Pledge Conveners
This GRF Multistakeholder Pledge has been convened by UN-Habitat and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), with UNHCR as facilitator and secretariat.
CONVENERS
UNHCR
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. The agency is furthermore mandated to lead inter-national action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.
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Formally known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1950 in the aftermath of the Second World War to help the millions who had lost their homes.
Today UNHCR works in 135 countries – providing life-saving assistance, including shelter, food, water and medical care for people forced to flee conflict and persecution – and defends the right of such peoples to reach safety and in finding a place to call home. UNHCR supports countries in improving and monitoring refugee and asylum laws and policies, ensuring human rights are upheld.
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Centrally, UNHCR considers refugees and those forced to flee as partners, putting those most affected at the centre of planning and decision-making.
UN-HABITAT
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities, ans serves as focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN System.
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UN-Habitat works with partners – including governments, intergovernmental bodies, UN agencies, civil society organizations, foundations, academic institutions and the private sector – to build inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities, and promotes urbanization as a positive transformative force for people and communities, reducing inequality, discrimination and poverty.
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With a global footprint spanning more than 90 countries – promoting transformative change in cities and human settlements through knowledge, policy advice, technical assistance and collaborative action – UN-Habitat has adopted a strategic and integrated approach to solving the challenges and opportunities of twenty-first century cities and other human settlements. UN-Habitat’s mission embodies the four main roles of the organization, which can be summarized as: think, do, share, and partner.
Norwegian Refugee Council
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. With relief efforts dating back to the post World War II era, NRC works to protect displaced people, supporting them in rebuilding their lives.
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Specialising in six areas – food security, education, shelter, legal assistance, protection from violence, and water, sanitation and hygiene – NRC works in both new and protracted crises across 40 countries, working with partners across the world through NORCAP – their global provider of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding expertise – which collaborates with local, national and international partners on finding sustainable solutions to meet the needs of people at risk.
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NRC is a determined advocate for displaced people, standing with those forced to flee – promoting and defending displaced people's rights and dignity in local communities, with national governments and in the international arena. NRC’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), located in Geneva, Switzerland, is a global leader in monitoring, reporting on and advocating for people displaced within their own country.