Worth the wait: how past promises are building a sustainable future

As the end of another year approaches, there is temptation to look to the future and focus solely on the new. But, as humanity has had to learn time and again, many of the best predictors of the future can be found by looking to the past.

For the last year, much of the talk around the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) has been about the new multi-stakeholder pledges launched in December 2023 and the amazing commitments these have attracted from stakeholders. These whole-of-society pledges are vital to achieve the objectives of the Compact.

But in addition to this work is the dogged determination of stakeholders who, no matter the challenges thrown at them, persevere in their quest to fulfil the pledges they made previously.

And they’ve had their fair share of challenges. Since the first GRF in 2019, the world has seen a global pandemic, increased impacts of climate change, and new and returning conflicts breaking out. For many, these might be justification enough to give up on past commitments.

Not so for GCR stakeholders. This year alone, among the many progress updates received, over 100 pledges from the first Forum have been completed, testament to the belief in the GCR, and determination to achieve its objectives. This means that over half of all pledges made as part of the first GRF are now fulfilled.

Today, let’s reflect on how a few of these past commitments are securing the future for everyone.

Inclusive integration

For those forced to flee, finding safety is just the beginning. Being uprooted from their lives and everything and everyone they know, and suffering unimaginable trauma, can make settling in a new community an ordeal of its own. But around the world, States are working with partners to implement different integration programmes to make this transition as easy as possible.

During the first Forum five years ago, States including Canada, Italy, New Zealand, and Norway pledged to welcome refugees and provide support in helping them integrate as easily as possible into their new communities. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic interfering with their plans, the Government of Italy was able to resume their work on resettlement in 2022, piloting pre-departure activities for refugees to be resettled there. The activities were carried out in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan and Türkiye and provided, among other things, orientation sessions to help refugees become familiar with Italy and its culture before they arrived, helping to reduce levels of uncertainty as to what the future holds.

In Canada, where resettlement of vulnerable women and girls, as well as victims of trafficking, has been made a priority, a temporary public policy was implemented last year to extend the eligibility for resettlement to include family members of vulnerable populations already living in Canada. This is not only expanding access to complementary pathways to more people in need of resettlement, but also bringing family life back to those already living in Canada.

In Norway, a new integration strategy has been implemented, which places a particular emphasis on integration through employment, and the Government has provided additional budget and strengthened policies to ensure its realization. The success of the strategy led to the subsequent and current government expanding this into a new pledge in 2023.

New Zealand made a pledge to expand their Welcoming Communities Programme, which has now been implemented across 34 local councils as well as 6 Iwis (tribes), and seeks to create environments where everyone can belong, contribute, and thrive. A report on the project is expected by early 2025, but an interim evaluation has already shown positive impacts, including strengthened relationships between councils, refugees, and community-based groups, and providing a trusted network of support to newcomers.

Sustainable self-sufficiency

A warm welcome is a good start, but not enough on its own. The second objective of the GCR, to enhance refugee self-reliance, is imperative to allow refugees to realise their full-potential as active members of their new communities, while the first objective – to ease pressures on host countries, is vital to ensure the sustainability of asylum systems going forwards.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) pledged in 2019 to improve conditions for Syrians and their host communities in Türkiye through vocational skills and entrepreneurship in agriculture and food production. Not only has the project improved food security, it has also improved relationships between Syrians and host community members. Among the businesses created were farms growing vegetables and jute, producing enough for part of the profit to be reinvested in the farms, making them sustainable. The project, implemented in the Izmir, Şanliurfa and Mardin provinces, targeted both the Syrian and host community populations equally, with a particular focus on empowering women, which has led to the creation of mixed women’s cooperatives, strengthening integration and community ties, while reducing gender inequality.

In Rwanda, the joint strategy for economic inclusion of refugees has been enhancing self-reliance, with a particular focus on empowering refugee youth entrepreneurship. By equipping them with basic skills such as in finance, marketing, and accounting, providing bootcamps and mentorship programmes, and backed up by more than USD 3 million in funding, hundreds of businesses and entrepreneurs have so far been supported through this programme.

