*EPF519 07/21/00
Text: Holbrooke Speaks Out for Refugees Worldwide
(Address to U.N. Economic and Social Council on July 20) (2880)

The U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, on July 20 challenged the international community to do more to address the plight of internally displaced persons and refugees worldwide.

In a speech before the Economic and Social Council at U.N. headquarters in New York, Holbrooke said the United Nation's must play a more active, "vital role" in protecting the interests of internally displaced persons. He also called on the international community to "do more" to help as well.

"We should all do more to fund assistance for all refugees, whether across borders or internal," he said.

Meanwhile, Holbrooke announced that the United States will contribute $2 million to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) for emergency relief and protection for the internal refugees in northern Angola, and will make a $175,000 contribution to the U.N. Secretary General's special representative on the internally displaced, to assist in his advocacy efforts.

"This is not just a humanitarian issue, it is a human-rights issue," Holbrooke said.

Following is the text of the Holbrooke speech, as prepared for delivery:

(begin text)

Statement by Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke
United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Humanitarian Affairs Segment, ECOSOC

July 20, 2000

Thank you Mr. President,

I apologize for not being here at my appointed time. I was detained by some of your colleagues on the Security Council, and I thank you, Chairman Sotirov, and Carolyn McAskie and others for your earlier remarks. I also want to praise the remarks of Mrs. Ogata, Ms. Bellamy, Ms. Bertini and Mr. Deng yesterday (July 19).

Finally -- and forcefully -- we are capturing the world's attention and focusing on the plight of the 35 million people worldwide who are displaced from their homes.

I have spent over 25 years working on these issues personally, and I welcome this opportunity therefore to speak officially on behalf of my government before this distinguished body about this problem. The plight of internally displaced persons "internal refugees" to me -- but in the sterile bureaucratese of this body, IDPs. I wish we wouldn't use an initial to describe human beings. They're people and "IDPs" distances us from them as human beings. But so are the ways of this organization and of bureaucracies in general, and I accept the terminology while noting how unfortunate I think it is.

For the past year, we have tried to focus attention on the problem of internal refugees and what the United Nations and the international community can and must do to alleviate their suffering. We took the issue up in the Security Council in January, when Mrs. Ogata joined us, and I have addressed it publicly several times, including most recently in a speech at Cardozo Law School in New York, which many of you were gracious enough to attend.

We are challenging the international system here to do better. But we need to make more progress.

Let's begin first with where we think progress has been made.

Since January, international attention has begun to shift towards this issue and much has been done to alleviate the suffering. There have been responses by the front-line humanitarian organizations.

The Interagency Standing Committee (IASC), which is in effect the world's secretariat for humanitarian response, continues to urge broad dissemination and use by its members of the excellent "Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement." Secretary General Kofi Annan has launched a study to assess lessons learned from past efforts to support internal refugees and to provide recommendations for the future. And we expect OCHA to take further steps to improve its own role in the UN's response.

But even with these changes, a necessary debate continues about the effectiveness of a "lead agency" approach for internal refugees versus the "collaborative approach" favored by OCHA and the UN system.

I am still skeptical of the so-called collaborative approach. Because, quite honestly, it is not collaborative. In bureaucratic terms "collaboration" simply becomes a euphemism for buck-passing and inaction. Absent a clear leader, no one steps forward to take charge.

I still believe that the "lead agency" model will be a more effective approach. I am disappointed that this simple action, so obvious, except to a few bureaucrats is still beyond the reach of this great body. I want to be clear on what we are proposing. It is not that a single agency be responsible for internally displaced persons throughout the world. It is that in each country where there is an issue the UN choose the appropriate agency to take the lead. I want to focus specifically on Angola. Anyone in this room who's been in Angola knows full well that the UN response is inadequate to the problem. Anyone who's been in Luanda knows that the UN agencies there are passing the buck. They are in great danger and it is a very difficult place to work, and my hat is off to each individual for his or her courage and for his or her commitment to the UN and to humanitarian principles. But the system is working against their goals. And it is not, in this case, constraint by the host government. The UN had passed resolution after resolution placing the blame where it belongs -- on UNITA. The IDPs are, for the most part, caused by UNITA. And the Angolan government will support any lead agency approach which accesses the IDPs. But they fall between the cracks, and it must be fixed. And if it can't be fixed in Angola, where can it be fixed? I call again upon the UN system to solve this problem in the countries where no lead agency has been designated.

