RCUSA Joins the 2025 Annual Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP) in Geneva

Washington, DC—Refugee Council USA’s Director of Programs Emily Wood joined the annual Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP) convening in Geneva this past week, a unique and vital multilateral forum convened by UNHCR. The conference brought together UN Member States, civil society, international organizations, academia, private sector actors – and most importantly, refugees and those with lived experience of forced displacement – to shape and strengthen global policies on resettlement and complementary pathways. RCUSA deeply values this space for dialogue, accountability, and innovation.

This year’s CRCP comes at a time of continued global displacement, protracted crises, and humanitarian strain. According to UNHCR’s 2026 Projected Global Resettlement Needs report, over 2.5 million refugees will require resettlement in the coming year. This includes many who have lived in limbo for years—Syrians, Afghans, South Sudanese, Rohingya, Sudanese, and Congolese, among others. Yet only a fraction of those in need are ever resettled. In 2023, less than 5% of identified global resettlement need was met. 

This reality demands more than acknowledgment; it requires a recommitment to the principles of protection, equity, and shared responsibility. The current U.S. administration has backed away from our country’s longstanding commitment to refugee resettlement. But as we forcefully declared at the CRCP, “U.S. civil society, and the people of the United States, remain dedicated to providing safety, welcome, and opportunity to those fleeing persecution and violence through refugee resettlement and complementary pathways, and we remain in strong support of the Global Compact on Refugees.”

In the United States, the success of refugee resettlement and complementary pathways is powered not just by policy, but by communities, local governments, volunteer sponsors, refugee leaders, nonprofit organizations, and faith-based networks. This whole-of-society approach has shown that inclusive, community-based welcome is not only possible, it is sustainable and transformative. The resettlement community set itself annual targets through the Third Country Solutions for Refugees: Roadmap 2030. For 2026, the goal is to resettle 120,000 refugees. Resettlement data show that this is both necessary and achievable, but only if there is sustained commitment at the highest levels and a shared determination to translate ambition into action.

In this spirit, RCUSA urges our global partners to take action:

1. Expand Resettlement Commitments
   UNHCR’s data is clear: the need is massive, and the window to act is narrow. States must commit to predictable, multi-year resettlement targets that align with protection priorities and global needs. “Even if you expand your resettlement quota by one, that’s one more life,” said Dor Akech Achiek of the Refugee Advisory Group during a CRCP plenary session on operationalizing the rRoute-based approach.  

2. Strengthen Complementary Pathways
   Opportunities such as family reunification, education programs, labor mobility, and community sponsorship must be made more accessible, equitable, and rights-based—designed in full consultation with refugees. As Mary Namono Kibere put it during a CRCP plenary session on skill-based pathways, “there is power in investing in humanity.”

3. Center Refugee Voices
   Refugees must have a seat at the table—not as beneficiaries, but as partners, co-designers, and leaders in these processes. “Our theory of change has always been that meaningful refuge participation is not the end goal,” shared US Refugee  Advisory Board (USRAB) Chair Faith Akovi Cooper. “Indeed, we all share the same end goals – addressing today’s displacement challenges, creating policies and programs that welcome refugees and set them up for success, and working towards durable solutions. Meaningful refuge participation is a necessary sustainable practice that ensures we have stronger innovative and more durable solutions.” RCUSA stands firmly behind the CRCP’s growing commitment to meaningful refugee participation.

4. Invest in Local and Civil Society Actors
   We call for robust support for local governments, community sponsors, community-based service providers, and grassroots organizations that make welcome possible on the ground. This message came through  in CRCP remarks by Dor Akech Achiek: “We all carry the spark of welcome… we must pull our weight. Not tomorrow, not some day, but today.” 

Yesterday, RCUSA’s Emily Wood presented a powerful statement to the CRCP in support of resettlement on behalf of US civil society. As the 2026 Global Refugee Forum wraps up today, we will continue to work to fulfill the promise of the Global Compact on Refugees, and the CRCP remains one of the most important platforms for advancing collective action. RCUSA reaffirms its commitment to collaboration, transparency, and global shared responsibility. Together we will turn words into action — and uphold the right of every person to live in safety and dignity.

Media Contact: Mariam Sayeed, msayeed@rcusa.org

RCUSA is a diverse coalition advocating for just and humane laws and policies, and the promotion of dialogue and communication among government, civil society, and those who need protection and welcome. Individual RCUSA members do not all address all refugee-related issues, nor do all individual members approach common refugee-related issues identically.

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