A/RES/56/137 3. Reaffirms that the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol remain the foundation of the international refugee regime and recognizes the importance of their full application by States parties, notes with satisfaction that one hundred and forty-one States are now parties to one or both instruments, encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and States to strengthen their efforts to promote broader accession to those instruments and their full implementation, and underlines in particular the importance of full respect for the principle of non-refoulement; 4. Notes that fifty-three States are now parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons 6 and that twenty-five States are parties to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 7 and encourages the High Commissioner to continue his activities on behalf of stateless persons; 5. Welcomes the process of Global Consultations on International Protection launched by the Office of the High Commissioner, and acknowledges their importance as a forum for open discussion on complex legal and operational protection issues; 6. Reiterates that international protection is a dynamic and action-oriented function, carried out in cooperation with States and other partners, inter alia, to promote and facilitate the admission, reception and treatment of refugees and to ensure durable, protection-oriented solutions, bearing in mind the particular needs of vulnerable groups; 7. Re-emphasizes that the protection of refugees is primarily the responsibility of States, whose full and effective cooperation, action and political resolve are required to enable the Office of the High Commissioner to fulfil its mandated functions; 8. Urges all States and relevant non-governmental and other organizations, in conjunction with the Office of the High Commissioner, in a spirit of international solidarity and burden- and responsibility-sharing, to cooperate and to mobilize resources with a view to enhancing the capacity of States and reducing the heavy burden borne by them, in particular by developing countries and countries with economies in transition that have received large numbers of refugees and asylumseekers, and calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to play its catalytic role in mobilizing assistance from the international community to address the root causes as well as the economic, environmental and social impact of largescale refugee populations, especially in developing countries and countries with economies in transition; 9. Strongly reaffirms the fundamental importance and the purely humanitarian and non-political character of the function of the Office of the High Commissioner of providing international protection to refugees and seeking permanent solutions to refugee problems, recalls that these solutions include voluntary repatriation and, where appropriate and feasible, local integration and resettlement in a third country, reaffirming that voluntary repatriation remains the preferred solution, supported by necessary rehabilitation and development assistance, to facilitate sustainable reintegration; _______________ 6 7 2 Ibid., vol. 360, No. 5158. Ibid., vol. 989, No. 14458.