United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees visits Monaco

Mr Gilles Tonelli, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Mr Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ©Direction de la Communication/Manuel Vitali

Mr Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, paid a working visit to Monaco on Wednesday 15 February 2017. He was accompanied by 

Mr Ralf Gruenert, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative for Monaco and France.

This was the first official visit by a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to the Principality.

Mr Grandi received an audience with H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince, which was attended by
Ms Anne-Marie Boisbouvier, Advisor in the Prince’s Cabinet, and H.E. Ms Carole Lanteri, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Monaco to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva.

A working lunch was also organised by the Minister of State, as well as a meeting with Mr Gilles Tonelli, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

The Principality has worked with UNHCR since 1956 and has always expressed its solidarity with those fleeing war or persecution. In a particularly difficult international context, with movements on a scale not seen since the Second World War, these meetings offered an opportunity to highlight the urgency of the migration crisis, especially in the Mediterranean, and also to reaffirm the Principality’s long-standing support for UNHCR. The procedure put in place by the Government to welcome refugees from the Middle East was also a focus of the discussions: the Principality intends to shoulder its share of the responsibility at the global level.

At the end of the day-long visit, to illustrate Monaco’s commitment as part of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2016, the Monegasque Government signed two partnership agreements with UNHCR, setting out a total contribution of €670,000 over three years for projects to benefit refugees in Morocco and Tunisia (see attached file).

In 2016, the Principality was the fifth largest donor to UNHCR in per capita terms.

HCR (154.83 kB)