The Global Refugee Forum & RefugePoint’s Involvement

The Global Refugee Forum will take place in Geneva, Switzerland from December 13 to December 15, 2023.

What is the Global Refugee Forum?

The Global Refugee Forum (GRF) is the world’s largest gathering in support of refugees and the communities that host them. Held once every four years in Geneva, Switzerland, it is attended by heads of state, leaders across the refugee space, national and international NGOs, refugees themselves, and many more. The first-ever GRF was held in 2019. 

How does the Global Refugee Forum actually help refugees?

The GRF is a space for governments, leaders, NGOs, and more to make pledges, or commitments, in support of refugees and the communities that host them. Pledges can be financial, material, technical, or other (like policy commitments), and fall into one of four key areas:

• Easing pressures on host countries
• Strengthening refugee self-reliance*
• Increasing access to third-country solutions such as resettlement, family reunification, labor, mobility, and other pathways*
• Supporting conditions in countries of origin that allow refugees to return home safely 

RefugePoint’s mission and programmatic work align directly with the two starred key areas above: refugee self-reliance and third-country solutions. 

What happened at the 2019 GRF? Was RefugePoint involved?

The 2019 GRF resulted in over 1400 pledges. RefugePoint made two of those pledges:

• In partnership with Focusing Philanthropy, to provide resettlement and complementary pathways casework capacity in priority situations in Africa and the Middle East. 
• In partnership with the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative and 14 other agencies, to advance refugee self-reliance through measurement, programming, and advocacy. 
• RefugePoint also hosted a spotlight session at the 2019 GRF on refugee self-reliance.

Earlier this year, we proudly reported that we will have successfully achieved our 2019 resettlement pledge by the end of this year, having helped roughly 3,000 refugees access third-country solutions during the life of the pledge.

Photo from the 2019 Global Refugee Forum

What’s new for the 2023 Global Refugee Forum?

This year, rather than thousands of individual pledges, UNHCR has identified roughly 40 pre-existing initiatives in which major actors have come together to create multistakeholder pledges (sometimes also known as megapledges) that are broader in reach and more transformational in scope.

Has RefugePoint contributed to any pledges? 

RefugePoint is heavily involved in, and is in some cases leading, several of the multistakeholder pledges to be shared at the 2023 GRF, including those in our two key areas of involvement:

• Refugee Self-Reliance: Multistakeholder pledge on economic inclusion and social protection (in collaboration with The Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative)
• Third-Country Solutions:
  • The Multistakeholder pledge on resettlement, for which RefugePoint is a co-chair with the Government of Australia and UNHCR.
  • The Multistakeholder pledge supporting refugee family reunification, led by the Global Family Reunification Network, of which RefugePoint is a member and advisor.
  • The Multistakeholder pledge on refugee labor mobility, led by the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility, of which RefugePoint is a member.

How else will RefugePoint be involved during the 2023 GRF?

As RefugePoint’s involvement in pledges for the 2023 GRF has grown, so has our involvement in crafting the program of the events of the GRF itself. This year, RefugePoint is helping to plan  multiple high-level events in our key areas of involvement, and has helped put forth several refugee speakers to share their experiences during plenary sessions.  

Events RefugePoint is helping to plan at the GRF:

• Refugee Self-Reliance:
  • A High-Level Event on economic inclusion for refugees
  • A High-Level Event  on social protection for refugees 
• Third-Country Solutions:
  • A High-Level Event on resettlement
  • A High-Level Event on labor mobility
  • An evening reception on labor mobility. 
  • A “Speakers Corner” on family reunification.
  • An evening reception on family reunification.

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