Reflections from the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025
Geneva
Nationality for All (NFA) participated in the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) Progress Review 2025 in Geneva, contributing to a series of high-level discussions, side events, and multistakeholder engagements focused on advancing solutions to statelessness.
Key Highlights
The GRF Progress Review took place at a critical moment for the global protection system. As the UNHCR faces significant funding constraints, sustained advocacy and coordination were essential to ensure that statelessness remained a priority within broader displacement and protection agendas.
A number of key engagements and moments stood out:
- High-Level Advocacy and Coordination
Strategic engagements, including meetings with senior UNHCR leadership, reinforced the importance of maintaining momentum on statelessness despite the current funding landscape. Strong and timely interventions across plenary sessions and side events contributed to keeping statelessness firmly on the global agenda. - Leadership of Affected Communities
A notable and welcome development at this year’s GRF Progress Review was the increased presence and leadership of stateless and refugee advocates. Across multiple side events, individuals with lived experience played leading roles in organizing, facilitating, and shaping discussions—reflecting a broader shift toward more inclusive and representative global advocacy spaces. - Key Side Events and Platforms
Several events provided important opportunities for dialogue and collaboration:- The side event on equal nationality rights, organized by the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, highlighted practical pathways toward legal reform and gender equality in nationality laws.
- The R-Space programme, co-organized by the Global Movement Against Statelessness and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, stood out as a fully community-led platform, demonstrating the power of refugee and stateless activists in shaping global advocacy. Particular recognition was given to Rohingya activists for advancing their multistakeholder pledge.
- The UNHCR side event, “Legal Identity for All – Addressing Statelessness to Achieve the SDGs,” underscored the critical link between nationality, legal identity, and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 16.9.
- State Leadership and Global Commitments
Continued leadership from States, including the Philippines and Rwanda, demonstrated the importance of political commitment in advancing legal identity and nationality rights. The Philippines’ upcoming role as ASEAN Chair in 2026 presents important opportunities to strengthen regional leadership on these issues. Additionally, the expansion of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness, with new members including Spain, Peru, Uruguay, and Montenegro, reflects growing global momentum to address statelessness collectively.
Conclusion
The GRF Progress Review 2025 reaffirmed the importance of collective, coordinated action grounded in lived experience. At a time of significant institutional and financial challenges, the week in Geneva demonstrated that sustained advocacy, strong partnerships, and the leadership of affected communities remain central to advancing the right to nationality.