I want you to know, however, that I sympathize with many of the arguments for "collaboration." We are all dependent on collaboration. We all need to work together, whether we are talking about the UN system addressing internal refugees or in addressing the AIDS pandemic. No single entity has all the expertise, resources and manpower to carry out the solutions to the complex problems we face. But I urge that we fix responsibility. Co-head means no-head, and collaboration usually means lack of coordination. And I urge you again to move in this direction. We will not block consensus on the actions of this particular session based on this issue, but I do want to stress how important it is. I also want to stress the contribution the U.S. is making to this effort. I fully admit and share the concerns with every member of this body, with the UN, regarding the question of United States' arrearages to the UN. All of you who work with me know that I have made this my number one issue and it's why I spend so much time in Washington with the Congress rather than always up here in New York. We need to fix the rest of the U.S. problems on arrearages. We have made a lot of strides this year both in Washington and New York, and I thank you for it. But in the debate over U.S. payments to the UN, it is sometimes obscured what the U.S. does in this field. Last year, fiscal year 1999, the United States contributed over $900 million to the efforts we're discussing in this room today. And the number is probably over a billion dollars when you add in other parts of the pie. But our contribution will be higher this year. It comes in so many different forms it's hard to come up with a single figure. But, when you add in AID, State Department, our agricultural programs, and when you add up the contributions to UNHCR, WFP, 0CHA and the other organizations, it was well over $900 million last fiscal year. And we will continue to do this and Assistant Secretary Taft, who was with you yesterday, has gone back to Washington to work with the Congress. Mrs. Ogata went to Washington this morning to visit the Congress and, by in large, the Congress is immensely sympathetic on this issue.

Having made my comment about lead agency, let me say that I look forward to observing the new system that will be implemented here. While my skepticism is now made clear to all of you, I would be glad to be proven wrong. Let's see if the UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, UNDP, and all the other organizations really do work together in the future. It's easy to talk about it in this room. I find it unlikely that it will happen in the most difficult conditions -- in a place like Luanda, where the agencies are in different buildings, where they don't have phone communication, when they work under the most difficult of circumstances -- but let's give it a shot.

The world will be watching. Our government will be reporting back to the UN our views and we look forward to hearing views from other people, including the many people in this room who continue to oppose what we are suggesting.

In the coming weeks, the State Department will send out cables asking for assessments of a collaborative approach from representatives in those countries affected. We will share those reports with you and hope that we see signs of progress.

All of us should insist that in every internal refugee operation -- indeed, in every relief operation -- the response brings maximum benefit to the victims, and we should insist that the response adheres to certain core principles: responsibility and accountability; predictability; universality; and adequate resources.

So, I hope that the IASC will continue to explore lead agency modalities -- which are, after all, something that the Secretary-General and other senior officials have said they support. They simply aren't designated in most countries.

In the meantime, let's continue to work together to keep the political pressure on governments to assist and protect internal refugees. Individual governments must be on the front-line of action. But while state sovereignty remains the cornerstone of the UN, we cannot stand by and allow some states to claim that they don't have a problem or let others use sovereignty as an excuse for abuse or inaction. Whether provided by the governments affected, the UN and its member states, or other humanitarian actors, assistance should be given in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality.

The UN's vital role must be underscored. The Security Council must recognize that it does have a critical role in securing the treatment of internal refugees -- the Security Council, in our view, should formally recognize the Guiding Principles in Internal Displacement. All of us have important advocacy roles to play -- we should travel extensively and not simply go quietly into countries with internal refugee crises. My experience since the 1970s is absolutely consistent. The only way to deal with refugee issues is with a lot of public attention and noise. Otherwise, the victims fall into obscurity and are forgotten. Refugee crises that are not understood worldwide are simply tragic victims who are forgotten.

We should use all our visits to improve the UN response to internal refugees, but we should also speak to Heads of State, report back to UN agencies and the Security Council, and pressure the UN system and the sovereign countries to do more. In addition, we should do everything we can to support Frances Deng in his efforts. And today, I want to announce that the United States is giving an additional $175,000 to Francis Deng and his colleagues to enhance his advocacy efforts on behalf of internal refugees.

