Follow-up to the 1996 Geneva Conference on the Problems of Refugees, Displaced Persons, Migration and Asylum Issues
(Working Document on Thematic Issues)

Introduction

Theme C

Sustaining the achievements and activities of the NGO sector and civil society, and promoting further participation by international and local NGOS.

Lead agencies: UNHCR, Council of Europe, IOM, OSCE/ODIHR and relevant NGOs

This theme is divided to the following sub-themes: i) enabling environment: financial sustainability (including government-NGO cooperation and legal/fiscal framework for NGOs, ii) enabling environment: legal framework/political conditions/NGO-government cooperation,iii) capacity building, and iv) PARinAC. The sub-themes are derived from the CIS Conference Report and Recommendations as areas where future action should be taken.

To promote NGO involvement in the other thematic groups of the CIS Conference follow-up, the four issue-specific NGO working groups (emergency assistance, refugee law and protection, repatriation, resettlement, integration, prevention and conflict resolution) operational since 1997, are expected to continue to coordinate local NGOs inputs and participation.

While most capacity-building interventions and financial support to NGOs will be undertaken at the field level, a regional meeting, bringing together NGOs, government representatives and the donor community, will be held regularly. The participants will assess coordination and cooperation, assess needs and make recommendations for further action. UNHCR is prepared to serve as a catalyst for bringing together relevant inter-governmental organizations, such as the Council of Europe, OSCE, IOM, UNDP and bilateral actors supporting NGO sector development in the countries of the CIS and will explore rotating chairmanship arrangements with participating organizations. The meeting will review progress made in the areas of NGO capacity-building, financial support/sustainability and NGO-government cooperation (including NGO legal frameworks).

Sub-theme(i): Enabling environment- Financial sustainability

Lead agencies: UNHCR (as catalyst), relevant NGOs, bi- and multilateral donors

The mainstreaming of the NGO Fund of the CISCONF began in 1999 and will be fully integrated into the unified budget system from 2001. The future focus will be on the provision of support in mobilizing external resources (EU funding, international foundations, local donors) and in enhancing donor coordination and cooperation. The NGO working groups will seek to diversify their funding sources and provide fundraising support to local NGOs. The sub-theme on enabling environment will deal in parallel with issues related to financial sustainability of NGOs (private sector fundraising, beneficial tax and customs treatment, etc.) that is being addressed by numerous organizations at the national level.

The sub-group will focus on exchanging information on best practices between countries, promote review and development of procedures and legal frameworks that will maximize giving and minimize abuse in regard to non-profit activities, explore country level funding strategies for local NGOS, greater donor coordination and issues related to financial management and fundraising skills among NGOS.

Sub-theme (ii): Enabling environment: legal framework/political conditions/NGO-government cooperation

Lead agencies: Council of Europe, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

This sub-theme deals with legal frameworks for NGOs, including registration of organizations, guaranteed quality of services, transparency and good governance of NGOs, government supervision of public-benefit organizations, laws regulating foundations, non-profit organizations, public-benefit and membership associations. Connected to the legal status of NGOs are taxation and customs treatment of NGOS. Enabling environment also refers to the recognition and understanding of NGOs by government bodies and the general public.

This recognition influences NGO access to governmental policy-making, joint activities and their overall status within a society.

Sub-theme (iii): Capacity-building
Lead agencies: UNHCR, IOM, NGO Working Groups

Capacity building of local NGOs is done to develop their technical assistance and organizational management skills with the purpose of partnership development and often, to hand-over operations. Capacity building can be best done locally taking full advantage of the existing resources and NGO support centers. Mainstreaming of capacity-building interventions to the field will be carried out within UNHCR (field offices already playing the main role) and through localizing capacity-building activities of the NGO working groups to their respective field offices (DRC, NRC, Counterpart). The NGO working groups are planning to enhance field coordination and cooperation by setting up sub-regional focal points (NRC in Central Asia, DRC in the Caucasus) IOM will continue its activities in Migration Sector National NGO Development to enhance the capacity of NGOs to address migration related concerns. Links to other relevant UN and bi-lateral agencies need to be enhanced to support the mainstreaming (UNDP, UNICEF, USAID)

Sub-theme (iv): PARinAC
Lead agency: UNHCR

Mainstreaming of the CISCONF follow-up into PARinAC will be undertaken in coordination with UNHCR's NGO coordinator to familiarize NGOs from the CIS with UNHCR's consultative mechanisms with NGOs and identifying national and sub-regional PARinAC NGO focal points.

