United Nations, Oct 07: The United Nations General Assembly has decided to extend the term of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, for two more years till December 31, 2005. Lubbers, a former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, was appointed high commissioner in 2000 for a three-year term ending this year end. In extending Lubbers' term, the 191-member assembly acted on the recommendation of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In Geneva, Lubbers expressed appreciation for the continuing support and confidence of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the international community. "Our shared goal is to find solutions for the world's refugees and displaced," he said.
"We are now in the process of implementing a very wide-ranging set of internal and external initiatives that I believe will help us toward that goal and enable UNHCR to meet the many new challenges that lie ahead," he added.
Bureau Report