, former Iraqi President Barham Saleh. In the wake of cuts by the US and other countries that have cost the High Commission some 5,000 posts, Grandi called on the United States “to remember that the UN has value”.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ac

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