Theme D

Implementing Legislation and Avoiding Implementation Gaps

Sub-Theme (i): Refugee law implementation and avoiding implementation gaps
Lead agency: UNHCR

The work would focus on the following three areas:

I . Pursuing 'quality asylum'.

Issues of particular attention would include equal treatment of asylum seekers in the region of both UNHCR and national refugee bodies; complementary systems such as temporary protection to meet the needs of non-Convention refugees; that asylum-seekers have access to procedures in which their claims are heard fairly and promptly and that asylum-relevant institutions develop to become effective and independent of external support; creating / promoting monitoring mechanisms at entry points to ensure a transparent process; ensuring that border officials are properly trained and sensitised on refugee and asylum issues.

Work will also focus on the need of asylum-seekers to have free legal advice, information and interpretation assistance, through national and/or NGO legal support in all phases of the RSD procedure, including during the appeal with suspensive effect. The importance of up-to-date Country of Origin Information (COI) in working languages of the region and developing a regional COI network as well as assisting Government to establish/manage reception/counseling centers for asylum-seekers will also be discussed.

2. Pursuing consistency between regional approaches and international standards.

This area would work on securing protection in the different sub- regional contexts and work towards further supporting effective implementation of international refugee standards in a context in which also more enlightened migration policies and harmonized additional protection mechanisms could be developed.

3. Strengthening partnerships in support of effective implementation of international refugee standards.
The work of this sub-theme would further explore, with non-traditional government partners, with the NGO community and also with the corporate sector the scope for working better together to improve the protection climate, including opportunities for a co-operative relationship with Organisation partners, particularly where migration and refugee flows merge.

Sub-Theme (ii): Citizenship and Statelessness

Lead agency: UNHCR and Council of Europe

All 12 States in the CIS have adopted and periodically amended their nationality law since independence in 1991; only two States have so far acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to Status of Stateless Persons and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness , namely Armenia and Azerbaijan. The 1997 European Convention on Nationality has so far been signed by two CIS states - the Russian Federation and Moldova.

It is important to identify gaps, review and revise existing laws and procedures for their implementation in order to make them more consistent and useful in practice. It is suggested to conduct seminars on citizenship and the prevention of statelessness with governments and non-governmental partners addressing the highest possible working level (primarily of the respective Presidential administrations and ministries of interior in charge of these issues), focusing both on legislative developments and on implementation, and to support that financial assistance for implementation be made available. IOM will have a role to play in this as citizenship issues are closely linked to migration management (including border management) and in the integration process of repatnants".

Sub-Theme (iii): Migration legislation and avoiding implementation gaps.
Lead agency: IOM and OSCE/ODIHR

Research in the late 1990s on migration flows in the CIS countries indicates that the total population was 284 million persons of whom there were an estimated 25,300immigrants, 220,600 emigrants and 800,000 migrants.

Priority areas for implementing migration legislation and avoiding gaps include:

1. Assisting those States who have yet to adopt migration legislation and/or to establish a central administrative body or an effective coordinating mechanism among the entities involved with implementing legislation on migration and migration-related issues.

2. Assisting States in adapting existing migration legislation to meet internationally accepted standards of migration and border management.

3. Promoting legislative, administrative and institutional measures to define and criminalize trafficking, and ensure the effective prosecution and punishment of perpetrators of trafficking, including intermediaries, along with appropriate protection, and support to victims of trafficking, and facilitation of their return.

ODIHR will continue working with interested states on improving their legislation and implementation thereof in the area of migration legislation, especially in issues related to freedom of movement (in the context of abolition of exit visas) and choice of place of residence (in the context of replacing the Soviet-era propiska system with non-discriminatory civil registration system), as well as to trafficking of human beings.