High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges, 2017

The tenth annual High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges took place on 12 and 13 December 2017 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

The two days of discussions were dedicated to taking stock of progress made and lessons learned in the process leading to the global compact on refugees, both through the practical application of the comprehensive refugee response framework (CRRF) and the thematic discussions that were held in Geneva in the second half of 2017.

With the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants on 19 September 2016, the international community reaffirmed the importance of strengthening the response to large movements of refugees and migrants.

Together, the commitments agreed by United Naions Member States that apply to refugees reflect an understanding that protecting those who are forced to flee, and supporting the countries and communities that shelter them, are shared international responsibilities that must be borne more equitably and in a more predictable manner. With this in mind, the New York Declaration called upon UNHCR to initiate the application of the CRRF and to develop a global compact on refugees, which will be presented in 2018. 

Through a combination of plenary discussions, thematic sessions and subject-specific roundtables, participants in the 2017 Dialogue reaffirmed the principles of the New York Declaration; discussed lessons learned in applying the CRRF; reflected upon the key themes and issues emerging from the thematic discussions; and explored ways to ensure complementarity between the global compact on refugees and the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.