UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi opened the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva on Wednesday by calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Heads of states and representatives of UN agencies, humanitarian and development organizations and others convened at the event co-hosted by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the government of Switzerland.
“A major human catastrophe is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, and so far, the [UN] Security Council has failed to stop the violence,” Grandi said in his opening remarks at the forum.
“I cannot open the global refugee forum without first echoing the call of the United Nations secretary-general for an immediate and sustained humanitarian cease-fire,” he said.