By Issa Hussein - Reporter
Djibouti, June 20 2026 - The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has urged the international community to match words with resources and responsibility-sharing, saying the right to seek safety must be backed by predictable financing, economic inclusion, and a push for peace.
In a statement to mark World Refugee Day 2026, IGAD Executive Secretary Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu said the day carries historic weight as the world marks seventy-five years since the adoption of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
"On this World Refugee Day 2026, we are reminded that the right to seek safety is not a privilege, it is a shared human safeguard that protects us all. It speaks to our collective humanity and to a simple truth: at any moment, anyone may need refuge," Dr. Workneh said.
He noted that the year also marks the fortieth anniversary of IGAD's founding and the new IGAD Treaty.
The IGAD region continues to carry a significant share of the global displacement burden, hosting over 5.5 million refugees and asylum seekers as of June 2026, alongside millions more displaced within their own countries, the statement said.
"For many, displacement is not temporary but a reality that stretches across decades. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that some 118 million people remain forcibly displaced worldwide, a figure that has doubled over the past decade, and that seven in ten refugees now live in protracted exile. Behind every number stands a person, a family, a future deferred," he said.
Across the IGAD region, the principle of asylum is not abstract; it is actively upheld, he said, adding that Member States have consistently demonstrated leadership by keeping borders open even under significant pressure, allowing people fleeing conflict and crisis to cross borders, access territory, and seek protection and lifesaving services.
Dr. Workneh said these policies are grounded in regional commitments such as the Nairobi Declaration on Durable Solutions for Refugees, the Kampala Declaration on refugee livelihoods and self-reliance, the Djibouti Declaration on refugee education, the Mombasa Declaration on refugee health, and the IGAD Policy Framework on Refugee Protection.
"They affirm that access to asylum is the first and most critical step towards safety, dignity, and stability," he said.
But safety does not end at the border, the Executive Secretary warned. "It must extend into people's daily lives."
He said governments and partners are working to ensure that refugees can access essential services such as healthcare and education, documentation, and opportunities that allow them to live with dignity.
"The inclusion of refugees and their host communities in national health systems, in the spirit of the Mombasa Declaration, is both a humanitarian imperative and sound public health policy: disease recognises no borders, and health systems that serve everyone protect everyone," he said.
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Dr. Workneh said there is growing recognition that when refugees are able to work, start businesses, and contribute to local economies, they are safer, more self-reliant, and less vulnerable, in line with the Kampala Declaration.
"We therefore invite the private sector, development finance institutions, and investors to see displacement-affected areas not as zones of risk but as frontiers of opportunity, and to work with IGAD and its Member States to expand access to capital, connectivity, energy, and markets for socio-economic inclusion," he said.
He raised concern over shrinking humanitarian financing at a time displacement remains at historic highs.
"Humanitarian financing is contracting at the very moment displacement remains at historic highs, and across our region assistance has fallen to a fraction of assessed needs, forcing painful reductions in food, shelter, education, health, and protection services," he said.
"The answer is not resignation but reform: predictable, multi-year financing; genuine international responsibility-sharing in the spirit of the Global Compact on Refugees; and a decisive shift from open-ended humanitarian dependency towards development-anchored solutions that include refugees in national systems and host communities in national planning. Those who host the most must no longer be asked to do so with the least."
Dr. Workneh said IGAD's work reflects a broader understanding of displacement, including efforts to address climate-related mobility, support cross-border pastoralist communities, and strengthen resilience in fragile contexts.
He said a continued emphasis on gender-responsive approaches ensures that women and girls, who often face heightened risks, are not left behind in displacement settings.
"On this day, we are called not only to reflect, but to act. To uphold the right to seek safety. To invest in the inclusion of refugees in education, health systems, and economies. To finance protection predictably and to share responsibility fairly. To pursue the peace that makes voluntary return in safety and dignity possible," he said.
"As a region, we continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan, who endure the largest displacement crisis in the world, with millions uprooted within the country and millions more compelled to seek refuge beyond its borders, and with all those forced to flee crises across our region."
He said the most durable solution to displacement is peace, adding that IGAD will not relent in its pursuit of the inclusive political settlements that allow people to go home.
"Seventy-five years on, the promise of 1951 endures only if each generation renews it. As IGAD enters its fifth decade and looks ahead to its Golden Jubilee, strengthened by a new Treaty and four decades of hard-won experience, we choose renewal. Let ours be remembered as the generation that kept the promise, because until everyone is safe, none of us truly is," Dr. Workneh said.