Multistakeholder Pledge: ReSolve - for Resilience and Solutions, a pledge for the Afghanistan Situation

Key outcomes

Commitments which form part of this multi-stakeholder pledge will contribute towards achieving access to expand solutions and enhance the resilience of displaced Afghans in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, and the communities hosting them. Specifically, it will do so through new financial, technical and policy pledges to enhance access to education and skills development, livelihoods, economic inclusion, and health services, along with resettlement and complementary pathways. This may be done through:

Background

The Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR), adopted by Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and UNHCR and endorsed by the international community in 2012, guides the regional approach to enable sustainable solutions for displaced Afghans. Its three strategic priorities are voluntary return, sustainable reintegration, and support for host countries. In practice, investments under the SSAR today prioritize an HDP nexus approach toward:

The Secretariat of the SSAR Support Platform, which was launched by the High Commissioner and the Governments of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan at the first Global Refugee Forum in 2019, has developed the multi-stakeholder ‘ReSolve’ pledge with a menu of pledge options that stakeholders can tailor based on specific interests, capacities and expertise.

Pledge description

The ‘ReSolve’ pledge for the Afghanistan situation advances the Global Compact’s principle of burden and responsibility-sharing through country-specific pledges for Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. See the full pledge concept in the links below.

The proposed pledges for Afghanistan aim to gather direct support for the people of Afghanistan, focusing on multisectoral, area-based interventions in education, health, community infrastructure, and livelihoods, with a special focus on women and girls. Pledge opportunities for Iran are aimed at supporting the country’s inclusive policies for refugees and asylum seekers in the areas of education and health; facilitating enhanced professional skills development; and enabling the departure of the most vulnerable refugees for third-country solutions. For Pakistan, potential pledges focus on support for education and skills development (particularly for women, girls and youth); access to quality healthcare under the national system; documentation, registration and disaggregated data; and clean energy.

The ‘ReSolve’ pledge specifically includes opportunities for stakeholders to support priorities or pledges identified by the Governments of Iran and Pakistan in order to facilitate Afghan refugees’ greater access to public services and protection, and to demonstrate solidarity with host communities. By matching the efforts of the Governments of Iran and Pakistan, the international community can translate the principle of responsibility sharing into action, providing a concrete and coordinated way for traditional and non-traditional partners to directly support the hospitality of these host countries.

• multisectoral, area-based interventions in education, health, community infrastructure, and livelihoods;
• supporting inclusive policies for refugees and asylum seekers in the areas of education and health;
• facilitating enhanced professional skills development; and enabling the departure of the most vulnerable refugees for third-country solutions;
• support for education and skills development (particularly for women, girls and youth);
• access to quality healthcare under the national system;
• documentation, registration and disaggregated data; and
• clean energy programmes.
  • creating conditions conducive to voluntary return through community-based investments in areas of return;
  • building refugee human capital through education and development of portable skills, linked to livelihood opportunities in Afghanistan; and
  • preserving protection and asylum space through support for refugee-hosting communities and expanded opportunities for resettlement and complementary pathways in third countries.

Leadership

• Members of the Core Group of the SSAR Support Platform
• Member States, other interested stakeholders and partners

Supported by UNHCR

Contact details

Jan de Bisschop, Policy Officer (SSAR Support Platform), [email protected]

Calendar

• 27 July: Introduction of the multi-stakeholder pledge for the Afghanistan situation to the Global Core Group of the SSAR Support Platform
• August – October: Discussions within local core groups and informal briefings as requested by any interested stakeholders
• 1 September: Presentation of the Resolve Pledge at the Third Formal Preparatory meeting of the GRF in Geneva
• 9-13 October: Convening with interested stakeholders during UNHCR’s ExCom to update on pledging process