At his final United Nations General Assembly as U.S. president, Barack Obama faces an uphill battle to compel countries — including his own — to take action for the world’s refugees.
Obama’s Leaders’ Summit on Refugees is one of the headline sessions of this year’s 71st UNGA and a “centerpiece of the president’s trip,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told reporters by phone on Friday. The administration calls it an “action-forcing event,” meant to leverage the United States’ “unrivaled leadership in terms of humanitarian assistance,” to get other countries to do things they would not otherwise commit to doing, Power said.
In practice, that means the U.S. is pushing for commitments on humanitarian financing, resettlement, and host country conditions for refugees. Power expects pledges not just from big donors but also developing countries, where 80 percent of the world’s refugees reside.