Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders

“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.”

— A Call to Action: Transforming the Global Refugee System

Addressing Unmet Needs of Refugee Women & Girls during the COVID-19 Crisis and its Aftermath

July 10, 2020

Women and girls are the most vulnerable members of refugee and migrant communities worldwide. They also represent the vast majority of world’s refugee and migrant populations. During the COVID crisis, many of their basic needs have gone unmet as humanitarian

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:

Increase refugee women participation in shaping policies;
Build refugee women’s capacity to engage locally, nationally, regionally and globally; and
Strategically advocate for and promote inclusive human rights approaches to forced displacement.

VISION

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.

ORIGIN

GIRWL was founded in December 2019 during the Global Refugee Forum to ensure that the commitments made to refugee women and girls in the Global Compact on Refugees — including gender equality, the implementation of the UNHCR Age Gender and Diversity (AGD) Policy and addressing the different needs of girls, women and men — are fully implemented.

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.