GRF (Global Refugee Forum)

The Global Refugee Forum (GRF) is the principal high-level mechanism for operationalizing the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which was affirmed by the UN General Assembly in December 2018. Convened by UNHCR together with a rotating group of co-convenor states, the GRF brings together governments, international organizations, refugee-hosting communities, refugees themselves, the private sector, civil society, and development actors to translate the GCR's four objectives into concrete commitments.

Those four objectives are: easing pressures on host countries, enhancing refugee self-reliance, expanding access to third-country solutions, and supporting conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity. The Forum is the central stocktaking moment where states and other stakeholders announce pledges and contributions — financial, policy, legal, or material — and where progress on earlier pledges is reviewed.

The first GRF took place in Geneva in December 2019 and generated more than 1,400 pledges. The second GRF was held in Geneva in December 2023, co-convened by Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan, Niger, and Uganda alongside Switzerland and UNHCR. Between forums, a High-Level Officials Meeting (HLOM) is held at the midpoint (the first was in December 2021) to assess implementation.

Key delivery mechanisms associated with the GRF include:

• Multi-stakeholder pledges, which bundle commitments from multiple actors around a shared theme (e.g., education, jobs, statelessness).
• Support Platforms, country- or situation-specific arrangements such as those for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) and the MIRPS in Central America.
• The Asylum Capacity Support Group (ACSG), which matches states seeking to strengthen their asylum systems with technical support.

Unlike a treaty body, the GRF produces no binding obligations; its leverage rests on political visibility, peer pressure, and the tracking of pledges through UNHCR's public dashboard.