About the Global Taskforce on Refugee Labour Mobility

Origins and Implementation

The Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility has its origins in the Global Compact on Refugees, affirmed by the UN General Assembly in 2018. Its work supports three of the four objectives of the Compact: easing pressures on host countries; enhancing refugee self-reliance; and, most directly, expanding access to third-country solutions. The Compact called for the establishment of a three-year strategy on resettlement that would also include complementary pathways “with a view to increasing significantly their availability and predictability.” Complementary pathways are migration avenues accessible to refugees and other displaced persons in need of international protection which are additional to existing resettlement commitments.

The resulting Three-Year Strategy 2019-22 on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways, developed by UNHCR and a broad group of states and stakeholders, included as an enabling action “the establishment of multi-stakeholder pathway-specific task forces to drive expansion.” Beginning in late 2020, UNHCR began to assemble an informal group of discussion partners and states that would develop a model to leverage the networks of key partners, including states, UN agencies, NGOs and private sector bodies.

This work was reinforced by the agreement of the Government of Canada in June 2021 to serve as the inaugural chair, leading to the formal inauguration of the Task Force by the Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the UNHCR High Commissioner in Ottawa in April 2022. Over 500 registered participants from 81 countries participated in the launch event.

Membership

To ensure that the Task Force remained outcomes-driven, non-bureaucractic, and focused on practical efforts, it was designed to consist of a relatively small and nimble core group of members, each of which could leverage its own partner networks to amplify their work, with equal representation from states, NGOs, international organizations and the private sector. The founding members were:

Two new members were added in 2023:

After several virtual preparatory sessions, the Task Force held its first in-person meeting in New York in May 2022, and its second in Berlin that September. It meets in person about four times per year, with monthly working calls and numerous ad hoc discussions to advance particular strategies or projects.

Mission and Work Plan

The mission of the Task Force is: to increase refugee access to third-country solutions via labour complementary pathways, through global dialogue and technical advice.

The initial Chair’s theme was set out by Canada as: Laying the foundations to implement, improve and institutionalize labour complementary pathways for refugees globally.

The work plan for 2022-24 laid out high-level objectives that can be supplemented by a responsive approach to opportunities created by new economic or political realities or by international events (such as the Global Refugee Forum) when there are opportunities to help mainstream labour pathways. The pillars of the work plan are 1) Platform Building, 2) Global Awareness, 3) Technical Advice. Five work streams were identified under these pillars:

Refugee participation
State-to-state engagement
Corporate-led engagement and advocacy
Talent-sourcing
Knowledge tools
Communications and Events

Outcomes

As summarized by the founding Chair, the first phase of the Task Force’s work seeks to lay the foundations for systems change by “encouraging more global actors to participate in refugee labour mobility; and promoting a wider, more comprehensive understanding of the current ecosystem.”

Further information about the Task Force can be found on the relevant website of the presiding chair, currently: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/corporate-initiatives/global-task-force-refugee-labour-mobility.html

Refugee Labour Mobility Network

The Task Force announced the formation of the Global Network on Refugee Labour Mobility in March 2023 to promote a sense of community and common purpose across stakeholders engaged in refugee labour mobility. Learn more about it here.