LATEST DEVELOPMENTS – HIGHLIGHTS
- On 20 January, during a meeting at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the New Administrative Capital, UNHCR presented the key elements of the Transition Plan for a Government-led asylum system based on the recently adopted national asylum law. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Refugees and Migration, H.E.
Ambassador Wael Badawi, and attended by officials from seven other key ministries, including Defense, Interior, Justice, and Social Solidarity. The UNHCR Representative to Egypt, Hanan Hamdan, advocated to the Government to work together on executive regulations and defining the transition plan to enhance Egypt's prospects of securing required international resources. - On 14 January, the UNHCR Regional Director for East and Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes (EHAGL), Mamadou Dian Balde, attended a Khartoum Process High-level Symposium in Cairo.
Hosted by the Government of Egypt and the European Union, the event focused on enhancing humanitarian responses with the nexus to development, and regional coordination for the Sudan Situation through stronger responsibility-sharing. During his intervention, the Regional Director urged all parties involved in the Sudan crisis to facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access, called for continued access to territory and asylum and emphasised the need for coherent and coordinated funding. Representatives of the Governments of Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan,
Ethiopia, Chad, Eritrea, Djibouti, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden made interventions during the conference. - On 15 January, the UNHCR Regional Director for EHAGL and the UNHCR Representative to Egypt met with Egypt’s Minister of Local Development, Manal Awad, in Cairo. The meeting focused on the importance of localization as an integral part of the Sudan Response. UNHCR presented a concept for a pilot project to the Minister, which includes institutional capacity development and economic empowerment initiatives. The Minister suggested that the project should focus on a neighborhood in Greater Cairo with a high concentration of Sudanese refugees. The Minister envisions the project to focus on providing Sudanese with livelihood skills and training.
- On 23 January, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Sudanese refugees and heard directly their journeys and stories of displacement at UNHCR’s partner Catholic Relief Services (CRS) premises in Cairo. The visit consisted of two focus group discussions, one with Sudanese teachers, and the other with Sudanese parents. The Foreign Secretary then visited a children’s room to hear from Sudanese children about their lives in Egypt.