PHL joins global initiative for refugees from natural disasters

The Philippines is taking a key role in a new initiative allowing states to address the displacement of persons worldwide due to natural disasters, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.

 

In a news release, the DFA said Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Evan Garcia was invited to join the Nansen Initiative's steering group.

 

"(Garcia) was invited to join the Nansen Initiative's Steering Group, in light of the Philippines' leadership in migrant advocacy and climate change adaptation," the DFA said.

 

The DFA said the Nansen Initiative was presented in Geneva last October 2, during the annual Executive Committee meeting of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

 

It said the initiative, headed by Norway and Switzerland, seeks to pursue a "more coherent and consistent approach to the protection of people displaced across international borders by sudden onset disasters.

 

Such disasters include those triggered by climate change. — TJD, GMA News