The Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR) was established in 1995 by UNHCR and is a key event in the resettlement space taking place annually in Geneva, Switzerland. Every year, UNHCR, governments, NGOs, INGOs, refugee representatives, and academia representatives come together at the ATCR to focus on the most pressing global resettlement needs, discuss current challenges, and share best practices and lessons learned in implementing their resettlement programmes. The ATCR Chair rotates between resettlement countries every year.
In June 2022, Ireland assumed the Chair of the 2023 ATCR. The Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will serve as the State Chair and Nasc, the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre will serve as the NGO Co-Chair. Ireland will chair the ATCR alongside UNHCR and in close collaboration with the Refugee Advisory Group.
The 2023 ATCR will be held on June 26 to 28 in Geneva, against a backdrop of unprecedented numbers of people forcibly displaced across the world. The impact of increased refugee flows on neighbouring countries has created significant challenges for finding durable solutions, with low-income countries continuing to host a disproportionately large share of the world’s displaced population. At the same time, resettlement programmes continue to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of places available continue to be dwarfed by the global need for resettlement.
In this context, the main themes that this year’s ATCR and WGR will explore are finding practical solutions in the face of successive crises, strengthening resettlement programmes’ resiliency, encouraging increased resettlement quotas ahead of the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023, and highlighting the experience of smaller resettlement countries like Ireland, who may be seeking to expand their programmes. This year, the ATCR and WGR will also focus on the rising importance of complementary pathways and community sponsorship, as many countries globally seek to establish or develop such programmes. Underpinning each of these issues, the co-chairs aim to highlight the importance of including refugee voices in this discourse and encouraging meaningful refugee participation in the design and implementation of resettlement programmes.
The co-chairs also hosted the Working Group on Resettlement (WGR) from February 28 to March 2, 2023. The WGR is a smaller precursor event designed to discuss resettlement issues, challenges and ideas for solutions on a working group level. Government delegations, NGO representatives, and refugee representatives from up to 20 resettlement countries convened to explore challenges and solutions in the current context of repeated crises and their impact on resettlement programmes. The WGR took place at Nano Nagle Place in Cork and showcased local integration projects across Cork, Kerry, and Waterford, as well as local and refugee led food suppliers over the three-day event. During this event, Nasc had the opportunity to highlight its work with community sponsorship, the EU Passworld project, and its Women’s Project offering integration supports to migrant women.