Celebrating the Launch of the US Refugee Advisory Board
For Immediate Release: September 29
Refugee Congress, Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), and Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) are thrilled to announce the launch of the US Refugee Advisory Board (USRAB), an innovative initiative led by a diverse group of individuals with lived experience in forced displacement who aim to bring their voices to the policy arenas where they are needed most.
Historically, national and international policymakers have not sufficiently engaged refugees, asylees, and other forcibly displaced people in designing policies and programs that directly impact them. Furthermore, forcibly displaced people have faced barriers to accessing training on refugee policy and advocacy, and frequently encounter misconceptions about the many contributions that they make to local, state, national, and global communities.
USRAB was created to address these barriers. We believe that engaging and empowering those with lived experience in forced displacement will lead to better and more effective humanitarian protection programs and solutions. Co-designed with a team of refugee and asylee academics, practitioners, and policy experts, USRAB serves to channel the participation of current and former forcibly displaced people in the United States into relevant regional and international policy bodies, ensuring that refugees have a say in policies affecting them.
“The United Nations Global Compact on Refugees affirms that ‘Responses are most effective when they actively and meaningfully engage those they are intended to protect and assist,’” said Nga Vương-Sandoval, United States Refugee Advisory Board Project Manager. “USRAB is trailblazing the mission of this compact in the US, as the first program that ensures that forcibly displaced people have equal and meaningful engagement in multilateral and international decision-making spaces on issues that impact our displaced communities. As a Vietnamese refugee, I deem USRAB as a powerful and crucial component to ensure that our lived and professional expertise are equal partners in the global refugee regime.”
USRAB begins its work with an exceptional inaugural cohort of eight advisors from a variety of backgrounds. Their combined lived experience and technical expertise will provide invaluable perspective to USRAB’s governmental, NGO, and multilateral partners.
The advisors began their work in September with an intensive, week-long Refugee Training Program with lectures on global governance and the international policy-making process, as well as advocacy workshops and simulation exercises. Going forward, advisors will participate regularly in discussions with key policymakers at UNHCR, the US State Department’s Bureau of Populations Refugees and Migration (PRM), and NGOs serving forcibly displaced people in the United States and around the world.
“I have been eagerly waiting for an initiative such as USRAB that places refugee voices at the heart of policy making,” said Hourie Tafech, USRAB advisor. “I think it is clear now that refugee leaders could bring incomparable knowledge and expertise to the policy table. By having refugees in policy spaces, we will make sure to develop policies that are efficient, effective and refugee centered, which would save us time and resources.”
