The collaborative work done by the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) and the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN) has become a strategic alliance to open up opportunities for decision-making, project development and empowerment for young refugees, and the Compact for Youth Working in Humanitarian Action has been a true example of how a partnership of organizations can complement each other to develop and implement action plans and clear objectives to achieve a project. GRYN and WRC have been members of the compact and have contributed to the development of its most relevant objectives to promote youth participation. At the last annual meeting, held in October 2022, significant progress was made on the goals set by the compact thanks to the strong collaboration of GRYN and WRC, such as the implementation of RYLOS, the involvement of youth in research projects, and the inclusion of youth in international forums. 

GRYN and WRC’s collaboration had its beginnings since 2015, when WRC worked with refugee youth to create and strengthen mechanisms that empower refugee youth to assess the challenges they face, leverage their lived experience, and engage at the community and policy level to create positive change. This has included partnerships with UNHCR through the Global Refugee Youth Consultations (GRYC) and UNHCR’s Global Youth Advisory Council (GYAC), which not only produced not only good practices to be replicated, but also a cadre of young refugee leaders eager to use their knowledge and skills. 

Both organizations have been involved in different initiatives that encourage youth participation, capacity building, opening opportunities and above all creating strategic alliances with different organizations that work with and complement GRYN’s work and vision. A great opportunity for the participation and development of GRYN’s mission and vision has been the Pact for Youth Working in Humanitarian Action, a global call that seeks to prioritize the needs and rights of youth and children affected by disasters, conflicts, forced displacement and other emergencies. Despite having participated in previous years, GRYN was able to present itself for the first time at the last annual meeting as an organization officially part of the compact and, in turn, showcase the many advances aimed at developing the five key actions, such as:

Services

-Strengthening youth leadership and capacities, in addition to supporting their registered and unregistered organizations and projects (RYLOS).

Participation

– Empowering youth locally and globally.

Capacity

-Providing opportunities for youth to participate in events at the international level, as well as training them in IACS guidelines so that they can properly express themselves and develop their skills.

Resources

– GRYN supported refugee youth projects with funding and provided them with the tools to officially become both registered and unregistered organizations. 

Data

– GRYN collaborates with organizations such as the Refugee Led Research Hub and the Refugee Self Reliance Initiative to conduct and promote the integration of youth into research and develop their research skills.

The community and covenant member organizations showed great interest in GRYN’s work, and the search for partnerships and collaboration was present throughout the event. 

In addition to the presentation of results, GRYN and WRC participated in the organization, planning and final details of the event, demonstrating the importance of collaboration between organizations, as well as how supporting youth organizations generates a positive impact.