Join Darfur Women Action Group, the Women’s Refugee Commission, Church World Service, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, New Women Connectors, , UNHCR, and UN Women on Wednesday, October 28, for an in-person side event during UN Women, Peace and Security week.
“In Pursuit of Protection” will bring together women leaders with lived experiences of displacement and experts who work closely with refugee women to explore how the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and the 1951 Refugee Convention can reinforce one another to advance refugee women’s rights, protection, meaningful participation, and leadership.
Registration closes at 3:00 p.m. ET on Friday, October 23.
Event Details
-
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026
-
Time: 9:30–11:00 a.m. ET
-
Venue: Bahá’í International Community, 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120, New York, NY 10017
-
Format: In person only; panel discussion followed by audience Q&A and discussion
Register here by Friday, October 23, at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Connecting Refugee Protection and the WPS Agenda
Women and girls displaced by conflict and persecution face overlapping threats, including gender-based violence, unsafe asylum pathways, barriers to essential services and livelihoods, and exclusion from decisions affecting their lives. At the same time, declining humanitarian assistance threatens critical services for displaced women and girls.
The 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention in 2026, following the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2025, offers an opportunity to bring refugee protection and the WPS agenda into closer dialogue. While these frameworks share complementary objectives, their policies and processes are often developed and implemented separately.
This event will examine how stronger connections between them can support more coherent, gender-responsive, and accountable approaches to protection—while recognizing refugee women as leaders in conflict prevention, community-based protection, peacebuilding, and recovery.
What the Discussion Will Explore
Centering displaced women’s expertise and priorities, the panel will:
-
Explore the intersections between the 1951 Refugee Convention and the WPS agenda.
-
Examine refugee women’s experiences and leadership across the four WPS pillars: prevention, protection, participation, and relief and recovery.
-
Identify ways refugee response plans, asylum systems, and WPS processes—including National Action Plans—can better inform one another.
-
Consider practical actions that States, UN entities, and civil society can take to strengthen refugee women’s rights, leadership, and access to resources.
Particular attention will be given to refugee women’s contributions to social cohesion and peacebuilding, as well as their roles in shaping recovery, reintegration, and sustainable solutions where conditions permit.
Moving Toward Practical Action
The event aims to identify practical recommendations for including refugee women’s priorities and leadership in WPS decision-making, refugee response planning, asylum policy, and monitoring and reporting processes.
The discussion will also help develop recommendations, grounded in displaced women’s expertise, to inform UNHCR’s High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection and Solutions in December 2026.
Please share this invitation with colleagues and networks working on refugee protection, women’s rights, and peace and security.