Refugee Voices Matter – Nothing about Us, Without Us

By Anila Noor, Eliasib Amet Herrera and Shaza AlrihawiDisplaced, Dec 7 2021 (IPS) Over the past two years, the global refugee response has been tested. The world is being rocked by the greatest pandemic in over a century, while waves of refugees have fled from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Belarus, and Tigray. So, where do we go from here? Next week, the international community will convene to take stock of the successes and shortcomings of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), a unique multilateral mechanism built to ensure the protection of one of the most vulnerable populations. This marquee Compact is up for review, but unlike other review processes, the participation of the people whose lives are shaped by the decisions to be made in the review process will be marginal. Unfortunately, only 1 in 50 of the invited attendees at the UNHCR High-Level Official’s Meeting (HLOM) to discuss the GCR are refugees. Anila NoorDecades of sideling refugees in discussions around migration and policies that impact their lives and futures has resulted in many failed policies. Refugees have been deprived of civil and political rights – and are therefore regularly excluded from multilateral arenas by their host country and/or their country of origin. The exclusive structures of international diplomacy exacerbate this culture of exclusion. Thanks to the work of the Global Refugee-Led Network (GRN), other refugee-led organizations and their allies, we are achieving more meaningful participat...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Featured Gender Violence Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Migration & Refugees Religion TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news