As delivered by Counsellor Kjetil Elsebutangen.
Thank you, co-chair, and thank you to UNHCR for the work put into the first draft. We believe this text is an improvement compared to the zero draft. We are moving in the right direction. At the same time, we have identified areas that will need further consideration, and we will comment on those later today and tomorrow.
At the outset let me underline again that Norway is looking for a text that is as practical and operational as possible, not attempting to repeat the New York Declaration and other texts. In this regard, we do not see the need for a much longer introduction.
Having said that, we welcome several of the elements in the new introduction.
We agree that it is vital to widen the support base beyond those countries that have historically contributed to the refugee cause as hosts, donors and resettlement countries.
We agree with the need for establishing a framework for more predictable and equitable burden- and responsibility-sharing among all UN Member States, while recognizing that the contributions will vary according to the resources, capacity and expertise of each state.
We are committed to the 2030 agenda and leaving no one behind and we believe the GCR should contribute to stronger complementarity between humanitarian and development actors, for the benefit of both refugees and host communities, while respecting the humanitarian principles.
Thank you.