UN High Commissioner for Refugees visited Norway

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visited Oslo, Norway on 8 March 2022.

During the High Commissioner’s visit, he met with the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Emilie Enger Mehl, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt. He also had an exchange with the Foreign Affairs Committee of Norway’s Parliament Stortinget.

The High Commissioner also participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Peace Research Institute Oslo on the theme of “How do we best respond to refugee crises”.Here, he spoke alongside Secretary-General Jan Egeland from the Norwegian Refugee Council, Gunn Jorid Roset from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maja Janmyr from the University of Oslo and a young resettled refugee Olivier Makuta from Congo, who is the co-founder of a startup called VipiCash.

The High Commissioner speaking at Peace Research Institute Oslo on the theme “How do we best respond to refugee crises”. © UNHCR/Frank Schipper

With the visit taking place at a time when the number of people fleeing Ukraine passed 2 million, the situation in Ukraine and neighboring countries was a key focus – and coming straight from the border areas of the neighboring countries to Ukraine, the High Commissioner was able to share first-hand insights on what he had seen on the ground.

Norway is amongst the top donors to UNHCR – and the high level of flexible and unearmarked Norwegian funding enables UNHCR to respond to both acute emergencies as well as protracted and underfunded crises across the world.

During the mission, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced an additional contribution to UNHCR for the displacement situation in neighboring countries to Ukraine.

The High Comissioner's press conference with the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Emilie Enger Mehl, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt. ©UNHCR/Frank Schipper

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