“The capacity of women to be agents of change in addressing refugee issues has been largely overlooked in government responses. […] One answer is that women and youth, when given the chance to lead, will provide solutions.”
— Un llamado a la acción: Transformar el sistema global de refugio
New Women Connector’s Anila Noor writes that women migrants and refugees are mostly viewed as passive recipients of migration and integration policies. Shifting that paradigm and considering women as active participants is key to economic resilience.
In the run-up to and during the December 2021 UNHCR High-Level Officials Meeting, Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders (GIRWL) co-founders led and participated in important dialogues with officials and other stakeholders on topics including refugee participation in decision-making, age, gender and
Published by the Global Refugee-Led Network and written by Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders (GIRWL) Co-founders Shaza Alrihawi, Anila Noor and Najeeba Wazefadost, with John Bolingo Ntahira and Christa Kuntzelman. With few exceptions, refugees have historically been excluded from systematic
Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders (GIRWL) Co-founder Najeeba Wazefadost spoke at the 10 November 2021 meeting of the Action Network on Forced Displacement: Women as Agents of Change, launched by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Virtual Conference — 17 December 2021 | 15:00–17:00 CET Watch the recording A virtual event hosted by Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders (GIRWL) in partnership with the World Refugee & Migration Council (WRMC) to mark the end of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based
Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders (GIRWL) is a group of refugee women-led initiatives, networks, and advocates that works with and for refugee women to:
GIRWL’s vision is to work with and for refugee women globally to increase women’s participation in shaping policies, building refugee women’s capacity to engage locally, nationally, regionally and globally, and to strategically advocate for and promote inclusive human rights approaches to forced displacement.
With gender as the key cross-cutting theme, GIRWL aims to build a global network of refugee women and refugee women-led initiatives to bolster refugee women’s ability to make meaningful contributions to decision-making processes. GIRWL advocates for refugee agency and self-representation, strengthen the collaboration between network members, relevant global initiatives and other stakeholders, and to guarantee positive changes to the global refugee architecture, including the development and humanitarian systems.
The goal of GIRWL is to empower, inspire and equip refugee women to become leaders in their homes and communities.
Support for the World Refugee & Migration Council’s work with GIRWL has been provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and through the Council’s partnership with Cuso International.
Interim chair, Global Refugee-led Network/ European Coalition
Lesbian Human Rights Defender
Exec. Director New Women Connectors & Steering Committee Member Global Refugee-led Network
Psychologist. Master in Social Sciences. Consultant & Researcher
Refugee and Gender Advocate, founding member of Global Refugee-Led Network and Asia Pacific Network of Refugees
