About the Council

A Global Crisis

According to the latest UNHCR figures, more than 100 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced from their homes by conflict, persecution and other drivers — the largest number since the Second World War. Over half are under the age of 18.

The current refugee system is not equipped to respond to the refugee crisis in a predictable or comprehensive manner. When a crisis erupts, home countries, countries of first asylum, transit countries and destination countries unexpectedly find themselves coping with large numbers of refugees flowing within or over their borders. Support from the international community is typically ad hoc, sporadic and woefully inadequate.

Bold Thinking for a New Refugee System

Chaired by Lloyd Axworthy, The World Refugee & Migration Council was established — originally as the World Refugee Council under the Centre for International Governance Innovation — in May 2017 and is intended to complement the efforts of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which affirmed the Global Compact for Refugees in December 2018.

Comprising thought leaders, practitioners and innovators from around the world, and supported by a research advisory network, the Council seeks to offer bold strategic thinking about how the international community can comprehensively respond to refugees based on the principles of international cooperation and responsibility sharing.

After travelling to host countries on five continents, the Council unveiled its report, Un llamado a la acción: Transformar el sistema global de refugio, in January 2019 at UN headquarters in New York, offering bold, actionable ideas with which to galvanize political will and transform the global refugee and IDP system.

Mission Statement

The World Refugee & Migration Council offers bold strategic thinking about how the international community can comprehensively respond to refugees and the forcibly displaced through the principles of international cooperation and responsibility sharing. 

To create avenues to advance people’s knowledge and capacity to understand and address the needs of, and conditions endured by, forcibly displaced people by:

(a) gathering data, conducting research and making available to the public, data, reports, and analyses by academics and other subject matter experts on ways, tools and approaches to improve the conditions endured by forcibly displaced people; and

(b) holding conferences, workshops, consultations and events focused on ways, tools and approaches to improve the conditions endured by forcibly displaced people.

For more information on the World Refugee & Migration Council, please contact: info@wrmcouncil.org.