The Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative encourages and supports the adoption and expansion of community sponsorship programs around the world. We are a co-founder and leading partner in the GRSI.
The GRSI is widely recognized as one of the most successful multi-sectoral partnerships in our field. Since its creation in 2016, it has worked in 23 countries, supported the launch of over 30 sponsorship programs, and helped foster a vibrant and growing global ecosystem of refugee welcome. More than 700,000 refugees have been welcomed by sponsors around the world since 2021, primarily through programs the GRSI has helped to design and launch. The initiative is led by the Government of Canada, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the University of Ottawa Refugee Hub-Pathways International, The Giustra Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, The Shapiro Foundation, Robert Bosch Stiftung, and Porticus. The CEO of Pathways International, Jennifer Bond, co-founded the GRSI and serves as its Chair.
The Resettlement Diplomacy Network is a high-level multilateral forum chaired by the government of the United States that aims to strengthen global pathways to protection. We co-lead the inaugural secretariat of the RDN.
The network’s goal is to drive high-level strategic and diplomatic engagement aimed at strengthening and expanding protection pathways. It provides a trusted forum for states to identify opportunities for closer cooperation and to amplify, enhance, and elevate the importance of resettlement and complementary pathways as part of the global protection system. The RDN’s members include Australia, Canada, the European Commission, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Pathways International and the Migration Policy Institute serve as the inaugural RDN secretariat to support the U.S. chairmanship.
The TIRN brings together NGOs from around the world with expertise in identifying and referring refugees and migrants who need protection pathways. We founded and co-chair the TIRN.
The TIRN allows civil society organizations from around the world to exchange models, ideas and best practices, and to coordinate during emergencies. The ultimate aim is to help scale and diversify protection pathways by leveraging the capacity and expertise of civil society actors to serve as trusted referral partners.
The Global Sponsorship Fund is an innovative pooled fund developed by the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative aimed at incentivizing and supporting community welcomers around the world. We are co-leading the establishment of the GSF.
Once established, the GSF will help more groups and individuals around the world to sponsor refugees by providing financial support. Based on successful models we helped to develop in Canada and the UK, the Fund will pool donations at the global level and provide incentives to sponsors through trusted partners at the national and local levels. By reducing the financial barriers to sponsorship, the GSF will help to scale up refugee sponsorship around the world and enable more people to welcome refugees as their new neighbours.
