GCR (Global Compact on Refugees)

The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) is an international framework for cooperation on refugee protection and solutions, affirmed by the UN General Assembly on 17 December 2018 (resolution A/RES/73/151). It was developed under the leadership of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) following the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which mandated parallel processes for two compacts: one on refugees (GCR) and one on migration (the GCM).

The GCR has four interlinked objectives: (1) ease pressures on host countries, (2) enhance refugee self-reliance, (3) expand access to third-country solutions, and (4) support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity. It builds on the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, which remain the legal backbone of refugee protection; the GCR itself is not legally binding.

Its operational arm is the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), annexed to the New York Declaration and piloted in countries including Uganda, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. The GCR also established the Global Refugee Forum (GRF), convened every four years to take stock of pledges and contributions. The first GRF was held in Geneva in December 2019 and the second in December 2023, producing thousands of pledges from states, the private sector, and civil society on areas such as education, livelihoods, and resettlement.

Voting on the GCR in the General Assembly was 181 in favour, 2 against (United States and Hungary), with 3 abstentions (Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Libya). Critics argue the compact lacks enforcement mechanisms and that burden-sharing remains uneven, with low- and middle-income countries continuing to host the large majority of the world's refugees. Supporters frame it as the first comprehensive multilateral architecture for refugee responsibility-sharing since the 1951 Convention.