Introducing the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF blog 1/3)
This blog is part of a short series produced by INEE and the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action about how the two networks are engaging with the 2023 Global Refugee Forum.
- Blog 1 - Introducing the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (this blog)
- Blog 2 - Progress since the 2019 Global Refugee Forum (end November)
- Blog 3 - Joint Pledge by INEE and the Alliance (early December)
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What is the Global Refugee Forum?
Held every four years, the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) is the world’s largest international gathering on refugees. It aims to support the practical implementation of the objectives set out in the Global Compact on Refugees: ease pressures on host countries, enhance refugee self-reliance, increase access to third-country solutions and improve conditions in countries of origin.
The 2023 GRF will be held 13 -15 December 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland, co-convened by the States of Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan, Niger, and Uganda, and co-hosted by the Government of Switzerland and UNHCR. It is an opportunity for States and stakeholders, including INEE and the Alliance, to announce concrete pledges and contributions, highlight progress made, share good practices, and take stock of the challenges and opportunities ahead.
How are INEE and the Alliance engaging in the GRF?
Building on the long-standing partnership between INEE and the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, initially articulated during a Round Table in 2018, the two networks will make a joint pledge at the GRF. The pledge will articulate our priority contributions over the coming four years to ensure that children and young people are central to refugee response and their rights to quality and protective education are upheld.
The GRF is a crucial platform to further strengthen our partnership to support child protection and education practitioners and stakeholders across multiple refugee contexts, with the ultimate aim to improve outcomes for children and young people. Access to quality and inclusive education in safe, protective schools, communities, and societies is fundamental for children to learn and thrive. The INEE-Alliance pledge will be linked (‘tagged’) to other relevant pledges, including one on education in emergencies being convened by the Geneva Global Hub on EiE.
Several other ‘multi-stakeholder’ pledges are particularly important. The Child Rights pledge led by the Initiative for Child Rights in the Global Compacts, focuses on child protection, social protection and key services, protective education and empowerment and meaningful child participation. The Alliance and INEE participate in the Initiative, and have contributed to their preparations for the GRF. The Child Rights pledge is linked to others on Social protection, Health and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support. The GRF Education Alliance is convening three multi-stakeholder pledges, highlighting on Inclusion in National Education systems, Higher Education and Connected Education, all of which are aligned with the Alliance-INEE Joint Pledge.
On 12 December 2023, the GRF Education Campus, convened by the GRF Education Alliance, is another opportunity for INEE and the Alliance to promote integrated child protection and education programming, with a particular focus on the updated INEE Minimum Standards and Child Protection Minimum Standards, the Guidance Note for Supporting Integrated Child Protection and Education Programming in Humanitarian Action, and the importance of advocacy, data, and evidence that underpin all of our work.
If you have any comments or questions please email [email protected] and [email protected]. If your organisation is making a pledge relevant to child protection and/or education in emergencies, please contact us so we can make the connections between the pledges.