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12 June 2005

 

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Thinking out of the box on RSD

In her letter of 11 May 2005, my good friend Barbara Harrell-Bond seems to have misunderstood my response to the NGO call for an independent evaluation that "should recommend rights-based RSD procedures to be followed consistently by all field protection officers with a mechanism to ensure their implementation.”

 

In questioning this proposal, my intention was not to cast doubt upon the need for rights-based procedures.  It was simply to leave open the possibility for an independent evaluation to conclude that UNHCR protection officers should not  be given responsibility for making RSD decisions. 

 

The purpose of independent evaluations is (and excuse the clichéd phrase) "to think outside the box,” and in this case, it might be appropriate to examine radical alternatives to UNHCR's current and widely criticized involvement in the procedure. 

 

 

Jeff Crisp

Director of Policy and Research,

Global Commission on International Migration

 

Former Head of Evaluation and Policy Analysis,

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

 

 

 

 

 

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