More than ever, ensuring refugees’ access to durable solutions requires concerted efforts and shared responsibility among all stakeholders. This paper aims to contribute to this objective by developing a better understanding of how local solutions may contribute to offering additional avenues to durable solutions for refugees.

Two years ago, at the first Global Refugee Forum, ICVA pledged to support NGOs’ engagement in the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees. In line with the priorities of the 2021 High-Level Officials Meeting, this written contribution aims at outlining progress achieved in implementing this pledge, while the contribution also briefly looks at the future.

The Global Compact on Refugees is a framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing, recognizing that a sustainable solution to refugee situations cannot be achieved without international cooperation.

It provides a blueprint for governments, international organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure that host communities get the support they need and that refugees can lead productive lives.

It constitutes a unique opportunity to transform the way the world responds to refugee situations, benefiting both refugees and the communities that host them.

The New York Declaration calls for the development of two new global “compacts”  adopted by the UN General Assembly in late 2018, one on refugees, the other for safe, orderly and regular migration.

• What is the Global Compact on Refugees?
• Why should we care about it?
• How is it being developed?
• What does it hope to achieve?
• How relevant is it to NGOs and how can you participate?

In 2018, ICVA coordinated the drafting and delivery of 20 NGO statements on the Global Compact on Refugees, presented by NGO representatives during the formal consultations organised by UNHCR from February to July.

Click arrow to find the statements submitted by NGOs, and detailed notes of the consultations.

The INTERSOS-ICVA webinar on Fostering protection and durable solutions through legal aid in humanitarian settings was held on 4 March 2021.

28-29 October 2019 in Brussels

The high-level International Solidarity Conference organized by the European Union, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration on 28-29 October in Brussels aimed to mobilise support in addressing the refugee and migrant crisis, demonstrate solidarity of the international community to the affected host countries and increase international support for a regional and coordinated response.

In this sense, through NGO networks (ICVA, InterAction, and Voice), NGOs worldwide and particularly those active in Latin America and the Caribbean region developed the following joint NGO statement on “Ensuring solidarity with displaced Venezuelans: supporting countries and communities hosting and protecting them”.

High-Level Meeting on the Support Platform for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees  was held on 6 July 2020.

You can watch the meeting recording, or find more information on the SSAR Platform website.

Below are NGO documents related to the meeting.

Statement delivered on behalf of the Asia Displacement Solutions Platform and the International Council of Voluntary Agencies during the Global Refugee Forum, The Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) Support Platform: ‘Showing Resilience, Seeking Solutions’, High-Level Event at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, Wednesday 13 December 2023.

NGO statements issued during the first, second and third preparatory meetings for the Global Refugee Forum in February, May and September 2023.

The first Global Refugee Forum took place on 16 (advance session), 17 and 18 December 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland and brought the international community together to demonstrate solidarity with the world’s refugees and the countries and communities that host them.

In May 2020, UNHCR launched a mechanism for tracking pledges implementation and requesting stakeholders to provide relevant updates on their pledges. ICVA submitted information for this follow-up process and invites its members and other stakeholders to contribute to this major element of the accountability system embededed in the Compact and the Forum.

Co-sponsoring arrangements

At the first Global Refugee Forum on 17-18 December in  Geneva in Switzerland, multi-stakeholders including Member States, NGOs, refugees, academics, the private sector could become co-sponsors.

For this purpose, UNHCR opened co-sponsoring meetings for the six areas of focus on Arrangements for burden- and responsibility-sharing, Education, Jobs and livelihoods, Energy and infrastructure, Solutions and Protection capacity.

More information can be found on UNHCR’s webpage. 

NGO statments and meeting snotes for the Preparatory meetings with UNHCR for the Global Refugee forum.

Meetings :

• First preparatory meeting  29 March 2019, Geneva
• Second preparatory meeting 25 June 2019, Geneva
• Third preparatory meeting 14 November 2019, Geneva

NGOs delivered statements at the UNCHR informal briefings on the Global refugee forum.

• Second informal briefing – 11 June 2020
• Third informal briefing – 28 September 2020
• Fourth informal briefing – 14 December 2020

The concept note and the summary of the meeting organised by World Vision Zambia and ICVA focused on ‘Advancing local integration in Zambia.’ It linked to a 2019 Global Refugee Forum pledge from the Government of the Republic of Zambia.

NGO statement delivered at the High-Level Officials Meeting (14-15 December 2021)

UNHCR-NGO 2023 Online Consultations

In 2023, ICVA and UNHCR Partnership and Coordination Service co-organized a series of Online Consultations with NGOs. These consultations served as a follow-up to the online NGO Consultations that began in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Online Consultations complement the UNHCR-NGO Global Consultations, which are held every two years, with the next edition scheduled for 2024.

Notes from UNHCR-NGO Quarterly Consultations

UNHCR-NGO 2022 Quarterly Consultations

Following up on the model of weekly/monthly NGO Consultations held in 2020 and 2021, and as a complement to the UNHCR-NGO Global Consultations to be held in June 2022, the UNHCR Partnership and Coordination Service (UNHCR/PCS) and ICVA co-organize a series of Quarterly Consultations with NGOs in 2022.

Notes from UNHCR-NGO Monthly Consultations

The UNHCR High Commissioner’s dialogue on Protection Challenges 2022 was held from 7-8 December 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland. The theme was “From Dialogue to Action”.  Over 500 participants convened for the meeting.

