Geneva (VNA) – Vietnam highly valued the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)’s key role in building and implementingthe Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), said Ambassador Duong Chi Dung, head of the Vietnamese Missionto the UN in Geneva.

Addressing the first Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, on December17 and 18, Dung said the event would be an effective mechanism to help the UN,its member nations and stakeholders to monitor the implementation of the GCR.  

Vietnam pledged to actively and responsibly participate in activities ofthe forum, especially when the country undertakes the role as the ASEANchairmanship in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the2020-2021 tenure, he said.

To address issues related to refugees, countries need to work harder to promotepeace and stability, well perform solutions to boost poverty reduction and sustainableeconomic growth, prevent conflicts and enhance dialogues as well, the ambassadorstressed.

The international community should promote the practical implementation ofburden- and responsibility-sharing mechanisms, and deploy the GCR voluntarily,depending on capability and conditions of each country, he said.

Dung added that the granting of refugee status should ensure transparency and clearlydistinguish refugees and illegal migrants for economic purposes, especially inthe context of increasing non-traditional security challenges.

Jointly hosted by the UNHCR and Switzerland, andco-chaired by Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Germany, Pakistan and Turkey, the forum broughttogether 3,000 delegates from governments, international and civil social originationsand enterprises, and refugees.

The participants focused their discussions on key areas includingburden- and responsibility-sharing; education; employment and livelihoods;energy and infrastructure, and solutions; and capacity to protect refugees.

They also proposed initiatives and shared practical experiences to support andprotect refugees.

In his speech, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres affirmed that the forum wasan opportunity to promote the implementation of the GCR. He called on involvedparties to make strong and concrete commitments, and enhance international cooperationand solidarity to deal with the problem.

According to statistics from the UNHCR, about 71 million people around the world have been forcedto leave their homes and there are nearly 25.9 million refugees.

Vietnam joined the GCR in December 2018 along with 180nations./.