World leaders adopt New York Declaration at UNGA Summit for Refugees and Migrants

The World Leaders on 19 September 2016 adopted the New York Declaration at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA) first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants.

The delegations adopted the landmark Declaration containing bold commitments to address current issues and to prepare the world for future challenges, including, to start negotiations leading to the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in 2018.

Highlights of the New York Declaration
• Protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status. This includes the rights of women and girls and promoting their full, equal and meaningful participation in finding solutions.
• Ensure that all refugee and migrant children are receiving education within a few months of arrival.
• Prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence.
• Support those countries rescuing, receiving and hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants.
• Work towards ending the practice of detaining children for the purposes of determining their migration status.
• Find new homes for all refugees identified by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as needing resettlement.
• Expand the opportunities for refugees to relocate to other countries through labour mobility or education schemes.
• Strengthen the global governance of migration by bringing the International Organization for Migration (IOM) into the UN system.

The adoption of the New York Declaration means that more children can attend school; more workers can securely seek jobs abroad and more people will have real choices about whether to move once the conflicts are resolved.

Other Developments
• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also launched a new campaign called Together – Respect, Safety and Dignity for All to respond to rising xenophobia and turn fear into hope.
• United Nations and International Organization for Migration (IOM) signed the new agreement by which IOM officially becomes a related organization of the United Nations system.

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