GLOBAL REFUGEE FORUM (GRF)

Dec. 18, 2019

The first Global Refugee Forum (GRF), a two-day gathering of United Nations member states, began in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 17.

About:

  • The Forum is jointly hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, and the government of Switzerland.

  • The GRF will be held every four years at the Ministerial level.

  • It aims to debate and discuss the response of the world’s countries to the global refugee situation. The first GRF has been organised around six areas of focus: burden- and responsibility-sharing, education, jobs and livelihoods, energy and infrastructure, solutions, and protection capacity.

  • Background: According to the UNHCR, the first GRF is being held “at the end of a tumultuous decade in which the number of refugees has risen to over 25 million people worldwide”.