UN General Assembly
1983

231. The first International Conference on Assistance to Refugees in Africa, held in 1980, made it possible to undertake a preliminary study—obviously incomplete— of all aspects of this vast problem. The second conference, to be held next July at Geneva, should provide an opportunity to go beyond emergency planning and mere survival and to conceive lasting solutions. 232. This is yet another area in which the regional and subregional approach is of particular value, because it makes it possible to take into account the specific nature of problems that do not occur in the same guise in all parts of the world. In Africa, for example, refugees do not as a rule wander beyond the territory neighbouring their home country. 233. Hence, co-operation among neighbouring countries is the best way to create conditions for a satisfactory and long-term settlement of the problem, either through repatriation to the home country or through integration into the host country. In this respect, development projects designee to strengthen the infrastructure of host countries are of particular importance.