High-Level Officials Meeting: Lessons Learned from the GRF on Meaningful Refugee Participation
April 3, 2025 at 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
| Location: | Zoom |
| Cost: | Free |
The event time is in Eastern Standard Time (EST)
After the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in December 2023, R-SEAT conducted interviews with refugee participants for its Assessment Report on Meaningful Refugee Participation (MRP). R-SEAT interviewed a sample of members from the Group of 70 Forcibly Displaced and Stateless Experts identified by UNHCR, representatives from refugee-led organizations (RLOs), members of the Advisory Board to UNHCR, and nine refugee advisors to official state delegations.
The report concludes that despite a significant increase in refugee participation at GRF 2023 compared to GRF 2019, and some progress in the substance of participation, significant barriers remain. These barriers, identified in the report, include last-minute preparations, visa and travel difficulties, tokenistic approaches, and a lack of strategy or guidance on MRP for the pledge cycle.
The High-Level Officials Meeting (HLOM) is scheduled for December 2025, with the first preparatory meeting to be held on March 10, 2025. The HLOM represents an essential midterm review for the GRF and is a key meeting in the global refugee system. To ensure the participation of refugees as key contributors at the HLOM and its preparatory meetings, it is vital to apply the lessons learned from GRF 2023 and address these barriers early.
In this context, R-SEAT proposes an event focused on “Lessons Learned.” This event seeks to advocate for actionable strategies, and amplify R-SEAT’s GRF Assessment Report, and promote its findings to support MRP at HLOM 2025.