Our governments must also do more. We must intensify our own political efforts to address the plight of internal refugees. This is not just a humanitarian issue; it is a human rights issue. In the past, our government has highlighted concerns about state treatment of internal refugees in its annual human rights reports. In next year's report, we will take special care to highlight problems where they exist -- and will make the issue one of the report's featured subjects in its most visible section -- the Introduction and Executive Summary.

Also, we should all do more to fund assistance for all refugees, whether across borders or internal. We have to think creatively. We should get aid to affected communities early. We should be concerned about equity and standards in giving aid and establishing and supporting programs, so that some regions and victims are not forgotten. And we should look again and again at the relief to development aspects, especially in assisting internal refugees. Too often our assistance is routinely directed through existing "stovepiped" programs -- that is vertical programs that are clearly and narrowly delineated. We must consider new and flexible channels of aid.

The U.S. is prepared to do its part. Today, in addition to the $175,000 we wish to give to support Mr. Deng, we're announcing a contribution of $2 million to UNHCR to support the expansion of its assistance programs in northern Angola to cover emergency relief and protection needs of internal refugees. And again, I stress that this aid is given unconditioned to our proposals, but I urge the UN to improve its performance in Angola as one of the highest priorities in the world. We're talking about over 2 million people in that country alone.

And for next year, the Clinton Administration has requested of the Congress $678 million in the Migration and Refugee Account, $220 million for international disaster assistance, and $837 million for food aid. Combined, this is more than $1.7 billion. Of course Congress will have to approve this, and we are working closely with them, and that is one of the things that Mrs. Ogata is doing in Washington today. But the Congress has been generally sympathetic to these issues -- more so than other issues, such as peacekeeping. I regret that because peacekeeping and refugees go hand in hand, and one of the things the world needs to understand is that when peacekeeping fails, refugees occur. And money spent for peacekeeping is money spent to prevent our refugee bill. So I regret the fact that we have harder time convincing our friends in Congress on the peacekeeping account than we do of refugees, but I hope that the world body will recognize Congress' generosity in supporting the refugee issue. I, for my part, look forward to working closely with members of the House and Senate, both the Authorizing and Appropriating Committees, over the next six months to gain the maximum support from the Congress. But I repeat, we are requesting over $1.7 billion to support the programs being discussed here today.

Finally, I want to applaud the outstanding work of organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross and the rest of the UN system. My criticisms -- and I have been very honest this morning with my friends in this body -- should not be misread as anything other than an effort to improve these all-important efforts.

Finally let me turn to the other subjects being discussed in this year's ECOSOC discussions -- those victimized by natural disasters, and I want to bring your attention again to the fact that two members of the United States cabinet, in addition to myself, have come to this great body in the last month to show our respect for ECOSOC, the importance we attach to your work, and our commitment to it. I refer of course to our Secretary of the Treasury and our Secretary of Agriculture -- Larry Summers and Dan Glickman -- both of whom were the first secretaries of their departments ever to speak at the UN at ECOSOC.

My government strongly supports the simple notion that the onerous and debilitating impact of natural disasters can be mitigated. Toward that end, we encourage the integration of disaster reduction activities (such as preparedness, prevention, mitigation, and reconstruction) into the development planning, policy, and programming efforts of the UN and other entities.

All of us would be remiss if we overlooked the existing capacities of local and national governments and organizations. Many countries don't need additional technological inputs, but rather some technical assistance to enhance institutional coordination, public access to information, and the strengthening of policy frameworks to include and emphasize disaster reduction as a development policy.

But, Mr. Chairman, whether we're talking about internal refugees or disaster assistance or prevention, the focus of our attention must always be on the people -- the human beings, the individuals at the center of these terrible situations. They need our help. And we must always do what we can to help alleviate their suffering.

Again Mr. Chairman, I thank you for allowing me to speak out of order, and allowing me to contribute to this important discussion. I speak with total commitment to your goals, and with what I hope you will understand are technical disagreements on procedures. And I'm happy to announce today the extent of the Clinton administration's support for these efforts. Thank you very much.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
NNNN