Idaho Office For Refugees’ Post

The Global Refugee Forum (GRF), a quadrennial event and the main venue to drive and review progress toward the objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees, took place last month in Geneva, Switzerland. RefugePoint and the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative delegations played a leadership role at several of the events of this year’s GRF relating to refugee self-reliance, labor mobility, family reunification, and resettlement. Here are five key takeaways from last month's events: 1. There were over 1600 pledges presented at the Global Refugee Forum. Tracking the implementation of these commitments is improving, but remains unenforceable. 2. The largest multistakeholder pledge presented at the Global Refugee Forum was co-led by the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (which is housed within RefugePoint and co-founded with the Women’s Refugee Commission). 3. Family Reunification is a pathway that has been gaining momentum: The Multistakeholder Pledge on Family Reunification aims to reunite 1 million families by 2030. 4. Interest in expanding access to Labor Mobility Pathways continues to grow. 5. Inclusion of refugees and others with lived experience of forced displacement in the Global Refugee Forum has grown, but is still far from ideal. Read more at https://buff.ly/3vzmj81

On World Refugee Day, we mark the solemn but unsurprising news that global displacement continues to rise – there are now a staggering 120 million people worldwide who are displaced, 10 million more than just last year. Again, this is no surprise: Conflicts have increased and intensified. The climate crisis continues. Political oppression and instability are growing. These 30-year trends in global displacement are accelerating, not slowing down: The numbers have doubled just over the last decade. The surprise is where the solutions are coming from: Nearly 500,000 refugee newcomers found safety in the United States last year with the support of private, community sponsors. Americans putting their hands up to help, and leveraging over $7 billion of their own time and money to do it. Refugee newcomers arriving through safe, orderly processes, granted legal status and work authorization, met at the airport by their sponsors and assisted to find housing, employment, and English language classes. Forging bonds with their new neighbors, contributing to their new communities and proud to be hopeful new Americans. So on this World Refugee Day, we're focusing not on the challenge, but on what millions of Americans are doing about it. As has been the case throughout our history, it is the innovation, compassion, and commitment of our diverse American communities that bring us closer to our country’s founding ideals: enabling freedom, safety, and self-determination for people who need it, and in turn strengthening our communities, our economy, and our country. The part that has surprised us most? How Welcomers themselves have been transformed and reinvigorated by their acts of welcome. They offered a lifeline to people in need, and are having a generational impact in the lives of refugee newcomers. What they--and we--did not anticipate, was how much of a lifeline it would be for them. A renewal of hope, faith, and courage. A rediscovery of their own communities and the inspiration all around them. A renewal of what it means to be an American, and extend the best of who we are to a new generation of strivers.   Check out this video to see Welcomers sharing their heartfelt messages with the newcomers that have inspired them. You can share your own welcome message, hear more stories, and discover how you can join them at Welcome.US/wrd2024. https://lnkd.in/erQa2GcT

Refugees working towards more effective policies   Today, R-SEAT highlights the importance of meaningful refugee participation in decision-making through the story of Nejra Sumic, Deputy Chair of the United States Refugee Advisory Board from Refugee Congress and National Field Manager of We Are All America    #RefugeeVoices #MeaningfulParticipation   Read the full story here 👉🏽 https://bit.ly/3xIl5ce

Today is #WorldRefugeeDay, a day to celebrate and recognise the strength and resilience of those forced to flee their homes and a day to reflect on how we can build a better global community that welcomes people seeking safety and that works towards peace. There are now more than 120 million people under the protection of or seeking assistance from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. This may feel overwhelming, but as Fr Aloysious Mowe (a former Country Director of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Australia, who sadly passed away earlier this year) wrote nearly a decade ago... "the great irony about the so-called migration and refugee crisis is that it is not about that at all. What the world is facing is a crisis of solidarity: an inability or an unwillingness to share the home that we have all been given, and to risk the largesse of the hospitality that we enjoy." Sharing our common home, building a welcoming community, looking after each other and the lands on which we live doesn't just happen, we have to work at it, in active solidarity with first peoples of this land and between each of us who now call Australia home. One practical way to start is to look for opportunities to listen and understand each other and Refugee Camp In My Neighbourhood has a fantastic community-led initiative that provides professional development tours for people to better understand... *why people flee their homes, *the different journeys people take and *the different ways people arrive in Australia, *the lives people have had to leave behind and *what it's like starting over in Australia, often separated from loved ones. For more information and to book a tour in July/Aug, check out this link:

Solid urban leadership from the city of Warrnambool. As climate change accelerates urbanisation globally, this is the type of progressive leadership that will make the difference between sound local governance which effectively responds to needs and priorities of mixed urban populations, as opposed to councils that lag behind and are defensively trying to respond without pro-active strategies that involve migrants, refugees and internally displaced citizens.

20 June: World Refugee Day Each year on 20 June, the international community observes World Refugee Day, a day designated by the United Nations to honour the strength and courage of individuals forced to flee their home countries due to conflict and persecution. This day aims to focus global attention on the plight of those escaping such conditions and to prompt appropriate actions to prevent these crises. Initiated in 2001 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, World Refugee Day serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggles faced by displaced persons. The theme for Refugee Week 2024 is "Our Home." There are several categories of forcibly displaced individuals, including refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, and returnees. More than 114 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide by 2023. These individuals often leave their homes with little more than what they can carry, enduring extreme hardships such as cold, hunger, heat, trauma, despair, violence, and loss. To support refugees, individuals can: Donate to charities that aid refugees. Write letters to government officials urging them to take necessary actions to prevent such situation. Volunteer at local resettlement agencies. 

On June 20, the world observed World Refugee Day, a global event dedicated to honoring the resilience, courage, and strength of millions of refugees around the world. This year's theme, "Hope Away from Home," emphasizes the importance of creating supportive and inclusive environments for refugees as they rebuild their lives in new communities. Through this blog I tried to explore the challenges faced by refugees, celebrate their inspiring stories, and discuss how we can all contribute to making a difference. #WorldRefugeeDay #HopeAwayFromHome #RefugeeAwareness #HumanRights #SupportRefugees #GlobalSolidarity #StandWithRefugees #InclusiveCommunities #RefugeeAdvocacy #EmpowerRefugees #HumanitarianAid #RefugeeResilience

In a significant move at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, the United States has announced 26 unique commitments, demonstrating its leadership in addressing the needs of refugees and host communities amid historic levels of global displacement. These commitments, part of eight multi-stakeholder pledges, reflect the U.S.’s #CommunityRefugeeSponsorship #EconomicInclusionforRefugees #EndingStatelessnessCampaign #GenderBasedViolencePrevention #GlobalRefugeeForum2023 #RefugeeResettlementPrograms #RohingyaRefugeeCrisis #USGlobalRefugeePledges #USRefugeeEducationStrategy #USRefugeeSupportInitiatives