ICVA and UNHCR Leadership meet in Geneva ahead of the Refugee Convention's 75th Anniversary

ICVA Executive Director Dr. Jamie Munn met with UNHCR’s High Commissioner H.E. Dr. Barham Salih in Geneva today for a timely exchange, as forced displacement reaches record levels and the 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention approaches.

The conversation covered ground that matters:

🔷 The important role of NGOs, particularly women and refugee led organisations, as strategic partners, not just implementers, a theme that is central to the upcoming UNHCR-NGO Global Consultations.

🔷Rising forced displacement and reduced funding - Shared concern about deteriorating emergency situations, and continued risks facing people in protracted contexts.

🔷 Durable solutions — High Commissioner Salih has set an ambitious target: reduce the number of refugees in protracted displacement reliant on humanitarian assistance by 50% by 2035. NGOs support this goal — and the focus on education and self-reliance that underpins it.

🔷 Accelerating localisation — a shared priority to meaningfully fund and elevate local and national NGOs, especially those led by refugees and women.

🔷 75th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention — Dr. Munn reaffirmed ICVA's commitment to marking this milestone alongside UNHCR, as a collective moment to remind the world: we must continue to deliver on the promise to protect people forced to flee persecution

Sixty years of partnership between ICVA and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency rests on a simple conviction: protecting people forced to flee requires collective action. That conviction is needed now more than ever.