Partnerships in Europe

We work closely with sister UN agencies whose work complements or converges with ours. UNHCR is part of the Regional Collaborative Platform and co-chairs, alongside the International Organization for Migration and the UN Development Programme, the Issue-Based Coalition for Large Movements of People, Displacement and Resilience (IBC LMPDR). The IBC serves as a platform to pull together UN system-wide expertise and facilitate improved cooperation between different UN entities in response to identified regional challenges and development issues. The IBC LMPDR embeds the regional UN Migration Network, supporting actions to assist Member States in implementing the Global Compact for Migration at the country and regional levels.

To advocate for better protection within the region and globally, UNHCR collaborates with a range of European institutions. The EU plays an important role in influencing the asylum legislation and policies of its Member States. UNHCR primarily works to ensure that EU laws and policies are in accordance with the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol. We collaborate on a daily basis with EU institutions and agencies - including the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice - through UNHCR’s office in Brussels as well as Liaison Offices in Malta and Poland, which deal respectively with the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) and Frontex/European Border and Coast Guard. UNHCR also cooperates with the Fundamental Rights Agency, based in Vienna.

We place great importance on continuously improving collaboration with our non-governmental partners. We place a strong emphasis on localization, and strive to strengthen our commitments on local and national partnerships, decision-making, capacity sharing, and funding as defined under the Multi-stakeholder Pledge on Advancing Localisation in Displacement and Statelessness Responses. In Europe, UNHCR regularly organizes Online Dialogues with NGOs on topics of shared concern, such as Mainstreaming Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, Statelessness, Education and the Refugee Employment Platforms, to name a few. Every other year, since 2021, UNHCR in Europe has organized Regional NGO Consultations, which provide an opportunity for NGOs operating in Europe to network, dialogue and exchange views with UNHCR as equal partners.

Organizations led by people with lived experience of forcible displacement and statelessness are best placed to represent the critical needs and priorities of their communities. We actively engage with refugee-led organizations (RLOs) to better understand and support the work done by these groups, including through provision of small grants, training, networking opportunities, joint advocacy and other areas of collaboration. In 2024, operations in the region provided financial support through small grants to 128 community-based and refugee-led organizations, delivering on our commitment to localization and sustainable responses, while providing other forms of support to many more.

Given the historical and cultural significance of sports in Europe, UNHCR has developed over the past years a strong network of sports partners across the region, with the aim of achieving greater social cohesion and inclusion of refugees in their host communities. UNHCR is a partner in the Integration of Refugees Through Sports project, which is co-funded by the European Union and brings together partner organisations across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America to collaborate on using sport as a tool to create safe spaces, build trust, and create meaningful relationships in new environments. In Europe, UNHCR also works very closely with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and with national Football Associations harnessing the transformative power of football to support refugees and forcibly displaced people and to assist and uphold their rights and strengthen their inclusion in their host communities.