USA for UNHCR Participates in the Global Refugee Forum
In December 2023, USA for UNHCR participated in the second Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, the world’s largest gathering of refugees held every four years to support and uphold the implementation of objectives set out in the Global Compact on Refugees. The 2023 Forum was co-convened by six countries – Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan, Niger and Uganda – and attended by more than 4,200 participants from 168 countries.
The 2023 Global Refugee Forum mobilized over 1,600 pledges and commitments totaling over $2.2 billion from governments, the private sector, philanthropies and foundations, faith-based organizations and others. Google, an enduring supporter of USA for UNHCR, pledged to partner with UNHCR to protect refugees from online risks such as disinformation, misinformation and hate speech.
Following the Forum, Suzanne Ehlers, Executive Director and CEO of USA for UNHCR, said, “We need to transform outdated systems by including refugees in decision-making and seeing refugees as agents of change in every step of our solutions process. This approach should not be the exception to the rule, but the rule for conceptualizing, designing, building, and executing on those $2.2 billion in pledges made in Geneva…”