Re:BUiLD, KCCA, NCCG at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland
Re:BUiLD, KCCA, NCCG at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland
Re:BUiLD, KCCA, NCCG at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland
The Lord Mayor of Kampala Erias Lukwago and Nairobi county officials during a consultative meeting in October 2023. Photo: J.Sosi/IRC
The Global Refugee Forum (GRF) is the world’s largest international gathering on refugees. GRF seeks to facilitate the effective realization of the goals outlined in the Global Compact on Refugees, including reducing the burden on host nations, promoting refugee self-reliance, expanding access to third-country solutions, and improving conditions in the countries of origin.
The states of Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan, Niger, and Uganda are co-convening the 2023 GRF, which will take place in Geneva, Switzerland from December 13–15, 2023. The Government of Switzerland and UNHCR are co-hosting the event. States and other interested parties, such as the Re:BUiLD Program of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and its partner city authorities in Kenya and Uganda, have the chance to make firm commitments and contributions, draw attention to accomplishments, exchange best practices, and assess upcoming opportunities and challenges.
Re:BUiLD Program at the 2023 GRF
The Re:BUiLD Program has supported Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the Nairobi City County Government (NCCG) to prepare and deliver the joint city pledges to the Global Refugee Forum in 2023 . The senior leadership of the two cities met in Nairobi in October 2023 to discuss, and firm up their joint GRF pledges. The meeting convened by the IRC’s Re:BUiLD Program had representatives from UNHCR in Nairobi who offered technical guidance on the development and phrasing of the city pledges. Additionally, there was participation from representatives of the Mayors Migration Council (MMC) and the Refugees Self Reliance Initiative, partners that the program has been engaging in preparation for the GRF.
‘‘This is an important meeting for us to brainstorm and share experiences on how to manage refugees and make our GRF commitments,’’ the Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago who led a delegation of four Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) officials stated in the build up to the GRF.
The Re:BUiLD Program’s interventions on economic inclusion and access to livelihoods for refugees are among the areas the IRC has outlined as priority areas for global actors in refugee programming. The IRC in a press release outlining details of a new briefing on Ensuring Prosperity for Refugees and Host Communities, warns that the 2023 GRF must offer more than empty promises.
The Re:BUiLD Program Director Priscilla Dembetembe and the program’s Public Engagement and Advocacy Coordinator Johnstone Kotut are among the delegation comprising of KCCA and NCCG representatives at the GRF.
Launched in July 2021, the five-year Re:BUiLD program seeks to secure livelihoods opportunities for 20,000 urban refugees and vulnerable hosts in Kampala and Nairobi. Now in its third year of implementation, the program brings together the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Centre for Global Development (CGD), Open Capital (OCA), Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Nairobi City County Government (NCCG).