Key to achieving self-reliance is the support of the private sector. Organisations such as the Tent Partnership for Refugees have been carrying out vital work to mobilize businesses to hire and train refugees, providing sustainable sources of incomes and developing skills. In 2019, Tent pledged to help place more than 12,500 refugees in different companies. To date, they have exceeded this target, bringing self-reliance to more than 13,600 refugees.

Meanwhile, climate-friendly solutions across refugee response plans are vital for securing safe, sustainable futures. The Government of Germany has been supporting other States and UNHCR to move towards clean energy solutions for refugees and host communities. Through programmes introducing affordable clean energy solutions, Germany has worked with a variety of stakeholders, including private sector actors, to create self-sustaining business models for the local distribution of energy, connecting thousands of households to regional power grids, including in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, while reducing running costs for partners.

This work is complemented by the efforts of many other stakeholders, including NGOs such as Water Mission, who have fulfilled their 2019 pledge by raising close to USD 10 million, bringing solar-powered clean, safe water systems to more than 700,000 refugees in a number of countries, including in Malawi and Tanzania.

Fix for the future

Long-term solutions are needed if we are to truly help the growing number of people forced to flee in a fair, equitable way.

The Protect Project is a multi-stakeholder initiative comprised of 12 universities in Europe, Canada, and South Africa. Over the last five years, they have worked together to release a series of reports and recommendations on the institutional architectures in which asylum decisions are made. As there is no unifying system across the world, differences in the ways these decisions are taken – and the people involved in making such decisions – creates uncertainty and inequality. For the Global Compact on Refugees to succeed, more unity not only in the implementation of the Compact, but the norms and practices around it is needed. The project hopes that the research provided will help show how the GCR is already changing the architecture of these systems, and how they can be improved through best practice frameworks for policy, governance, and discourse.

The African Union has been working tirelessly to eradicate statelessness for many years. In 2024, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on Specific Aspects of the Right to Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa was adopted, marking an important milestone in the fight against statelessness, and delivering on a commitment made in 2019. Many of the countries have already taken huge strides in eradicating statelessness, and in addition to adopting the Charter, the African Union joined the Global Alliance to End Statelessness, launched in October 2024.

Another key aspect of securing responses well into the future is ensuring diverse and sustainable sources of funding.

The Refugee Solidarity Network has been working on their pledge to diversify funding sources, leading to both an increase in funding and more reliability for future planning. Part of their work includes localising their projects, once funding has been secured, to hand over the power and decision making to local actors and refugees, enabling responses to be more tailored to situational needs.

In a similar vein, the Organization of American States set up the MIRPS Fund, to ensure adequate responsibility sharing among States and secure funding for the future for more predictable responses to emerging situations, including through the Support Platform. The first portfolio of projects is currently being worked on, while further efforts to mobilise resources continue.

Finally, but certainly not least importantly, real solutions to the future will only be found through proper inclusion of refugees in all levels of discussions and decision making. CARE International completed three pledges from 2019, working to enhance refugee inclusion. They have carried out their commitment to facilitate refugee participation in advocacy and refused to take part in panel discussions/events on forced displacement where refugees are not involved.

Furthermore, across all their operations, they carried out rapid gender analyses, highlighting the devastating impact conflicts are having on women and girls, and the essential role played by women’s rights organisations in humanitarian responses. Research has shown that peace agreements have a significantly higher chance of succeeding, and lasting, when women are involved in the process, and we hope that this work, along with that on all the other pledges, will lead to a more prosperous and peaceful future. For everyone.

As we reflect on these achievements, we encourage all stakeholders to continue implementing their pledges, whether made in 2019, 2023, or any time in between and since. Honouring past commitments is not just a moral imperative but a practical roadmap for addressing the complex realities of forced displacement. Together, we are building a future worth the wait.