Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 March 2016
427. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the proposed role which Irish development charities and migrant groups such as the Immigrant Council of Ireland working on the refugee crisis have in the global summit being co-hosted by Ireland at the United Nations in New York in the United States of America in September 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4958/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have warmly welcomed the appointment of Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador David Donoghue, to co-facilitate, with his Jordanian counterpart, negotiations on the arrangements for the major UN Summit in New York on 19 September 2016 on the global challenge of migration and refugee movements. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has decided to convene this high-level international meeting to bring together world leaders during the opening week of the UN General Assembly, to address the need for long term strategies and commitments on migration and refugees. The meeting will follow on from the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May, which will address the unprecedented scale of humanitarian crisis and conflict worldwide, which have resulted in the displacement of some 60 million people from their homes. The Irish and Jordanian Ambassadors have begun their consultations with the 193 UN member states on the organisational arrangements for the September Summit. These include consideration of the arrangements for participation by representatives of civil society organisations. Further meetings on these issues will be held over the coming weeks, with a view to agreement on high level political representation in the Summit by the UN member states and engagement with civil society.
