Framework for Cooperation U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Available Online

Framework for Cooperation Between The United States and The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Available Online

The 2005 Framework for Cooperation between the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the United States is now available on the website of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (www.state.gov/g/prm).

The agreement was signed on May 10 in Geneva by Acting High Commissioner for Refugees Wendy Chamberlin and on May 18 in Washington by Arthur E. “Gene” Dewey, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration.

This document sets out the basis for cooperation between the U.N.’s refugee agency -- which is responsible for assisting an estimated 17 million uprooted people around the world -- and its largest single donor, the United States. Negotiated annually, the framework emphasizes the United States’ support for UNHCR’s core mandate activities of ensuring protection of and durable solutions for refugees. It also focuses on mutually agreed priority areas requiring additional effort in 2005.

In the interest of transparency, consistent with the “Good Humanitarian Donorship” principles to which the United States and UN High Commissioner for Refugees both subscribe, it was agreed that the full text of the 2005 Framework for Cooperation should be made available on the websites of both the Department of State and the UNHCR.

2005/550 Released on May 25, 2005 Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC May 25, 2005