Participation & Engagement with Organizations led by Forcibly Displaced and Stateless Persons

Organizations led by people affected by forced displacement including refugee-led organizations (RLOs) and Organizations led by Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), stateless people, and other community-based organizations (CBOs), are more knowledgeable about the needs of their communities and are often the first responders in humanitarian emergencies providing protection and assistance.

UNHCR is committed to working with such organizations at global, regional, and national levels to ensure their meaningful participation in decisions that affect them.

What is UNHCR’s Task Team on Meaningful Participation of Forcibly displaced and Stateless People? 

UNHCR’s inter-divisional Task Team on Meaningful Participation of forcibly displaced and stateless people was created in 2020 to coordinate and align internal efforts and to support UNHCR's engagement of and partnership with organizations led by forcibly displaced persons. The Task Team is supported by a Refugee United Nations Volunteer (RUNV) and works closely together with UNHCR Regional Bureaux and the Interim Advisory Group.   

Objectives Of the Task Team  

1. Develop guidance on engagement and partnership with organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people.  
2. Develop a modality for partnership with organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people on an equal basis. Find out more.
3. Conduct a mapping and maintain an up-to-date database of organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people.
4. Follow up on Global Refugee Forum (GRF) pledges on meaningful participation and partnership with organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people. Find out more.
5. Create a repository and develop capacity-building material to enhance partnerships with organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people. 

Which organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless persons are members of UNHCR’s Advisory Board?

UNHCR’s Advisory Board of Organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people was established with the participation of key networks of RLOs and CBOs who play an active role in advocating for meaningful participation of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. 

The Advisory Board acts as a representative body for organizations-led by refugees, internally displaced people, and stateless people and assists UNHCR in developing guidance that support meaningful participation at the policy and strategic levels and advises UNHCR on gaps and practices of partnerships with organizations led by people we work with and for.

Background

UNHCR, like other United Nations (UN) agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society actors, made the commitment at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016 to “Empower national and local humanitarian action”. The New York Declaration and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) both refer to the importance of engaging directly with forcibly displaced persons themselves. The 2019 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) pledges equally stipulate meaningful engagement and partnerships . Engaging with CBOs is also rooted in UNHCR’s community-based protection approach and the age, gender and diversity policy (2018), through which UNHCR committed to put the people we serve at the centre of decisions that affect their lives and to ensure accountability to affected people. 

Organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people: mapping tool 

Having a thorough understanding of the work of organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people, will facilitate the engagement and collaboration with those actors and support UNHCR’s endeavour to identify and address the barriers to meaningful participation at local, regional and global levels.  

UNHCR is mapping organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people and will use this information to identify and promote opportunities for engagement at all levels.