GENEVA - Heads of state, business leaders, development organizations and civil society representatives are this week joining with the UN to transform the way the world responds to refugee situations. The first-ever Global Refugee Forum opened on Monday in Geneva and comes as the world emerges from what the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has described as “a decade of displacement.”
Overall, more than 70 million people worldwide have been displaced by war, conflict and persecution. More than 25 million are refugees, meaning they have fled across international borders and cannot return home.