20 June - The Prince's Government Associates Itself with World Refugee Day

Boubakar est arrivé au Maroc sans ses parents alors qu’il était encore mineur. Originaire de Gao au Mali, il est aujourd’hui un des leaders de la communauté des jeunes réfugiés au Maroc et poursuit une formation professionnelle en mécanique ©M’hammed Kilito

The Department of International Cooperation, which is involved in implementing the cooperation policy of the Prince's Government, is supporting numerous projects throughout the world to benefit refugees.

Over the past ten years, the global situation has worsened considerably, from 20 million refugees in 2005 to an estimated 53 million today.

The Principality of Monaco is actively helping to improve the living conditions of these people (men, women and children), with no distinction of race or religion, in conformity with the Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951, to which Monaco is a party.

• In Morocco, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Prince's Government is supporting the new policy of asylum, protection and assistance with integrating refugees into Moroccan society.

• In Lebanon, Monaco's Official Development Assistance is supporting the UNRWA* in improving the health of the 280,000 Palestinian refugees who have been living in camps for decades.

Finally, as part of its urgent humanitarian aid, the Prince's Government regularly responds to appeals by the United Nations, particularly those related to the World Food Programme.  Since the beginning of 2016, 100,000 euros have thus been allocated to help refugees from Syria, Iraq and Mali.

As a reminder, since 2008, the Prince's Government has also been supporting these particularly vulnerable populations with an amount totalling more than 3 million euros.

The United Nations General Assembly has set 20 June as an international day to commemorate refugees.  This day, which takes place annually in many different countries, aims to raise public awareness of the special circumstances in which refugees throughout the world find themselves, and the urgency of their situation.

*United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees

To find out more, see:  http://www.un.org/fr/events/refugeeday/

                                               http://www.unhcr.org/refugeeday/fr/