International Cooperation

The ILO and the Global Compact on Refugees

The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), adopted in December 2018, is an international cooperation framework designed to improve the international response to refugee situations. It aims to ease pressures on host countries, enhance refugee self-reliance, expand access to third-country solutions and support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity. The GCR builds upon the outcomes of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, 2016 and its Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). 

The Global Compact for Refugees includes ‘jobs and livelihoods’ and recognizes specifically the need to “promote economic opportunities, decent work, job creation and entrepreneurship programmes for host community members and refugees, including women, young adults, older persons and persons with disabilities”. It states that these efforts are to be guided by the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205), and the ILO’s Guiding Principles on the access of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons to the labour market.

The Global Refugee Forum (GRF) held every four years, is the world’s largest international gathering on refugees and works to support implementation of the GCR objectives. Each Forum is an opportunity to highlight progress made, pledge further contributions, share good practices, and consider challenges and opportunities ahead.

Pledges are commitments by States, organizations, businesses, academics and refugees themselves that advance the objectives of the GCR.

The ILO’s main pledge is "to advance equality and non-discrimination in labour market access and labour protection in forced displacement contexts" with special attention to women, persons with disabilities, youth, and workers and enterprises in the informal sector.

Technical Co-Convener – Multistakeholder Pledge on Economic Inclusion and Social Protection

Participant – UN Common Pledge 2.0 on Refugee Inclusion

Co-lead – Joint Pledge on Technical and Vocational Education and Training that contributes to the Multi-Stakeholder Pledge on Achieving 15% Enrolment by 2030 to Expanding Refugee Access to Higher Education and Self-Reliance

Member – Accelerate and Better Leverage Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus Approaches in Forced Displacement Settings

Member – Multi-stakeholder Pledge: Refugee Participation

Member – Multi-stakeholder Pledge: Protection for Refugees and Migrants at Risk of or Affected by Trafficking in Persons

Member – Global Multi-Stakeholder Pledge to Support Work With, For & By Young People in Displacement

ILO at the Global Refugee Forum

The ILO delegation highlighted the key role of employment and decent work in the protection and self-reliance of refugees and host communities 

ILO Assistant Director-General Manuela Tomei participated in the high-level event of the UN Common Pledge 2.0 on Refugee Inclusion and ILO Assistant Director-General Mia Seppo participated in the high-level event on employment and entrepreneurship.

Scale up decent work for refugees and host communities says ILO [news item]

ILO priorities at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum [video]
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder was a panellist both in the 2019 GRF’s High-Level Dialogue on Jobs & Livelihoods 

The ILO put forward the world of work perspective and the importance of decent work through its participation as a co-sponsor of the jobs and livelihoods theme of the 2019 GRF and made a pledge to intensify cooperation with the multilateral system and scale up technical support to governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations and other stakeholders to facilitate decent work opportunities for host communities and refugees, including women and youth affected by crisis.

English

The ILO and the Global Compact on Refugees

ILO at the Global Refugee Forum

See also