Morocco Reiterates Support for UNHCR’s Actions Towards Refugees

The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Morocco in Geneva, Omar Zniber, reiterated on Tuesday in Geneva the support of the Kingdom for the action of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and international efforts of solidarity towards displaced populations and refugees. “Morocco will spare no effort to support UNHCR to fully implement its mandate and its objectives and programs, particularly in the monitoring and review of the Global Compact on Refugees, and in light of the seriousness of the comments and assessments presented by the High Commissioner on absolute emergency situations regarding a number of refugee crises in the world,” said Zniber, who presented the statement of the Kingdom at the UNHCR Pledging Conference 2022. He recalled, in this regard, that Morocco has consistently provided, in recent years, voluntary, flexible, and unrestricted funding to the UNHCR budget to continue to respond to the refugee and displaced persons crises worldwide.  In line with these commitments, Morocco has announced a new voluntary contribution to the UNHCR 2022 budget. “This contribution is part of Morocco’s diverse and multifaceted support to UNHCR, which also extends to activities related to the implementation of the Global Compact,” added the Ambassador. As an example, he referred to the financial contribution of 300,000 dollars announced by Morocco during the First Global Forum on Refugees in Geneva on December 17, 2019, which aimed to support the operations of UNHCR relating to the registration and documentation of people of concern. The ambassador highlighted the multiple humanitarian operations conducted by Morocco in different regions of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East. Morocco leads a voluntary and exemplary migration policy based on humanistic values and solidarity, which guarantees access to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers to basic services, including education, health, housing, vocational training and employment, he noted. UNHCR’s Pledging Conference 2022 covers operations in 136 countries and territories. It is based on an approved budget of $8.994 billion. Nearly half of this amount covers emergency responses to help a record number of forcibly displaced people, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, as well as the millions who have fled their homes in places such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Venezuela.