The South African Human Rights Commission and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed an agreement to formalise their partnership working to protect the rights of refugees in South Africa.

The agreement outlines how the two organisations will work together to advocate for refugees, people seeking asylum, internally displaced people and stateless people. This includes intervening on individual cases, knowledge exchange, joint research and joint initiatives that promote peaceful co-existence of South African nationals and refugee groups of concern.

The UNHCR representative to South Africa, Leonard Zulu, said:

Human rights are at the centre of the protection regime for persons forcibly displaced by conflict, persecution and violence. The congruence of our respective mandates is obvious.

The South African Human Rights Commission and UNHCR will jointly call for refugee groups to be included in the Republic of South Africa’s national protection plans to work towards full implementation of UN General Assembly resolutions on refugees and stateless people.

Find out more about the agreement on the South African Human Rights Commission’s website.