Launch of the Regional Refugee & Resilience Plan 2020 – 2021 in response to the Syria Crisis (3RP) and the Egypt Response Plan for Refugees and Asylum-seekers from Sub-Saharan Africa, Iraq and Yemen 2020 – 2021 (ERP)

Thank you Ambassador Fawzy.

 Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to be here with you once again after my short stint in Iraq. As my time here in Egypt slowly draws to an end, I am very grateful for the warm hospitality of our Egyptian hosts and friends as well as the friendship within this international community gathered here. As I am among friends, you will not frown on me, sharing some reflections with you. You are used to this from my side.

Before addressing the twin plans of the 3RP and the ERP, I would like to zoom out a bit, to reflect on the state of forcibly displaced persons in Egypt. Let me start by noting that the number of persons in refugee-like situations is far beyond the 260k refugees registered with UNHCR. His Excellency President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in his speech before the UN General Assembly last month rightfully highlighted the service that Egypt provides to the international community by hosting around six million migrants and refugees fleeing wars, political crises and difficult economic conditions. He also rightfully highlighted that the lion’s share of the burden of this service of hosting these communities is borne by Egypt.  

The good news is that part of this broader group benefits Egypt as well. According to a UN study from a few years ago the cumulative investments of Syrian refugees, together with their Egyptian partners between 2011-2016 was $800 mln. Moreover, the Egyptian economy benefits from a significant migrant labor force, albeit often in the informal sector.

We acknowledge and welcome the impressive hospitality Egypt shows to this community. At the same time, we cannot deny this puts a strain on Egyptian resources. Here, we also need to recognize that the support Egypt receives from the international community is nowhere near to countries that host comparable, often lower, numbers of migrants and refugees.

In this context COVID is a gamechanger. As a response to the COVID crisis, Egypt strategically scaled up its social safety net for its vulnerable populations, primarily through the Takaful and Karama programs. This was hailed in socio-economic terms as the best in-class response to COVID. However, COVID also exposed the vulnerability of large groups of persons in refugee-like situations who do not have access to these programs. At this juncture, I sense an opportunity for the international community and the government to find each other in the quest to leave no one behind. I personally believe in this context a Grand Social Bargain can be struck for the affected vulnerable persons in refugee-like situations: the service Egypt provides would be recognized and financed by the international community in return for the government providing access to the infrastructure of its successful social safety programs.

I leave this thought with you. But I do believe this would be a concrete way in which we could respond to the call of the SDGs to leave no one behind in Egypt.

And this is why we are gathered here today, to mark the launch of the 3RP for Syrian refugees and the ERP, targeting some of the most vulnerable groups in Egypt. This is a direct way in which together we already respond to the call to leave no one behind. For this is what these plans do: they support programs that respond to the imminent needs of people in very dire situations, now exacerbated by COVID. The breadth of the implementing coalition of UN agencies and NGOs, supporting these two plans, is a testament to the spirit of partnership that we want and that we need when serving those most in need. I would like to thank UNHCR, and my friend Karim, for the leadership shown in this effort.

Moreover, I also would like to express the hope that these two excellent plans will garner even more generous support in the coming year. Of course funding matters. But quality delivery matters equally. The plans target immediate needs, whilst moving along the humanitarian-development nexus, also aiming to strengthen the resilience of the affected refugee and host communities. Here, I would submit to you once more, we need to work together to realize durable solutions for refugees and migrants. I look forward to a meaningful dialogue on this issue with all of you. 

To conclude, I would like to thank the Government of Egypt for continuing to generously host Syrian refugees, refugees of other nationalities and refugee like persons. I would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its strong leadership and thank all development partners for their commitment to a continued partnership under the 3RP and the Egypt Response Plan.  

Thank you