UN refugee chief stresses need to address root causes of global displacement

The UN high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday stressed the need to understand the root causes behind the current high levels of people being driven from their homes.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day forum entitled "Understanding and addressing root causes of displacement," Guterres noted that the world today is at a crossroads, citing the effects of conflicts and natural hazards on both the present and the future. He called for an approach that looks beyond emergency response, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

The forum, the eighth annual UN high commissioner's dialogue on protection challenges, brings together governments, intergovernmental organizations, civil society and humanitarian and academic partners in Geneva.

"I see this dialogue as an opportunity to step back and look at the underlying causes as what they are -- multiple, interlinked, overlapping and mutually reinforcing factors that accumulate and contribute to eventually driving people from their homes," Guterres said. "It is clear that we cannot treat these causes in silos, but have to consider them together."

The forum opened this year as conflicts in the Middle East and Africa are driving unprecedented numbers of people from their homes while floods and droughts wreak havoc with lives and livelihoods in Asia.

The number of people displaced by conflict and violence has reached levels unseen since the end of the Second World War, with close to 60 million forced from their homes by the end of 2014.

Guterres highlighted a greater need for making a distinction between triggers and underlying drivers of displacement. He also flagged a need for renewed political will and leadership to protect and find solutions for those who have been forced to flee, and a focus on sustainable development, good governance, rule of law and human rights to prevent the need for flight, the spokesman said.

"Leadership and political will are essential to end the violent conflicts that have displaced tens of millions of people and to finally tame the progression of global warming," said the UN refugee chief, adding that development cooperation also has a key role to play.

Also on Wednesday, government donors pledged nearly 690 million U.S. dollars for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to help the nearly 60 million forcibly displaced or stateless people in the world next year, said the spokesman.

UNHCR's financial requirements for 2016 stand at 6.5 billion U.S. dollars, the largest budget ever presented at the beginning of a year and significantly higher than the 500 billion U.S. dollars promised at the same time last year, the spokesman said.

Apart from a small annual contribution from the UN regular budget, UNHCR's programmes are entirely funded by voluntary contributions from government and private donors, the spokesman added. Enditem