India

Year-end Overview

Plan Overview

Working environment

India remains an important stakeholder on global issues such as climate change, urbanization and innovation and is an important ally for neighboring countries and ASEAN states for supporting socio-economic development programmes and strengthening collaboration on national security.
 
While India endorsed UNHCR’s Global Compact for Refugees (GCR), the protection environment facing people of concern to UNHCR is expected to remain quite restricted in 2020. Refugees can be expected to continue receiving exit orders, be at risk of detention and face return to their countries of origin. Opportunities to achieve self-reliance and economic inclusion for people of concern will remain limited. In order to address these challenges, UNHCR has more actively engaged with the Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team and seeks innovative means to provide livelihood opportunities to people of concern by connecting them with entrepreneurship programmes and social enterprises.

Key priorities

UNHCR will pursue improved collaboration with the Government of India through multiple channels including high level missions to India, dialogue at the central and state levels, and advocacy with the Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team. UNHCR’s regionalization and decentralization process will contribute to more efficient coordination and response on the ground.
 
UNHCR will also work with civil society, academia, think tanks, and the private sector, using the “whole of society approach” as outlined in the GCR. Building upon the progress made in 2018 to actively engage in the UN Sustainable Development Framework process, UNHCR will ensure inclusion of refugees into existing national systems linking refugees with the SDGs.
 
As constraints to refugee protection and resilience are expected to continue in 2020, UNHCR will need to provide a safety net through cash-based interventions to a larger number of vulnerable people while expanding opportunities to build self-reliance.