Dear Colleagues,
As world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly next week, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) will advocate for gender equality and refugee protection at a consequential moment. We will meet with governments and partners to press for policy solutions, and in many cases, to hold the line.
Of particular concern is a proposed merger of UNFPA, the UN’s reproductive health agency, and UN Women. A merger could undermine their distinct mandates and put critical programs at risk. At high-level events and in backrooms, WRC will urge governments to push back.
Since our founding 36 years ago, WRC’s most fundamental mission is to listen to displaced and refugee women and promote the solutions that they prioritize. These women’s voices come through with strength in our report, “At What Cost,” which details the extreme conditions faced by women-led humanitarian organizations in six countries, and their need for flexible funding. In Bangladesh, we documented the importance of safe spaces for women and girls nine years after the influx of Rohingya people to Cox’s Bazaar. And from Honduras with Physicians for Human Rights, we reported on the ways that the US government is separating parents from their children.
WRC will continue to keep a focus on women and girls during this important year, which marks 75 years since the 1951 Refugee Convention. To learn more about policy solutions, the women-led organizations making a difference, and what’s at stake at the UN this year, sign up for our newsletter here.
In solidarity,
Xanthe Scharff
President and CEO
Women’s Refugee Commission