Obama, in final visit to United Nations, to focus on refugees

USA TODAY3 hours ago

NEW YORK — President Obama will push world leaders to do more to meet the needs of the world's swelling throngs of refugees on Tuesday, telling the United Nations that the entire world has a responsibility to help families displaced by war and persecution.

"The gap between the funds that we have and the funds that we need remains enormous," Secretary of State John Kerry told the United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants Monday. "We would be even more satisfied if the need were ended."

The United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration Monday, signed by 193 nations, that calls on countries that can accept more refugees for resettlement to do so, and for wealthier nations to spend more on humanitarian aid. Kerry said Obama will call on leaders to go even further with specific commitments on Tuesday. "Make no mistake: Additional efforts are urgently needed," he said.

But refugee groups remained skeptical that the U.N. action — known as the New York declaration — was adequate.

"Let's not be fooled by what we heard at the United Nations today. Focus on what we did not hear," said Nobel laureate and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai. "The declaration does not include any new, substantive commitments for refugees. Away from the cameras, in refugee camps and roadways, in boats and out of school around the globe, the world’s refugee children were hoping for more. They deserve more."

The refugee issue tops Obama's agenda during his three-day trip to New York this week — a visit that will also provide one of his final opportunities to to define his legacy on the world stage, touting progress made on climate and nuclear non-proliferation.

He'll also talk to world leaders about the civil war in Syria, Russian occupation of Ukraine, and North Korea's nuclear tests. And bombings in New York and New Jersey also underscored the urgency of the global fight against the Islamic State.

The instability in Syria and Iraq is a root cause of both the terror threat and flood of refugees fleeing the Middle East and North Africa, which has been called the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

"From Syria alone, nearly 5 million refugees have crossed the Syrian border trying to seek safety from barrel bombs and chemical weapons attacks and terrorist attacks," said Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "And all of these individuals, every one of these numbers, is a face and a person with a family. They are facing very uncertain futures and they’re looking to the rest of the world and to the U.N., of course, for help."

With more than 65 million people displaced from their homes around the world, Obama will convene a Refugee Summit on Tuesday with leaders from Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden. The Obama administration hopes to secure agreements to pay for food aid and to double the number of refugees resettled in third countries each year.

The Obama administration itself has signaled it will raise the worldwide limit on the number of refugees entering the U.S. to 110,000 next year, up from 85,000 this year. Officials have not said how many will come from Syria.

Also on Tuesday, Obama will deliver his eighth and final speech — as president — to the United Nations General Assembly, and is expected to talk about the progress made on global issues during his presidency.

In his first speech in 2009. he acknowledged that he was "well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world."

"Every moment is unique," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said Friday. "At that time, a lot of the focus on U.S. foreign policy was tied to the fact that we had 180,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, it's obviously very different. The question is what are the approaches that we're taking to deal with different challenges, and that's what he'll lay out in the speech."

Away from the United Nations General Assembly chamber, Obama will also spend the week conducting one-on-one diplomacy with leaders of China, Iraq, Nigeria, Israel and Colombia.

The meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a late addition to the schedule, might be the last sit-down between the two leaders, whose relationship has been fraught with tension over the years.

But the meeting comes a week after the two nations signed a new 10-year defense agreement that will provide Israel with $38 billion in U.S. aid, the single largest pledge of military assistance in U.S. history. They'll also discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iran nuclear deal, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Sunday.

Obama's first order of business upon arriving in New York Sunday was appearing at a $25,000-and-up fund-raiser for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. He also appeared at a fundraiser for Senate Democrats at a luncheon Monday.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/19/obama-final-visit-united-nations-focus-refugees/90624454/
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yep,the Collectivist loves that Collectivist Body!

It may not be his final trip there. Can you say Secretary General Barack
Obama?

Thank you! One more person that sees the light.

http://i50.tinypic.com/34pdtzb.jpg

United Nations Heritage Sites!
NOT United States Heritagesites any longer!

Yep, you can thank Wild Willie for turning our national parks, waterways, and monuments over to UN control.

Visit any of them and you will see the UN designation plaques on the entrances somewhere

example....

http://www.theeverythingpages.org/blog/smoky-mountains-national-park-world-heritage-biosphere-reserve-research-meanings-u-s-national-parks-2/

no, that was obarry... bush had the UN out of the US when he was prez...

Wrong!

A comprehensive government website on the UNESCO and United States MAB or Man And the Biosphere Program (establishing an extensive biosphere reserve system across the US, including Yellowstone) as embraced and being implemented by the Clinton Administration under "ecosystem management/sustained yield" can be found at the National Biological Service site http://www.nbs.gov/nbii/mab/ This is all part of the biodiversity treaty approved by Clinton, but never approved by Congress.

http://iahushua.com/WOI/biosphere.html

maybe so, but i could have sworn bush had them all but outa the US when he got so mad at them...