Do the MDGs cater for refugees?

Addis Ababa, 20 June - Today, 20 June, marks World Refugee Day but many questions have been raised as to where refugees fit into the targets set by the Millennium Development Goals.

In his statement to mark the day, Antonio Guterres who heads the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, dwelt on the message of hope.

"If there is one common trait among the tens of millions of refugees that we at the UN refugee agency have helped over the past 55 years, it's the fact that despite losing everything, they never give up hope," Guterres said.

"All of us can do our part to give hope to the uprooted," he added. "World Refugee Day is part of that common effort as we gather on June 20 in cities and towns, in refugee camps and in remote settlements to pay tribute to the courageous, unwavering hope of the world's refugees - and to assure them that they are not forgotten."

But the MDGs do not refer directly to the special problems faced by refugees and displaced people. The advocacy group, Refugees International, notes that its constituency is "among the most marginalized populations in the world and among the least likely to benefit immediately from the global anti-poverty effort".

"RI will be focusing on ensuring that national plans to achieve the MDGs include refugees and internally displaced persons, especially when conditions are stable enough to allow them to return to their home communities," it says.

"Supporting the transition from emergency support to long-term funding for rebuilding and reintegration will be critical in presenting war-torn countries with a reasonable opportunity to meet the ambitious goals."

Mark Malloch Brown, now the UN deputy secretary-general, acknowledges criticism that the MDGs are not broad-based enough, but argues that the goals are "outcomes not inputs".

"... You do not sustain poverty reduction without ceding democratic rights and power to the poor; and you do not get a country to the starting point of meeting the MDGs if refugee, post-conflict and failed state crises are left unresolved," he notes.

UNHCR admits it had to assess how its work related to the MDGs, but it recognizes that many of the MDG targets are relevant to the plight of refugees. "Once it is acknowledged that there is a causal link between displacement and poverty, refugees many well become a priority target for the MDGs," it says in a policy document.

Last year, the UNHCR chief pointed out key failings concerning the MDGs vis a vis refugees and displaced people. He said that national MDG strategies seldom refer to displaced people, little attention is paid to the relationship between conflict and the MDGs, and lastly humanitarian agencies make scant contribution to MDG policy formulation.

And in an editorial released for World Refugee Day, Guterres noted that while global refugee figures had dropped 31 percent since 2001, returnees often still faced a bleak future back home.

"The international community owes returning refugees more than just a cooking pot and a handshake when they cross the border," he said.

NGOs stress the importance of refugee protection, which feeds directly into the targets of the MDGs. A joint statement issued by over 300 organisations noted that protection "is ... an international responsibility to be shared and not shifted arbitrarily to those most proximate to refugee outflows".

"The protection of refugees' rights to earn a livelihood and [to] freedom of movement are integral to UNHCR's core protection mandate," the statement said. "It is also integral to the achievement of the MDGs."

"Development aid for refugees and host communities, applied in a rights-based manner and with results-based attention to protection gaps ... can act as leverage to expand economic opportunity for both," the NGOs concluded.

A study prepared for the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) agrees, noting that durable solutions to the problem of displacement are essential for poverty reduction and development. But, it says, this involves "changing the way humanitarian organizations work, transforming organizational cultures and developing new skills".

Above all, the importance of addressing conflict and forced migration is essential for achieving the MDGs, it says.

Click here for Guterres message on World Refugee Day:
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/events/
opendoc.htm?tbl=ADMIN&id=448e87d52

Click here for UNCHR document:
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/excom/
opendoc.pdf?tbl=EXCOM&id=4327dd232

Click here for NGO statement:
http://www.refugees.org/data/warehousing
/docs/NGOs_050922_MDGs.pdf