The responsibility for finding solutions for refugees doesn’t fall to just one sector, organization, or government. States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), academia, members of civil society, refugees, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) all play important roles in identifying and pursuing solutions for refugees.
Every two years, UNHCR and NGOs meet in Geneva for UNHCR’s Global Consultations with NGOs. The Consultations bring together more than 500 representatives from local, national, and international NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs), organizations led by displaced and stateless persons, and members of the senior leadership team of UNHCR. At the Consultations, representatives network, debate on global and regional themes, and explore collaborations on advocacy and operational issues.
The 2024 Global Consultations are happening this week (June 11-13) in Geneva. Four representatives from RefugePoint, including Martin Anderson (Chief of Policy and Practice), Patrick Guyer (Associate Director, Monitoring, Evaluation And Learning), Simar Singh (Chief Program Officer), will be participating and connecting with many of our key NGO and UNHCR partners.
Additionally, Simar Singh will be speaking on behalf of the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (RSRI) as part of a plenary session on solutions and inclusion. The session will aim to highlight the value that displaced and stateless people provide to the national economy and community. The session will also provide concrete examples of how to strengthen programming to enable inclusion, self-reliance, and their links to solutions.
RefugePoint is also co-hosting a side event, along with UNHCR, moderated by Marty Anderson, which will explore the important role that NGOs and refugee-led organizations (RLOs) play in improving access to complementary pathways, like family reunification and labor mobility. Marty also served on the Steering Committee for this year’s NGO Consultations.
The theme of this year’s Consultations, which is solutions, inclusion and gender equality, is especially relevant to RefugePoint’s work and mission. At their core, all of our efforts on self-reliance and resettlement and complementary pathways, are about fostering refugee inclusion and supporting refugee access to solutions.