24 Pledges 2011 - Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons Theme of the Pledge Providing safe access to the territory States/Groups of States/Organizations making a pledge Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali and Rwanda Americas: Mexico Europe: Greece and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Example of pledges Ethiopia: "Ethiopia is committed to maintain its open-door asylum policy to refugees seeking protection and assistance in its territory." Respecting international Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, refugee principles Lesotho, the Sudan and Uganda Americas: Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Asia and the Pacific: Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan Europe: Belgium, France, Greece and Latvia Middle East and North Africa: Israel, Morocco, Qatar and Tunisia International Organizations: African Union Kazakhstan: “Kazakhstan is firmly committed to its obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, it will remain an active partner of the UNHCR in the region and will expand cooperation in order to improve the situation of refugees and stateless persons.” Addressing the needs of Africa: Burundi, Kenya and urban refugees South Africa Americas: Costa Rica and the United States of America Burundi: “Take urban refugees into account in urban planning as well as in strategies to reduce poverty and disaster risk.” 1.1 Women and children Particular attention was given to the situation of women and girls. Women and girls, as well as children, are particularly vulnerable in situations of acute crisis. Recognizing the importance of the problem, the High Commissioner António Guterres made the following pledge during the Ministerial Intergovernmental Event: “I would therefore like to express in this conference a pledge of my own. I will do everything possible to uphold and strengthen UNHCR’s corporate commitment to address sexual and gender-based violence and to support States in ensuring access of survivors to justice. In 2012, we will use savings obtained as a result of our internal reform process to launch a series of special projects aiming at reinforcing our efforts to address the specific threats and vulnerabilities faced by the women and girls of concern to UNHCR.”