The 2025 Global Refugee Forum Progress Review: What’s Been Achieved So Far?

This week marks the 2025 Global Refugee Forum Progress Review in Geneva, Switzerland: a time for the international community to take stock of our progress on the pledges that we made at the Global Refugee Forum in 2023.

RefugePoint made four pledges at the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in 2023, on economic inclusion and social protection, resettlement, family reunification, and labor mobility.

Despite the challenging context this year, we are proud to report that we have made progress toward achieving the goals outlined in all four pledges.

Related: Read more about RefugePoint’s role in the 2023 Global Refugee Forum

Self-Reliance and the Economic Inclusion and Social Protection Pledge

The Multistakeholder Pledge: Economic Inclusion and Social Protection was coordinated by the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (RSRI), a strategic initiative of RefugePoint and co-founded with the Women’s Refugee Commission, in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the governments of Denmark, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United States of America, as well as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa. This was the largest pledge presented at the GRF and comprises 234 partners, including over 70 governments, and over a billion dollars in funding.

Goal: The pledge aims to:

1. Support at least 15 States to adopt and/or strengthen laws and policies supporting economic inclusion and social protection.
2. Reach one million refugees, forcibly displaced and stateless people, and members of host communities with holistic economic inclusion and broader social protection programming.
3. Expand quality data and evidence to promote effective programs and policies for economic inclusion and social protection.

Progress Made on Economic Inclusion and Social Protection Since 2023

According to a recent stocktaking report on behalf of the pledge and its members, key progress points include:

• At least 11 States have adopted or strengthened inclusive laws and policies.
• Over 500,000 refugees have been reached with holistic programming linking social inclusion to economic protection
• An expanding evidence base includes 20 research products completed, including refugee-led studies, and 13 learning events hosted by pledge partners.
• Evidence that inclusive, locally adapted, and rights-based approaches from Armenia, Brazil, Mexico, and the Poverty Alleviation Coalition (PAC) are delivering results.
• The launch of a new Donor Working Group to build on the momentum of the pledge.

For more detailed information about progress toward the pledge, read the latest stocktaking report by clicking here.

In Kenya, RefugePoint specifically has supported more than 2,700 urban refugees and Kenyan nationals facing extreme vulnerabilities through tailored, holistic services that set them on a path to self-reliance.

Related: Read the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative’s key messages and calls to action for the GRF Progress Review.

Resettlement

RefugePoint co-chaired the Friends of Resettlement group that mobilized the Multistakeholder Resettlement Pledge along with the Government of Australia and the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees (APNOR).

Goal: The multistakeholder pledge seeks to resettle one million refugees by 2030 by targeting legal and policy reform to support new and scaled-up resettlement programs that are sustainable, respond to identified needs, and have maximum protection impact. Through our own pledge, RefugePoint aims to:

• Support this collective global goal by submitting at least 6,400 refugees for resettlement in safe third countries
• Provide funding, training, and technical assistance on resettlement referrals to at least 5 local partner organizations to support their ability to submit refugees for resettlement.

Progress Made on Resettlement Since 2023

Through our Nairobi program and our Experts working in UNHCR operations around the world, RefugePoint has helped more than 31,600 refugees to access resettlement during the past two years. Together with our partners, including UNHCR, we are creating systems to support NGOs to identify refugees in need of resettlement and refer them to governments for resettlement consideration. We have supported 4 civil society partners in 2 countries to establish and grow their own identification and referral programs, while providing technical assistance and training to another 58 resettlement partners worldwide.

In a blow to refugees worldwide who are waiting for long-term safety and stability, global resettlement opportunities have decreased sharply this year, from 189,000 refugees resettled in 2024 to likely fewer than 30,000 in 2025. To further compound the issue, equity in resettlement opportunities has decreased significantly. RefugePoint and its partners are committed to working with governments, refugees, and other key stakeholders to continue to champion resettlement for humanitarian purposes and to advance the commitments outlined in the multistakeholder pledge.

RefugePoint staff at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum: Jacob Bonyo (Chief Administrative Officer & Country Director, Kenya Office), Alexis Felder (Director of Communications), Simar Singh (Chief Program Officer), Martin Anderson (Director of International Programs), Amy Slaughter (Senior Advisor), Sasha Chanoff (Founder, CEO)

Family Reunification

RefugePoint is the Secretariat of the Global Family Reunification Network (FRUN) and is a member of the FRUN Advisory Group. RefugePoint is also a co-lead of the Multistakeholder Pledge Supporting Family Reunification, working closely with the 40 members who comprise the pledge community to support fulfillment of their commitments.

Goal: The multistakeholder pledge supporting family reunification seeks to help at least 1 million refugees reunite with their families by 2030 by addressing legal and policy barriers, providing practical supports to overcome administrative and logistical hurdles, and gathering data and evidence on the need for and impact of family reunification. RefugePoint pledged to contribute to this collective global goal by directly assisting at least 1,500 refugees in accessing family reunification and by providing funding, training, and technical assistance to at least 5 local partner organizations as they build their own family reunification programs.

