GENEVA - The United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESC), on Thursday, unanimously approved Rwanda’s request to become a member of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Rwanda’s request to be a member of the committee was done through the Embassy in Geneva.

UNESC recommended that the General Assembly, at its 66th session, decide on the question of enlarging the membership of the UNHCR executive committee from 85 to 87. Azerbaijan also made the same request.

"As a party to the 1951 Convention on Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and following its experience in the management of refugee issues, Rwanda wants to strengthen its international cooperation in this area,” Alphonse Kayitayire, Chargé d’affaires, Rwanda’s Embassy in Geneva, said in a statement.

UNHCR's governing Executive Committee in Geneva meets annually, in October, to review and approve the agency's programmes and budget, advise on international protection and discuss a wide range of other issues with UNHCR and its intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.

Annual sessions of the UNHCR Executive Committee are public. In addition to members, they are attended by observers: representatives of UN member states, the UN system, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

At the 60th session of the UNHCR executive committee held in 2009, the High Commissioner for Refugees announced that consideration for the invocation of the Cessation Clause can begin, since Rwanda has registered tremendous socio-economic progress and security.

He also added that the retention of refugee status by Rwandan refugees is no longer justifiable.

The Government of Rwanda and UNHCR are working on a road map of actions that will lead to the invocation of the Cessation Clause, scheduled to take effect at the end of the year.

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