THE UNITED NATIONS
NGO SYMPOSIUM ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE
Notes for Remarks by Andrew Robinson
Director-General, MEPP Coordination Bureau
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Canada
and Gavel-Holder Refugee Working Group
New York, June 25, 1996
check against delivery
Madam Chairman, Distinguished Delegates and Guests,
Ladies and Gentleman,
I am indeed honoured to accept your kind invitation
to take part in the deliberations of this symposium.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the NGO community
has a critical role to play in advancing the peace
process, and it is therefore essential that we who
are involved in the so-called official part of the
process keep in close touch with what you are doing
on the ground. I believe that there are synergies,
of which we have not taken full advantage, that need
to be developed with respect to the work of the Refugee
Working Group and the work of NGOs in the region.
I will return to that in more detail later in my remarks.
Given Canada's responsibility as gavel-holder of
the Refugee Working Group, I would like to bring you
up to date on the activity of the RWG in recent months
and to talk a little about some of the future directions
of the group. As most of you know, the Refugee Working
Group, like the other Working Groups in the Multilateral
Process, was set up to complement the bilateral negotiations
and to address broad regional issues whose solutions
require coordinated actions and the support of the
international community. We do this by improving the
current living conditions of refugees and displaced
persons without prejudice to their rights and future
status; easing and extending access to family reunification;
and supporting the process of achieving a viable and
comprehensive solution to the refugee issue.
For some time we have organized the work of the RWG
according to various themes which were identified
at our early meetings, and respecting which certain
countries have agreed to take responsibility as "shepherds"
for the work of the Group. These themes are Data Bases,
for which Norway acts as shepherd, Child Welfare,
for which Sweden is the shepherd, Human Resource Development,
Job Creation and Vocational Training - the USA , Social
and Economic Infrastructure, for which the EU is shepherd,
and Family Reunification, for which France acts as
shepherd. In addition, at the steering committee of
the multilaterals held last year, Switzerland was
assigned the responsibility of acting as advisor to
the co-sponsors for the human dimension in all five
working groups, including the RWG - a sort of super
shepherd.
The RWG held an important and successful plenary
meeting last December in Geneva. It was a constructive
and productive meeting, which enabled us to take stock
of developments since the preceding meeting, to establish
a wide measure of agreement among the parties, and
to plan future activities for the RWG. I think it
is clear that the RWG has played an important role
in establishing a greater level of confidence among
the parties who have participated in the bilateral
negotiations. This has led to a growing recognition
of the real possibility of us working together to
identify win-win activities which benefit everyone.
We are now on the road to developing one such initiative,
about which I will speak a little later.
A number of activities were mandated by last December's
plenary meeting. These included a Gavel's mission
to Jordan, a Gavel's mission to West Bank and Gaza,
an Intersessional workshop on adaptation in the West
Bank and Gaza, intersessional meetings on Data Bases,
Family Reunification, and Public Health, and a Gavel's
mission to Lebanon.
One of the first formal activities of the group since
the Plenary was the Gavel's mission to the refugee
camps in Jordan which I led last month. The purpose
of this mission was to consult with the refugees in
Jordan and to discuss the issues with Jordanian officials.
This mission reflected the importance the international
community attaches to dialogue and transparency.
Bearing in mind that the role of the multilateral
process is to complement and support the bilateral
negotiations, not substitute for them, we were sent
to listen to the views of the refugees, and to enter
into a dialogue with them, and with the Jordanian
government, about the work of the RWG and about what
the RWG should be doing about both the present humanitarian
situation and about preparing for the future.
This was particularly timely in the context of the
opening of the permanent status talks between the
PLO and Israel. Among the Palestinians, we met with
residents of five of the camps in Jordan, as well
as other Palestinians. On the Jordanian side we met
with Crown Prince Hassan and with officials of the
Department of Palestinian Affairs. Naturally, we also
had meetings with and briefings by UNRWA. The mission
included representatives from the EU, Morocco, Switzerland
Japan and the USA, as well as Canada. We are now preparing
a report for submission to the next plenary meeting
of the RWG. I think it will prove to be a valuable
basis to guide our project development strategies
with regard to Palestinian refugees in Jordan and
the activities of the group respecting Jordan.