Progress Made in Family Reunification Since 2023

RefugePoint is making good progress and is on track to meet its family reunification pledge commitments. Our team in Kenya and our Experts working at UNHCR offices around the world have helped nearly 700 refugees pursue family reunification over the past two years. We’ve shared learning and strengthened capacity for family reunification with 6 partners to date, including 1 local partner organization that will receive multi-year funding and technical assistance from RefugePoint as they build their own family reunification program. By the end of 2027, we expect to have several other funded partners, including multiple refugee-led organizations.

The FRUN Advisory Group tracks progress made on the broader multistakeholder pledge to support refugee family reunification. Recently, the FRUN published its 2024 annual progress report. Key progress points include:

1. There was quantitative progress in direct family reunification services: pledge partners supported 8,165 individual refugees and 3,535 families with family reunification services in 2024.
2. Globally, there was a significant increase in refugee family permits granted, and notable policy and regulatory improvements from governments.
3. Meaningful advances in coordinated case support and information sharing allowed for better communication, collaboration, and access to accurate information.
4. Pledge partners reported stronger and more coordinated civil society advocacy to influence national policies.
5. Strategic litigation and pro bono legal support grew: cases addressed systemic barriers such as lack of identity documents due to statelessness, asylum seeker status, refusal of states to recognize certain passports, and onerous evidentiary requirements.
6. Legal training and capacity-building deepened across the network.
7. Community mobilization helped overcome restrictions and raise awareness.

To read more about progress toward the family reunification goals outlined in the pledge, click here.

Labor Mobility

Labor Mobility, or the ability for refugees to permanently relocate to a third country through work-based visas, is a major component of the Multistakeholder Pledge on Skills-Based Complementary Pathways. RefugePoint is a founding member of the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility, which led the multistakeholder pledge in 2023 along with the Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways.

Goal: The multistakeholder pledge seeks to increase opportunities for refugees to access labor mobility and education pathways, with at least 200,000 refugees accessing skills-based pathways. It also aims to promote inclusion of family unity provisions in policymaking, ensure support is provided to help refugees navigate complex immigration processes for labor and education pathways, and encourage and assist employers to hire refugees through labor mobility pathways. RefugePoint’s pledge toward this collective global goal is to assist at least 1,200 refugees with labor mobility referrals and to support capacity strengthening for at least 5 local partner organizations working on refugee labor mobility. Additionally, RefugePoint pledged to engage in labor mobility with at least one new departure or destination country beyond Kenya and Canada.

Progress Made on Labor Mobility Since 2023

Within its labor mobility program in Kenya and through its Experts working in UNHCR offices around the world, RefugePoint continues to identify refugee candidates for open positions and works together with governments, partners such as Talent Beyond Boundaries, and employers to facilitate referrals for job opportunities. In Kenya, RefugePoint screens candidates both in urban settings and throughout Kakuma and Dadaab Refugee Camps to identify candidates whose qualifications match current openings and refer them for job matching with prospective employers in third countries. RefugePoint also assists with CVs, language proficiency exams, and interview preparation. Through these efforts, RefugePoint has referred nearly 500 refugees for jobs in third countries over the past two years, and supported 33 individuals (62 including family members) to safely relocate to Canada for work.

Outside of Kenya, Labor Mobility program staff have held capacity sharing sessions with 2 partner organizations and have consulted with UNHCR Burundi, aiming to support them as they strive to implement a labor mobility program in that country. RefugePoint’s Experts have also worked to advance education and skills-based pathways: in Ethiopia, an Expert initiated a Complementary Pathways Working Group focused on education and labor mobility.

Since the 2023 GRF, RefugePoint has partnered with several new employers and also referred a cohort of candidates for labor mobility opportunities in Belgium. While those candidates did not meet the strict requirements under that pathway, RefugePoint is advocating for flexibility, pursuing possibilities for training and upskilling to help candidates meet the requirements of various pathways, and exploring other destination country options. Additionally, last month, RefugePoint held an Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot recruitment event in Kenya in partnership with Talent Beyond Boundaries and Fragomen.
Related: 5 Key Takeaways from the 2023 Global Refugee Forum

Bahati Maganjo, Technical Advisor, Refugee Leadership and Refugee-Centered Programming at RefugePoint, attends a panel entitled, “Meaningful refugee participation in practice: Scaling impact and shaping the path forward.“

Meaningful Refugee Participation and Localization

RefugePoint did not join the multistakeholder pledges on meaningful refugee participation and localization in 2023, though we recently have. Instead, we conscientiously integrated relevant goals into all our pledges, reflecting our belief that these activities should be considered core features of all programming, not separate, sidelined workstreams. To that end, we have provided grants and capacity support to over a dozen refugee-led organizations and other local civil society partners to support their goals, including to expand programming, refugee-led research, and refugee leadership in global policy settings. We consider these initiatives to be central features of our work in pursuit of solutions for refugees.

Indeed, we think of ourselves as partners with refugees, helping them achieve their goals and position themselves for success now and in the future. In the process, we aim to demonstrate how a refugee-centered approach can advance all solutions and yield benefits for all stakeholders.

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