Learning from affected states: Panel meets with the President of Afghanistan and Deputy Ministers of Ukraine
3-4 December 2020
Panel members met virtually with H.E. President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan on December 3 as part of a planned series of dedicated dialogues with the leadership of displacement-affected states.
The inputs of displacement-affected states remain as critical as ever as the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement transitions to the next phase of its work towards its recommendations. The Panel sought to engage with various country leaders to hear their first-hand experiences in responding to internal displacement. To facilitate such conversations, a series of dialogues between Panel members and affected states was launched this month, starting with Afghanistan and Ukraine.
On December 3, Panel Co-Chair Federica Mogherini and Panel members Nasser Judeh and Sima Samar met virtually with the President of Afghanistan, H.E. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani. Drawing from Afghanistan’s experiences, H.E. Ghani shared his reflections on the realities of internal displacement and how challenges could be tackled as national priorities in particular with respect to prevention and solutions.
The next day, the same Panel members met with two senior officials of Ukraine. Inna Golovanchuk, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs, and Vitaliy Muzychenko, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Social Policy, spoke of their country’s response, including the progress which has been achieved and the challenges which remain to be addressed in the search for sustainable solutions to internal displacement.
Panel Co-chair Federica Mogherini and Panel members Nasser Judeh and Sima Samar met virtually with Ukrainian Deputy Ministers Inna Golovanchuk and Vitaliy Muzychenko on December 4.
Engaging with states has been a crucial part of the Panel’s consultative process.
Since its inception, the Panel has had consultations at different levels with State representatives. Additionally, its Secretariat has held regular meetings with the Permanent Missions of UN Members States, based in Geneva and New York, through a mechanism of the Panel process called the “Group of Friends”. Building on these, and a broader consultative process that has included 92 stakeholders’ submissions and direct feedback from IDPs and host communities in 22 countries, the Panel will continue in 2021 its dialogues with the highest levels of leadership of affected states.