Pre-GRF Academic Workshop​: Evidence-based implementation of the GCR: What role for academia?

Background

It is expected that a number of researchers and academic networks will be present in Geneva to participate in the Global Refugee Forum (GRF), 13 to 15 December 2023. In anticipation of this gathering, and given the objectives of the GRF  to mobilize support for the objectives of the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the purpose of this note is to outline details of an academic workshop to enable an exchange between researchers on shared issues relating to the role of academic research in advancing the objectives of the GCR. More specifically, the workshop will provide a unique opportunity to discuss the potential importance of the multistakeholder pledge, “Shifting Power: Advancing Localization of Research and Elevating the Voices of Host and Forcibly Displaced Communities Globally.” The workshop will also provide a valuable opportunity for networking among academic participants ahead of the GRF itself. 

The workshop is co-hosted by the Geneva Graduate Institute, the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN), the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and Forced Migration and Refugee Studies: Networking and Knowledge Transfer (FFVT). 

The workshop will be hosted at the Geneva Graduate Institute from 12:30pm to 14:00pm on Monday, 11 December 2023. The workshop is open to academics who will be attending the GRF.

The title of the workshop is: “Evidence-based implementation of the GCR: What role for academia?” Guided by this title, the workshop will take the form of a roundtable discussion on overarching themes that emerge from the workshop title.  

Specifically, the workshop will engage with the following questions: What role can academic research play in guiding the implementation of the GCR and developing tools for impact monitoring? What barriers exist for academics seeking to influence the implementation of the GCR? How can academics collaborate to overcome these barriers?

In light of the “Shifting Power” multi-stakeholder pledge, the workshop will also specifically reflect on if and how knowledge produced by those most affected by displacement can contribute to more effective and rights-based responses to forced migration.    

Workshop objectives

• to enable an exchange between researchers on shared issues relating to the role of academic research in advancing the objectives of the GCR

• to discuss the potential importance of the multistakeholder pledge, “Shifting Power: Advancing Localization of Research and Elevating the Voices of Host and Forcibly Displaced Communities Globally”

• to provide a valuable opportunity for networking among academic participants ahead of the GRF itself

Programme

12:30 - 12:45 Opening Remarks

by Prof. Vincent Chetail (Graduate Institute), Ms. Madeline Garlick (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Prof. Liliana Jubilut/James Milner (GAIN)

12:45 - 13:30 Presentation of Practices and Discussion

Moderators:

• Prof. Abebaw Minaye

• Prof. Luisa Feline Freier

Panellists:

• Prof. Wondemagegn Tadesse

• Prof. Mary Setrana

• Prof. Maha Shuayb

• Mr. Pascal Zigashane

• Dr. Musallam Abedtalas

13:30 - 13:55 Q&A / Interventions from the Floor

13:55 - 14:00 Ways forward

Summary of the academic workshop, pledges from the Academic partners and Q&A- Prof. Geoff Gilbert