site.btaBulgaria to Participate in Global Refugee Forum in Geneva

Bulgaria will participate in the second Global Refugee Forum in Geneva on December 13-15, the Foreign Ministry said on its website. The forum will bring together representatives of more than 180 countries which endorsed the Global Compact on Refugees, an international agreement adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2018.

The voluntary commitments that Bulgaria is planning to declare at the forum were presented at a public event on Tuesday. It was organized by the Foreign Ministry, UNHCR Bulgaria and the Swiss Embassy. Opening the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Irena Dimitrova said Bulgaria's nine new voluntary commitments are about the socio-economic integration of asylum-seekers, the protection of refugee children, especially unaccompanied children, and ensuring non-discriminatory access to humanitarian care.

Swiss Ambassador Raymund Furrer presented Switzerland as the host country of the Global Refugee Forum.

Those gathered were also addresses by Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivanka Shalapatova, State Agency for Refugees Chairperson Mariana Tosheva and representatives of other institutions which will implement the commitments over the next four years. The discussion involved representatives of the Bulgarian Red Cross, academia, business, NGOs, refugee organizations and diplomatic corps representatives.