Two of the most significant annual refugee-related conferences took place in Geneva earlier this month, and RefugePoint was very active in both.

First, on June 3-7, was the annual Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP, formerly the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement). In keeping with the name change, this year’s event was diverse and dynamic. The CRCP brought together NGOs, UNHCR, States, and other actors working on third country solutions, including resettlement, family reunification, labor mobility, and education pathways.

RefugePoint played a leading role in a number of sessions at the event. As Secretariat of the Global Family Reunification Network (FRUN), we hosted a meeting of stakeholders in the Multistakeholder Pledge to Support Refugee Family Reunification, from last year’s Global Refugee Forum (GRF). We also hosted, on behalf of the FRUN, a session on Building coordinated systems to support refugee access to family reunification. The first event was packed with people, and though the second had fewer participants, it was full of good ideas, positive energy, and a growing commitment to support refugee family reunification.

Also at the CRCP, RefugePoint was one of three speakers in a plenary session on follow-up from the Global Refugee Forum, recognizing the leading role we had played in the multistakeholder pledges on resettlement, family reunification, and labor mobility. We used the opportunity to highlight the important role that refugee-led organizations can play as the foundation of support systems for many pathways.

The following week, June 11-13, RefugePoint attended the annual UNHCR-NGO Consultations. This year, the theme of the Consultations was Inclusion, Solutions, and Gender Equality, which sits perfectly at the intersection of our work on refugee self-reliance in host countries and access to resettlement and other pathways.  

Simar Singh (our Chief Program Officer), spoke on one of the plenary panels on solution and inclusion, representing the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (which RefugePoint hosts). RefugePoint also moderated a session on Capacity building for complementary pathways and family reunification, which was one of the livelier sessions of the week, generating enough debate that many participants stayed long after the close of the session to continue the conversation. Lastly, we helped to facilitate small group discussions aimed at producing recommendations from the week for UNHCR’s Executive Committee at their annual meeting later this year.

Collectively, the two events highlighted RefugePoint’s growing leadership role across the whole range of our work, from host country solutions to third country solutions, and including important cross-cutting topics like meaningful refugee participation and partnerships with RLOs. Looking ahead, at UNHCR’s Executive Committee meeting in October, UNHCR’s governing body will issue a Conclusion (essentially, a joint statement of soft law) on the topic of Durable solutions and complementary pathways, and once again we will find our work at the center of important policy discussions. We look forward, as ever, to joining UNHCR, its Executive Committee, other leading NGOs and other stakeholders in these important discussions.