7 ways forcibly displaced, stateless persons, and their organizations can actively engage in the GRF Progress Review 2025

1. Join a multi-stakeholder pledge or make an individual pledge

Pledges are commitments by States and other stakeholders — such as NGOs, development actors, cities,  businesses, academics, and refugees themselves — to provide financial, material, technical, policy, or other support that helps achieve the Global Compact on Refugees’ objectives and bring positive change to refugees and host communities. They can be made individually or through multi-stakeholder pledges are pledges with a large-scale reach, working towards an ambitious common goal. At the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) 2023, 47 multi-stakeholder pledges were announced. Based on evaluations of their participation after the GRF 2023, forcibly displaced and stateless persons evaluated their contributions to pledges as one of the most meaningful aspects of their participation. Currently, around half of the multi-stakeholder pledges benefit from participation of forcibly displaced or stateless persons or their organizations, for example contributing as:

• pledge advisors (for instance members of the Refugee Expert Group to the UN Common Pledge 2.0  or the Refugee Advisory Group to the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways for the Resettlement Multi-stakeholder Pledge),
• pledging entities (as it’s the case for the Girl Power’s pledge (GRF-09701) under the Sport for Inclusion and Protection multi-stakeholder pledge), or
• pledge co-leads (such as Migration Inc. who is part of the Supporting Refugee Family Reunification Multi-stakeholder Pledge).

Discover the 47 thematic and regional multi-stakeholder pledges and reach out to the respective Pledge’s contact person indicated if you think you or your organizational profile can contribute to the pledge.

You can submit your own individual organizational pledge and you can link it to one of the multi-stakeholder pledges, if it contributes to the overall objective of the respective multi-stakeholder pledge.

Read the guidance on meaningful participation in the implementation of pledges which includes many examples of ways that refugees can engage in the pledge process.

2. Contribute to the drafting of the Global Refugee Statement

During the GRF Progress Review 2025, a refugee will present the Global Refugee Statement, which will deliver strategic messages identified by forcibly displaced and stateless persons to key leaders in matters of refugee policy. The drafting process of this statement is led by the Advisory Board of Organizations led by Forcibly Displaced and Stateless Persons and will include online consultations with the wider community of forcibly displaced and stateless persons across the globe.

If you are interested in being included in the consultations on the draft text, please add your email address in this simple form.

By way of example, see the full version of the GRF 2023 Joint Refugee Statement in English, Spanish, French, and Arabic, and the List of endorsing organizations.

3. Engage with the Meaningful Refugee Participation Multi-Stakeholder Pledge and its co-leads

Originally launched in 2019 in the lead-up to the first Global Refugee Forum, the Pledge aims to galvanize cooperation and support for meaningful refugee participation in policymaking processes. The co-leads of the pledge, including three refugee-led organizations, are driving various efforts aimed at increasing meaningful participation of forcibly displaced and stateless persons in decisions that affect their lives, including through mainstreaming of meaningful participation across all multi-stakeholder pledges, training to pledging entities, progress reporting on MRP-pledges, and much more.

Learn more by consulting their pledge page.

4. Advocate for States and other stakeholders to include forcibly displaced and stateless advisors in their delegation

At the first Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in 2019, Canada led by example and included the first refugee advisor in their government delegation. Following this example, the second GRF in 2023 saw 14 States include one or more forcibly displaced and stateless persons in their official delegations, many of them acting in the role of advisors. UNHCR strongly encourages stakeholders, particularly governments, to include forcibly displaced and stateless advisors in their delegations to attend the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025. Advisors should be adequately prepared for the GRF Progress Review 2025, briefed, and included in bilateral meetings involving their delegation, as appropriate.

For more information on how to meaningfully engage advisors, please consult this guidance note by UNHCR and the detailed guidelines prepared by the refugee-led organization Refugees Seeking Equal Access to the Table (R-SEAT).

5. Engage in regional and national preparations

Forcibly displaced and stateless persons are encouraged to reach out to UNHCR in their country to find out more information about how the office is including displaced and stateless persons in the preparation of the GRF Progress Review 2025, including regional or country level stocktaking events and meetings, as well as in other national and local preparations.

Recommended practices UNHCR encourages are decentralized linked events that can be organized in parallel to the GRF Progress Review 2025 in December, for example in the form of local live screening of the event and networking events with displaced and stateless communities and relevant actors at the local level, as was done in several locations for the GRF 2023.

You can find contact information for your country on their webpage and see stocktaking events here.

Find out more about the regional Support Platforms and regional multi-stakeholder pledges.

6. Submit your good practice

The GCR Digital Platform is a hub for all relevant stakeholders to find relevant information related to the GCR and the GRF. By submitting a good practice, displaced and stateless persons can share innovative and tailored approaches they developed to ensure that actions are impactful and sustainable.

Discover good practices submitted by forcibly displaced and stateless persons and submit yours using this form.

7. Keep up to date

UNHCR is committed to facilitate the participation of displaced and stateless persons in all processes related to the GRF and its Progress Review. In line with this commitment, members of displaced and stateless communities are invited to subscribe to the GCR Newsletter, so that they can be kept abreast of the latest developments.

Subscribe here.

Also useful

• Add your organization to the mapping tool of organizations led by displaced and stateless people here