MPs briefed on opportunities to support education for refugees ahead of Global Forum
Members of parliament from across the world meet to discuss refugee education in an online event on Monday, 13th November 2023.
On November 13 IPNEd together with The World Bank, the UN Refugee Agency, the Inter-Parliamentary Union & the International Institute of Humanitarian Law organized an online briefing for members of parliament on the inclusion of refugee children in national education systems.
The event occurred in the lead up to the second Global Refugee Forum which will be held in Geneva on December 13 to 15.
The Global Refugee Forum will bring together refugee hosting and donor states along with other other stakeholders to commit financial or technical support to help meet the objective of shared-responsibility which lies at the heart of the Global Compact on Refugees.
The briefing was attended by over 30 members of parliament from across 10 parliaments around the world, alongside representatives of UN agencies, government officials and non-governmental organizations.
At the briefing participants heard from Gillian Triggs, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR, Mr Kiarie John MP from the Parliament of Kenya and Chair of the iPU Committee for International Humanitarian Law, Ms Vicky Ford MP from the UK Parliament, Mr Petro Mozolevskyi of the National Coalition Building Institute and Mr Joseph Nhan-O'Reilly, Executive Director of IPNEd. The event was moderated by Claudio Delfabro, the Director of the San Remo International Humanitarian Law Institute.
The speakers highlighted the urgent need for political leadership for turning commitments into action and ensuring all refugee children are included in national education systems and have access to quality education.
"In cases of forced displacement, refugee children and their education suffer more than anything else. At the Global Refugee Forum we desperately need political leadership to turn commitments into action and ensure all refugee children around the world have access to quality education", said Ms Triggs.
Parliamentarians show their support for refugee education
The meeting was a key opportunity for members of parliament from refugee-hosting countries and donor countries to learn about the promises made in the Global Compact on Refugees and the new multi-stakeholder pledge on refugee inclusion, along with ways in which they as legislators, advocates, budget holders and scrutiny-providers can support refugee education.
“As parliamentarians we must legislate to include refugees in national education systems and provide host low and middle-income countries with the financial support they need", highlighted Kenyan MP Kiarie John in his introductory speech.
Kenyan MP Kiarie John speaks about the importance of parliamentarian action on the inclusion of refugee children in national education systems.
The role of parliamentarians on this issue was also reinforced by IPNEd Co-Chair Ms Vicky Ford “MPs have a critical role to ensure their governments are acting on refugee education. They should call on their governments to attend and support the Global Refugee Forum this December and pledge to the Global Compact on Refugees”.
Vicky Ford UK MP and IPNEd Co-Chair emphasises how critical it is for MPs to encourage their governments to attend the Global Refugee Forum and support the multi-stakeholder pledge.
To conclude, Mr Joseph Nhan O’Reilly, Executive Director of IPNEd shared practical ways in which parliamentarians can advocate to their government in support of this critical issue. "If you are a parliamentarian from refugee hosting or donor countries, encourage your government to attend the Forum, write to your Education Minister to match the multi-stakeholder pledge and to your Development Minister to make a multi-year financial commitment for refugee education”.
Read more about the multi-stakeholder pledge here.
