Opportunities for Communications Engagement at the Global Refugee Forum

Please note that this page may be updated. Please check back regularly.

1. Press conferences

Government delegations wishing to organize dedicated press conferences during the Global Refugee Forum (#RefugeeForum) can do so by reserving a press room at the Palais des Nations.

The press room can be booked by submitting this form, duly completed in both English and French, to the UN Information Service at [email protected], [email protected] and UNHCR at [email protected].

The UN Information Service will need the following information: subject of the press conference (one line only), names and titles of all participants, including the moderator. Delegations should provide their own moderator.

The UN Information Service at the Palais will take care of the technical support: notifying the accredited correspondents one week prior to the press conference, posting the announcement on the UNOG website, booking the press room, printing nameplates, etc.

As a general rule, press conferences at the Palais des Nations are held in English or French. Delegations are advised to arrange for interpretation services should these be needed. Please contact the UN Information Service at [email protected].
 

2. Press stake-outs

Government delegations may hold an ad hoc press stake-out during the Global Refugee Forum. The press stake-out area will be located in Hall 14, in front of the Assembly Hall. The press stake-out area will be Global Refugee Forum-branded and will be equipped with essential technical support for reporters.

The stake-out area can be booked by submitting this form, duly completed in both English and French, to the UN Information Service at [email protected], [email protected] and UNHCR at [email protected]. The UN Information Service can inform the media of planned stakeouts.
 

3. VIP Social Media Zone

High-level attendees are invited to showcase their commitment and actions on issues related to the Forum to an extensive global audience by visiting the VIP Social Media Zone, which will be located in the Concordia area of the Palais des Nations on 16th, 17th and 18th December.

Content will be published primarily on UNHCR’s global social media accounts (Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn) reaching millions of our highly-engaged followers who are passionate about the refugee cause.

The format could be a piece-to-camera message, a short interview or conversation. We have professional interviewers available, and we can also arrange for your principal to be in conversation with a refugee, partner or other influencer attending the Forum.

In addition to publishing live content, the UNHCR social media team will quickly subtitle video messages in English and other languages as capacity permits, to make the social media content as widely accessible by national and global audiences as possible and distribute throughout our network of global, national and influential supporter accounts.

Technical details: the Social Media Zone is a studio-set up with multiple cameras, light and sound, to provide a unique visual backdrop for communicating messages to the biggest global, digital audiences during the event.

• With support from an on-site Twitter team and the UNHCR social media team, use the Twitter Mirror or our two professional video cameras to record a short video message (piece to camera, interview or conversation format) or post a photograph conveying your message and commitments at the Forum. The message will be published on UNHCR’s global @Refugees account and shared widely.
• Go live on Instagram and/or record a short video message (piece to camera, interview or conversation format), to be published on the @Refugees Instagram account (1 million followers) and shared on the relevant Government accounts.
• Record a video for Facebook - (piece to camera format, interview or a conversation with a refugee or other partner) - which will be published on UNHCR’s global account or used alongside other footage in highlights videos of the Refugee Forum.
• With support from the TikTok team and UNHCR social media team, reach out to a youth audience by joining the #everyonecounts ‘challenge’ on TikTok and recording a short 15-second video for UNHCR’s new TikTok account.

Appointments are highly recommended and may be made by contacting [email protected]. All visits to the VIP Social Media Studio will be featured prominently on UNHCR’s multilingual social media platforms, including LinkedIn and YouTube, reaching millions of our followers in all our global languages.

The hashtag for the event is #RefugeeForum

Follow UNHCR’s global accounts:

GLOBAL ENGLISH Twitter - @Refugees (2.3 million followers) Instagram - @Refugees (1 million followers) Facebook - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (3.5 million followers) LinkedIn - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (.5 million followers) TikTok - @Refugees (500,000 followers)

GLOBAL SPANISH Twitter - @ACNURamericas (68,000 followers) Instagram - @acnur_unhcr_americas (82,000 followers) Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ACNUR/ (325,511 followers)

GLOBAL ARABIC Twitter - @UNHCR_Arabic (376,000 followers) Instagram - @UNHCR_Arabic (96,000 followers) Facebook - UNHCR Arabic (470,000 followers)	GLOBAL FRENCH Twitter - @Le_HCR (37,000 followers) Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LeHCR/ (138,647 followers)
SENIOR LEADERS UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi Twitter: @filippograndi Instagram: @FilippoGrandi
Deputy High Commissioner @KellyTClements Assistant High Commissioner for Protection @GillianTriggs Assistant High Commissioner for Operations @GeorgeOkothObbo

UNHCR content, digital products and suggested social media messages in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and other languages are available at https://media.unhcr.org.
 

4. Global Refugee Forum Social Media Pack

UNHCR is preparing a multilingual, multimedia pack of social media content, infographics, macros and social videos. The packs will be finalized by early December.

UNHCR plans to start publishing the content on its global channels from the week of 2nd December, but UNHCR national accounts and Government partners are encouraged to start publishing content from the pack sooner if strategically beneficial for them.
 

5. #EveryoneCounts Public Engagement Campaign

UNHCR is launching the #EveryoneCounts campaign on 16 December. It is largely a social media campaign, running on UNHCR and high-profile supporter accounts. The audience journey is based around 'hero video content' featuring our Goodwill Ambassadors and a 'Takeover Day' on their accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

This content will capture people's attention, get them talking, and drive them to visit a personality-type quiz ('What part will you play?') on a UNHCR website, which puts users in the shoes of decision-makers where they will answer questions essential to refugees and host communities, based around the Global Refugee Forum themes.

Through their choices, they discover what type of refugee supporter they are, and the real actions relevant to their type of support. Members of the public who take the quiz submit their email address to receive their results and are encouraged to share their outcome on their social feeds, using our Global Refugee Forum Instagram stickers.

The campaign will play out on the Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts of UNHCR and our high-profile supporters, including Global Ambassadors, influencers, CEOs, UN leaders + UN corporate accounts, and other networks including NGOs and more.

The #EveryoneCounts campaign will also be supported on UNHCR's new TikTok channel https://www.tiktok.com/@refugees via a TikTok challenge asking people (including refugees, celebrities and members of the public) sharing their childhood dream to show that everyone's dreams count and we all share a commonality.
 

6. Clean Energy Challenge

Building upon the global momentum around climate action, during the Global Refugee Forum, UNHCR will be issuing a ‘Clean Energy Challenge’ which boldly calls for all refugee settlements and nearby host communities to have access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030. The Challenge is both a high-level vision statement and a tangible expression of international solidarity in support of refugees and host communities. Joining the Challenge implies an initial expression of political support for the Challenge goal and a commitment to support in its development and implementation beyond the Global Refugee Forum.
 

7. Contacts

For further information, please contact:

• At UNHCR
  • News & Media: Andrej Mahecic, [email protected]
  • Social Media: [email protected]
  • Coordination:
    Needa Jehu-Hoyah: [email protected]
    Nora Sturm: [email protected]
     
• At the UN Information Service, [email protected] or +41 22 917 23 25