Refugee women and girls: Key to the global compact on refugees

The GCR is an international policy, formally adopted at the UN in December 2018, that aims to strengthen cooperation and solidarity with refugees and countries hosting refugees. It provides a framework for fairer and more predictable responsibility-sharing between nations, recognising that international cooperation is needed for sustainable solutions to refugee displacement. It's based on a multi-stakeholder approach, to broaden the base of actors who share the responsibility for refugee protection.

The GCR is one of the strongest policies on the protection of refugee women and girls ever adopted by UN member States. Commitments include addressing gender inequality, the meaningful inclusion of women and girls in decision making and leadership and preventing and better responding to sexual and gender-based violence (SBGV). This project was developed to ensure these strong commitments are achieved. 

Photo: Linda Bartolomei

Despite the best intentions of policy makers and services, evidence shows that refugee women still suffer endemic rape and sexual abuse; their voices are often silenced, and their capacity ignored; and they are commonly labelled as a minority and vulnerable group.  

The GCR provides a strong new opportunity for refugee women, but unless its gender commitments are realised, they will continue to suffer disproportionate violations of their rights. 

This project supports implementation of the GCR gender promises in the 5 project countries, working in close partnership with refugee women and other local stakeholders for sustainable outcomes. 

Photo: Eileen Pittaway 

The project aims to improve international protection for refugee women and girls by increasing the capacity of services to work more effectively with them, including through the application of an age, gender and diversity approach to promote gender equality and support efforts to end sexual and gender-based violence. It will strengthen the ability of women’s civil society organisations and other stakeholders to include and empower refugee women to be actively involved in program design, implementation, management and monitoring. 

Specific aims and outcomes are set out in the project brochure. 

The project uses a collaborative action research approach to work in close partnership with refugee women, refugee organisations, service providers, UNHCR, local academic partners and other stakeholders. Working with these local partners, the research team undertakes consultations using their signature reciprocal research methodology to identify issues of concern to refugee women and girls, AND potential solutions. Hearing directly from refugee women about what they see as solutions and what are their priority issues to address, is a key focus and strength of the project. It enables local partners to work in partnership with refugee women and men to more effectively respond to identified issues. 

Photo: NGO partner, Bangladesh 

One of the project’s core principles, based on decades of research and partnerships with refugee women, is that sexual and gender based violence(SGBV) is  THE biggest barrier to women achieving gender equality.

It is also the major cause of inequality. 

While response to SGBV are often ‘siloed’ in humanitarian responses past research and this project have strongly demonstrated that SGBV is a cross cutting issue with all other areas of refugee life. Prevention and response therefore requires an integrated, multi-pronged approach against SGBV across all sectors of refugee support. 

Photo: Eileen Pittaway

The research team’s long history of working with refugee women, and insights from their gender audit of the GCR, shaped the project’s core principles: 1. SGBV is a cross cutting issue and major barrier to gender equality, 2. Gender equality is essential for the protection of refugee women and girls, 3. Women and girls are not inherently vulnerable, but face vulnerable situations and 4. Projects to improve women’s protection, equality and participation, cannot take a ‘one size fits all’ approach; they must  address context-specific individual and structural barriers to be “transformative, not palliative”.  

Photo: Eileen Pittaway

Partnerships with local academics, local UN agencies, NGOs and refugee women’s organisations underpin the value, delivery and long-term impact of the project. 

The project builds on our history of working collaboratively with refugee women and on our established regional networks. Strong partnerships with Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), UNHCR and partner organisations in key countries across Asia provided the essential grassroots links which made the project possible. As part of the project development, we have expanded our links with academics working on refugee and gender issues, and with local and international NGOs providing support to refugees. This has helped to ensure that the research design is sensitive and appropriate to each country context and meets the needs of all stakeholders, particularly refugee women and girls. 

For a list of project partners, see here