WORLD REFUGEE DAY EVENT

Dear colleagues, professors, students, and friends,

大家下午好 !

On 28 June 1951, in a very real sense, the world changed.

That was the day, almost exactly 75 years ago, that the global “Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees” was formally adopted.

The informal concept of a refugee had, of course, existed before in human history.

But this was the moment that nations everywhere first agreed to recognize the unique position of refugees find themselves in … and therefore to recognize their vital rights and our equally solemn responsibility to afford them every protection and every dignity.

And so, it is a pleasure and an honour to welcome you today to the United Nations Compound in Beijing.

And to mark the upcoming World Refugee Day / 世界难民日 (20 June) and the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

This is an extraordinary milestone.
Not just for the United Nations, but for all of us, everywhere.

Friends —

The theme of today’s dialogue reminds us:

“75 years of lives changed, renewal of our global commitment to protection, dignity and solution.”

A reflection and a call to action.

It reminds us that this is not only about looking back, but also about renewing our efforts for the future.

For 75 years, the 1951 Convention has provided a common framework through which to ensure those vital protections for people forced to flee.

It has helped shape how countries work together, how systems are built and how protection is delivered.

Most importantly, it has supported hundreds of millions of people to find safety and dignity.

So, of course, this is not only about frameworks. 

It is about people.

Families forced to leave their homes.
Children seeking education.
Communities working to rebuild their lives.

Because in every refugee’s story, there is resilience as well as suffering; there is determination; there is hope.

There is also a strong aspiration to rebuild, to contribute, and to move forward with stability and dignity.

That’s one reason that for my farewell present from the UN Country Team in Kenya, when I left just a few months ago, I asked for something I had once seen in Kakuma Refugee Camp, home to 500,000 refugees from across Africa and the world.

A United Nations blue logo made by a Congolese refugee out of white-painted wood, nails and light-blue string.

From next week, when our shipment finally arrives, it will proudly hang upstairs in my office.

Today, displacement remains a global challenge.

And like all global challenges, it requires collective, multilateral responses.

No single country can address it alone.
No single system can respond in isolation.

It requires cooperation, shared responsibility, and practical solutions.

It also requires linking humanitarian responses with longer-term development approaches to ensure more sustainable outcomes, “durable solutions”.

And to accomplish all of that, dialogue is an essential.

And that is why today’s event matters.

Bringing together students, scholars, and practitioners creates space for understanding, for exchange, and for new ideas.

The academic focus of this dialogue is particularly important.

Understanding the concept of “refugee” – legal, multilateral, but also cultural and national – strengthens communication and supports more effective responses.

Knowledge shapes policy.
And policy shapes outcomes.

For the future, renewing our global commitment means:

Strengthening cooperation across partners.
Supporting informed and constructive dialogue.

Advancing approaches that uphold protection, dignity and durable solutions.

It also means ensuring that responses remain practical, inclusive and adapted to evolving global realities.

It also means investing in people, especially young people.

Because they will shape how these challenges are understood, and how solutions are delivered in the years ahead.

In particular, how, under the Global Compact on Refugees, around the globe there is a welcome shift away from an approach that confines refugees to camps – sometimes for decades…

… and towards an integration approach, building common futures for refugees and host communities combined.

Accelerating that shift and finding truly durable solutions for refugees is the “birthday present” that the Refugee Convention richly deserves at 75.

Through dialogue, cooperation, and shared commitment, we can get there.

And today, we can all renew our commitment to this incredible Convention, which stands more proudly than ever today as a landmark in global solidarity.

谢谢大家 ！