Explanatory Note on the Final Conclusions of the Experts Initiative on the Global Compact on Refugees

On October 2-3, 2017, the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility of The New School convened a meeting of experts on refugee law and policy to deliberate on, and to make concrete recommendations for, the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR).1 The Experts Group drafted a set of Conclusions (attached), which suggest specific language for the GCR. This document provides context and the rationale for the Conclusions. The Conclusions take as their starting point the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, described in the New York Declaration on Migrants and Refugees and its Annex I.

The Conclusions propose language for the GCR’s Preamble, Programme of Work, and Conclusion. No recommendation is made to alter the CRRF, which the Expert Group views as an important baseline. The recommendations for the Programme of Work are keyed to three of the objectives identified in the UNHCR Roadmap: (1) ease pressure on host countries, (2) enhance refugee self-reliance, and (3) expand access to third-country solutions.

The Conclusions seek to further the fundamental objectives of the international system of refugee protection: enhancing protection, guaranteeing rights, promoting agency of displaced persons, establishing an equitable system of responsibilitysharing, and ensuring accountability