The NGO statement delivered at the meeting was on the theme of development cooperation to advance protection, inclusion, and solutions for displaced and stateless persons.

The summary of the outcome document is also available English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.

The Digital Resources Hub: Development Cooperation contains a compilation of content on development cooperation shared by stakeholders in preparation for the 2022 High Commissioner’s Dialogue.  More materials and information related to the 2022 High Commissioner’s Dialogue are available on the Dialogue’s website.

The 2020 High Commissioner’s Dialogue was a series of five virtual sessions held between 21 October and 9 December 2020 around the theme Protection and Resilience during Pandemics.

More information can be found on the UNHCR website:

https://www.unhcr.org/high-commissioners-dialogue-on-protection-challenges-2020

The 2018 High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges took place on 18 and 19 December 2018 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, under the theme Protection and solutions in urban settings: engaging with cities

The two days of discussions were dedicated to the protection and assistance of refugees, IDPs and stateless persons in urban settings, with a particular focus on cities.

For more information check out the UNHCR website: https://www.unhcr.org/high-commissioners-dialogue-on-protection-challenges-2018.html

The 2017 High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges took place on 12 and 13 December 2017 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland under the theme ” Towards a Global Compact on Refugees”

More information can be found on the UNHCR website https://www.unhcr.org/high-commissioners-dialogue-on-protection-challenges-2017.html

The 2016 High Commissioner’s Dialogue was held in Geneva from 8-9 December 2016, under the theme “Children on the Move”.

More information can be found on the UNHCR website https://www.unhcr.org/high-commissioners-dialogue-on-protection-challenges-2016.html

The annotated agenda, concept note and background paper  for the 2010 High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges, with the theme of “Protection Gaps and Responses.”

Notes on UNHCR Consultations with NGOs on preparedness and response to COVID-19

UNHCR’s 2nd briefing on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic held on 3 June 2020.

UNHCR’s 1st briefing on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic held on 22 April 2020.

The High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement, established by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in 2019, submitted its official report in September 2021, which led to the release of the Action Agenda on Internal Displacement in June 2022. The action plan focuses on three main goals, which are to help IDPs find a durable solution to their displacement, better prevent new displacement crises from emerging, and ensure effective protection and assistance for those facing displacement.

Click on the link below to read more on the Action Agenda Explainer.

Notes of ICVA and InterAction exchanges between their members and The Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement, Mr. Robert Piper.

Notes of different meetings of the High Level Panel on internal displacement and NGOs.

ICVA has worked to keep its members closely informed of the developments leading to the launching of a High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement and stepped in to ensure the Panel, its Secretariat and the Expert Advisory Group benefit from inputs from NGOs and civil society at large.

Below are NGO statements, coordinated by ICVA, on the High Level Panel on Internal Displacement:

In this letter, InterAction and ICVA, alongside a coalition of 25 NGO signatories, urge U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to take immediate action in implementing the recommendations outlined in the report that are within his direct scope of influence and leadership.

The global compact for migration is the first, intergovernmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was formally endorsed by the UN General Assembly on 19 December 2018.

29-30 October, Istanbul, Turkey

The fifth annual IOM-NGO Humanitarian Consultation took place on 29-30 October 2019, Istanbul, Turkey.

The Consultation brought together some 60 participants from IOM and humanitarian NGOs. The overarching theme was humanitarian access in emergencies and protracted crises, with a focus on the MENA region but including relevant discussions from other regions for experience sharing and learning. The discussions delved into good practice in leveraging our respective strengths to improve humanitarian coverage in volatile and insecure environments and reach those most in need.

• Outline
• Logistics Note
• Executive Summary
• Consultation report

IOM and NGOs gathered in Geneva on 25 September 2018, to deliberate on the following topics:

1. Addressing internal displacement in protracted crises through the triple nexus of humanitarian, development and peace
2. IOM-NGO complementarities in protection
3. Transitional justice and internal displacement.

The 2017 IOM- NGO humanitarian consultations took place in Nairobi,  Kenya, on 11-12 September 2017.

The consultations convened under the theme of complementarity, coherence, and collaboration, provided an opportunity for IOM and humanitarian NGO partners to deliberate on the topics of 1) Internal Displacement and durable solutions for IDPs; 2) Mixed Migration – Addressing the needs of migrants in vulnerable situations; 3) IOM-NGO Partnership in Cluster Coordination; and 4) Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).

The 2016 IOM-NGO consultations took place in Geneva, Switzerland on 13 June 2016.

IOM and NGOs looked at the overarching theme of humanitarian partnership, which had become a key element of IOM’s humanitarian policy (adopted by the Organization’s Council in late 2015).

The first IOM-NGO consultations were held on 30 June 2015, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The consultation had three clear objectives:

1. To provide a platform for discussion and partnership development between IOM & NGOs.
2. To further engage partners in the ongoing development of IOM’s Principles for Humanitarian action (PHA).
3. To identify possible ways forward in partnership between IOM and Humanitarian NGOs.

This is an initiative of ICVA, Civil Society Action Committee and the International Migrants Bill of Rights (IMBR) at Cornell University to provided a learning program for NGO staff working on migration. The concept note and the outlines of the sessions can be found below.

International Migration Law open session on advocacy strategies for promoting migrant’s rights.