Let me move now to West Bank and Gaza. You will be
aware that the Refugee Working Group has traditionally
put emphasis on the situation of the refugees who
are outside the West Bank and Gaza. I can assure you
that this emphasis has not changed. At the same time,
we are very conscious of the fact that things have
been moving very quickly in West Bank and Gaza. The
RWG plenary meeting last December agreed that we should
develop a focus to address that process of rapid change.
We have been pursuing that mandate in conjunction
with the Palestinian Authority and in consultation
with other main players in the RWG. The term chosen,
and chosen with a great deal of care, to describe
that focus is "adaptation".
The choice was important because we wanted to formulate
our approach in a way which was acceptable to the
parties and which could in no sense be perceived as
prejudicing Palestinian rights. The RWG plenary was
very clear about that and indeed that has been an
underlying principle for all our work. The approach
also needed to be constructed in a way which allowed
us to provide the most useful support we could to
the Palestinian Authority as it consolidated and exercised
its powers of self-government.
The concept of adaptation is meant to be a framework
within which we can formulate strategies to assist
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as they confront
change. "Adaptation" does not define the
nature or direction of that change; it simply sets
out to devise approaches which will assist in meeting
the challenges of change, whatever they may turn out
to be.
The speed and nature of change within the West Bank
and Gaza will be primarily influenced by decisions
which must be reached by the parties in their continuing
negotiations in the bilateral framework. The Refugee
Working Group stands ready to assist the parties in
those negotiations in any way we can, at any time
the parties would find our contribution to be a helpful
one. This was one clear conclusion emerging from a
co-ordination meeting which we held in Rome early
in May.
That meeting in Rome was a first. It was the first
time we had expanded our coordination meetings beyond
the traditional format of "Shepherds' meetings"
to include as well the four regional parties and the
co-sponsors. It was devoted to coordinating the very
heavy workload mandated by our Geneva plenary, as
well to looking forward at possible directions of
activity of the RWG over the next two to three years.
The coordination meeting in May provided an opportunity
for some imaginative yet realistic thinking about
the future work of the Group. No binding decisions
about the future were taken at this meeting, indeed
that was not the intention, but some fundamental points
emerged.
- a high degree of consensus on the need for complementarity
between the RWG and the bilateral negotiations,
- a recognition that the subjects being addressed in
the RWG, the Quadripartite committee and final status
negotiations were moving closer together;
- a similar recognition that if we were to seek consensus
on future plans we would have to be realistic as to
what was possible,
- a need to keep in mind that the RWG should complement
and support the bilateral negotiations,
- and a recognition that the start of the permanent
status stage of the Israel-PLO negotiations opened
up a variety of ways for the RWG to be of assistance
At the Canadian initiative there was also a session
of discussion of the situation of the Palestinian
refugees in Lebanon and of the need for donors to
find ways to support those refugees either through
dedicated donations to UNRWA or through other channels.
There was also consensus support for the continuation
of the practice that the gavel-holder should brief
the Governments of Syria and Lebanon on developments
in the RWG.
At the coordination meeting, we had agreed a date
for holding the mandated intersessional workshop on
"Adaptation" which should have taken place
early in June. Unfortunately, as a result of difficulties
experienced by a number of delegations either in identifying
suitable experts on adaptation to participate in the
meeting, or indeed in being able to participate at
all with delegations from headquarters, we decided
to postpone that meeting.
However, we are not losing sight of the concept of
adaptation, which we believe will prove to be a very
useful concept which can inform the project development
and policy formulation process with respect to West
Bank and Gaza in all the themes of the RWG. Management
of the adaptation to change will be important to the
Palestinian authority and for all the residents of
the area as they deal with the consequences of the
changing circumstances. This applies whether we are
talking about long-time residents, those newly returned,
former detainees, people moving into and out of camps,
parents concerned with new overcrowding problems in
schools, or young people setting up house in environments
which require moving away from their relatives. All
these people are at the same time both agents of change
and victims of change. The RWG, looking to the future
not the past, must be in a position to assist in respect
of the refugee component of this adaptation.
