Global Appeal 2025

The Global Compact on Refugees

UNHCR co-hosts and co-convenes together with select governments the Global Refugee Forum, the world’s largest international gathering on refugees.

woman sitting in front a cafe
Ukrainian refugee Irina Dotsenko, 67, opened her second café in Batumi, Georgia, with a loan from Crystal, a microfinance lender, whose management believes that job and business opportunities are the best way to support refugees helping them achieve self-reliance and easing pressures on host countries. She now employs 30 Ukrainians, as well as 15 Georgians. “This type of financial assistance is crucial for individuals, and it contributes significantly to the country's economy. We've also become useful to Georgia,” Irina says. © UNHCR/Kakha Mshvidobadze
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In December 2023, the second Global Refugee Forum (GRF) brought together more than 4,000 participants from 168 States and over 425 other stakeholders and partners from around the world, to demonstrate a true whole-of-society support towards the objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). The outcomes of the GRF 2023 highlight substantive engagements and commitments with more than 2,000 pledges of financial, technical, material, and policy support submitted – of which some 600 were made by States, illustrating a shared vision to galvanize international political will to find solutions for refugees. This milestone moment also saw the announcement of 47 multi-stakeholder pledges centred on a new form of multilateralism to address forced displacement, with the lion’s share of all pledges in support of at least one of the multi-stakeholder pledges.

A key priority for 2025, as indicated in the roadmap to the High-Level Officials Meeting (HLOM) to be held at the end of the year, will be sustaining the momentum from the Forum by facilitating pledge implementation and strengthening engagement of the full spectrum of whole-of-society stakeholders in the GCR. UNHCR will continue to identify opportunities to highlight linkages between the Compact and complementary programming frameworks to harmonize humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding efforts in support of host country policy implementation. Advocacy for pledge implementation in multilateral policy processes relevant to forced displacement issues will also continue to be aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, among others. 

The HLOM, planned for 16-17 December 2025 with an advance day on 15 December, will serve as a pivotal moment to consolidate stocktaking efforts at the country, regional, and global levels. During this event, the international community will evaluate progress in advancing key policy pledges made by low- and middle- income countries, including within the multi-stakeholder pledging framework, and will define overarching gaps, trends, and next steps leading up to the GRF 2027. 

Ahead of the HLOM, UNHCR will also capitalize on existing multi-stakeholder, global, and regional mechanisms, such as the Quarterly Informal Briefings on the GCR, to engage stakeholders and facilitate stocktaking. To further guide the stocktaking process and inform the discussions during the HLOM, UNHCR will launch the third GCR Indicator Report in late 2025. The report will continue to assess progress towards the four objectives of the GCR, applying a data-driven and evidence-based approach. Various efforts are underway to help improve the data availability for GCR indicators, including by standardizing surveys, and making data more accessible.

person speaking at podium with flags behind
©UNHCR/Will Swanson
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Ingka Group equips refugees for a brighter future with skills for employment

Ingka Group, a company with IKEA retail operations all around the world, is empowering refugees to rebuild their lives through its innovative “Skills for employment” initiative and inspiring other businesses with an open-source toolkit. As UNHCR’s key strategic partner, Ingka Group has supported over 2,900 refugees since 2019 by equipping them with the skills and qualifications needed to secure meaningful employment and build a brighter future. Powered by a belief in work as a key driver for integration, Ingka Group renewed its commitment during the Global Refugee Forum to increase the employability of an additional 3,000 refugees by the end of 2027 and has engaged over 700 businesses to help integrate more refugees into their workplaces.