Side event titled “Building Bridges Through Good Practices: A Collaborative Approach to Responding to Mixed Movements.”
From 11–13 June 2024, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) held its Global Consultations with NGOs in Geneva, Switzerland. The consultations, organized by UNHCR and a network of civil society organizations known as the International Council for Voluntary Agency (ICVA), provided a forum to discuss how UNHCR and NGOs can collectively improve policies and initiatives for refugees and displaced and stateless persons. The themes for the 2024 consultations were “solutions, inclusion and gender equality.”
The Global Consultations alternate each year with regional gatherings, and in 2024 representatives from more than 180 organizations attended. Each day featured multiple plenary sessions with many presenters from refugee-led organizations, which comprised 36% of the participating organizations.
The Global Consultations with NGOs held in Geneva, Switzerland.
SGI attended the three days of consultations and organized a side event titled “Building Bridges Through Good Practices: A Collaborative Approach to Responding to Mixed Movements,” on 12 June, in collaboration with the Asylum and Migration Unit of UNHCR.
The co-moderator, Jacopo Giorgi, Head of the Asylum and Migration Unit, gave opening remarks and introduced the first segment of the event, which focused on the role of civil society and local authorities in mixed movements situations, where people travel the same routes but for different reasons. Representatives from UNHCR and civil society organizations presented their work utilizing the Mixed Movements Toolkit developed by UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and other partners.
Nobuyuki Asai of SGI moderating the second segment of the side event.
The second segment of the event was moderated by Nobuyuki Asai of SGI and included presentations on initiatives aimed at the social inclusion of refugees. Chiara Cardoletti, UNHCR Representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino, and Chiara Marchetti of CIAC, an Italian NGO providing support to refugees, shared insights on the Community Matching project, which is supported by the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai through “eight per thousand” funds. Aimed at fostering inclusion, this project operates in 10 Italian cities where it matches each refugee with a local individual to support their autonomy and active engagement in community activities. Laura Hassler, founder and director of Musicians Without Borders (MWB), and Tha’er Bitar, a musician working in the humanitarian field, then presented the music education program “Al-Musiqa Tajm’ana (Music Brings Us Together),” supported by Soka Gakkai and implemented by MWB in Jordan.
Bitar, an asylum seeker originally from Syria, sought refuge in Jordan a decade ago with his family. After completing the Al-Musiqa Tajm’ana program as a trainee and assistant trainer, he launched his own initiative called “Art and Safe,” which aims to create safe spaces for children in Jordan. In addition to sharing his own experiences, Bitar performed a song with a hopeful message on the oud, a traditional Arabic stringed instrument.
During the consultations, UNHCR published its updated Global Trends report, announcing that the number of people forcibly displaced worldwide had exceeded 120 million in 2023.
These consultations served as another reminder that global society must strengthen cooperation to provide the necessary assistance and resources to support refugees and displaced people, and create a paradigm shift in people’s minds and behaviors to create truly inclusive societies based on respect for the dignity for all.