Meanwhile, I am pleased to report that another RWG
activity - an intersessional on Data Bases - took
place in Oslo the week before last. This meeting took
place in a very positive and constructive environment,
and achieved its purpose of enabling the Norwegian
shepherd to report on work in progress and helping
to identify directions in which the data base activity
should be proceeding.
I want to say a few words about the situation of
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Syria. I think
it is fair to say that the RWG plenary in December
was more concerned about the plight of refugees in
Lebanon than about any other group. Unfortunately,
the governments of Syria and Lebanon do not participate
in the work of the RWG, thereby limiting our ability
to address the issues in a comprehensive manner. Nonetheless,
the Working Group plenary reiterated our commitment
to maintaining a dialogue with the governments of
both Syria and Lebanon---I am pleased to say we have
been able to do that---and also with the Palestinian
communities there, which we have also done.
At the request of the plenary, I visited both Syria
and Lebanon almost immediately after our December
meeting, to meet with government officials and to
visit refugee camps. In Lebanon, I was particularly
concerned about the situation of the Palestinians
both from the perspective of their humanitarian and
economic circumstances as well as their civil situation.
I relayed their concerns to the Government of Lebanon.
I hope the Lebanese government will find a way to
relieve the hardships of the Palestinians despite
the many burdens imposed on Lebanon itself, and the
Lebanese people, by recent events.
While the RWG will remain engaged in Lebanon and
Syria, there is no question of secret agendas or of
prejudicing the results of negotiations between the
parties. It is our wish to be supportive and helpful
to the Lebanese and Syrian authorities as well as
Palestinian refugees in addressing the issues and
in providing humanitarian assistance.
I cannot refer to the issue of providing humanitarian
assistance to Palestinian refugees without paying
tribute to the work of UNRWA. Nowhere has that work
been more critical than in Lebanon. With respect to
Lebanon as well as the other UNRWA fields of operation,
UNRWA and the RWG cooperate closely on all aspects
of our work, particularly project development and
implementation.
The vitality of the NGO community will be essential
to the successful development of a vibrant civil society
for Palestinian refugees in West Bank/Gaza as well
as in the host countries. In the RWG we have had good
cooperation with regional NGOs as well as NGOs from
outside the region. Along with UNRWA, NGOs have been
critical to the delivery of services and to project
implementation in Lebanon.
Over the past several months, as we have been working
on the adaptation focus for West Bank and Gaza, we
have found ourselves consulting with NGOs on an ever
more frequent basis. Over the next year I will be
looking for opportunities to involve NGO representatives
more directly in some of these discussions.
I would like today to invite you to give some thought
to that adaptation focus and consider how it should
be developed from your perspective. In the context
of the RWG themes - data base studies, family reunification,
public health, child welfare, human resource development,
social and economic infrastructure - I would welcome
your comments on how we can ensure that our efforts
help the refugees and the responsible authorities
to address the challenges of change.
Finally, I want to say a few words about the peace
process more generally. The process has been characterized
by a lot of hard work which has culminated in some
unprecedented and irreversible breakthroughs. It has
also, to be sure, sustained some discouraging setbacks.
We have moved through some times of great hope and
optimism but have also had to deal with tragedy and
with periods of frustration and disappointment. It
seems clear however that the regional parties, like
the rest of the international community, have always
been able to draw strength from a realization that
has weathered all the ups and downs of the process,
the realization that there is in the final analysis
no alternative to peace, that a lasting peace must
be the common goal.
On a variety of occasions the multilateral process
has shown its ability to maintain the momentum of
the peace process when the bilateral process has temporarily
slowed down. I believe that the Refugee Working Group,
in particular, because of the sensitive and human
nature of its mandate, and its close connection with
the issues of the final status negotiations, will
continue to have a vital and challenging role.
Once again, I would like to say how happy I am to
be here with you today, and how much I am looking
forward to our discussions.
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