Refugee Advisory Group

Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways

Refugee Advisory Group

The Refugee Advisory Group is the official mechanism through which refugee representatives inform policy decision-making on resettlement and complementary pathways at the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP).

Members of the Refugee Advisory Group attending the 2026 CRCP Working Group

Established in 2020, the Refugee Advisory Group to the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP) brings refugee expertise directly into global decision-making on resettlement and complementary pathways, and ensures that CRCP discussions are grounded in lived experience, community insight and refugee-led expertise.

It plays a critical advisory role in the CRCP planning cycle, working closely with the CRCP Co-Chairs and the global refugee community. Focusing on collaboration and partnership, the Group works with States, UNHCR, NGOs, and other CRCP stakeholders to facilitate effective and sustainable resettlement and complementary pathways discussions.

Mission and objectives

The Refugee Advisory Group's core mission is to create a platform for refugee experts and refugee-led organizations (RLOs) to actively engage in the planning and realization of the CRCP's objectives, in close partnership with UNHCR and the CRCP co-chairs. It is committed to promoting meaningful refugee participation in decision-making processes affecting their lives.

To achieve this mission, it has set clear objectives guiding the work of the group:

Serve as a bridge between the CRCP community and global refugee communities, facilitating open communication and collaboration.

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Coordinate the meaningful participation of refugees and RLOs in the CRCP Working Group on Integration, Settlement and Participation and in CRCP, providing them with a voice in shaping policies.

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Strive to influence the work of CRCP participants working in resettlement and complementary pathways, particularly in the design and implementation of better resettlement and complementary pathways policies and commitments.

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Read strategic directions and guiding priorities

Meet the members

The Refugee Advisory Group includes members who bring both lived experience of displacement and professional expertise across resettlement and complementary pathways:

members from global and regional refugee networks
members from local and national refugee networks
independent refugee advocates and experts.

Learn more about the current Refugee Advisory Group members' backgrounds and experience

Bahati Kanyamanza

Bahati stands in a park in a suit, crossing his arms and smiling broadly

📍United States of America

Bahati Kanyamanza is Global Partnerships Director at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), where he leads collaborations with refugee-led and civil society organizations worldwide. Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he spent 17 years as a refugee in Uganda before resettling in the United States. He brings over two decades of experience in refugee advocacy and global policy engagement, including leading global advocacy at Asylum Access. He founded CIYOTA, a nonprofit supporting conflict-affected youth in Africa's Great Lakes region through education and livelihoods. His work has been honoured by Ashoka, American Express, UNHCR and Echoing Green, and his writing has appeared in Forced Migration Review, Reuters and ODI. A trained lawyer, he advises the U.S. Refugee Advisory Board. His memoir, One Day, is forthcoming.

See Bahati's LinkedIn

Basma Alawee

SPOTLIGHT

Conflict in Sudan

Conflict in Sudan broke out in April 2023. An estimated 1.2 million people had fled the country by the end of the year, with almost all Sudanese refugees hosted by neighbouring countries.

A further 9.1 million Sudanese were displaced within the country, including people displaced by previous conflict. Sudan now has the largest internally displaced population ever reported.

Prior to the April conflict, Sudan was also host to almost 1 million refugees, primarily from Eritrea, South Sudan and Syria. Many were forced to return to their home countries prematurely or move on to other countries.

Thousands of people are still being displaced in Sudan daily. Hunger is widespread, with 20 million people (42 per cent of the entire population) facing acute food insecurity.

Pictured: Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese returnees travel on a crowded barge from Renk to Malakal, South Sudan. The journey will take two days. © UNHCR/Ala Kheir

Dacious Richardson

📍Canada

Dacious Richardson is a Liberian-born Canadian community leader and refugee advocate. He arrived in Canada at 13 after fleeing civil war in Liberia, and found healing and belonging through sport. At 17, he founded Rise Above Reality Expectation (RARE) Community Services Society. RARE provides leadership development, mental health support and safe spaces for Black, refugee, newcomer and at-risk youth through sports tournaments, workshops and mentorship programmes. He has represented Canada as a refugee delegate at the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP). He has also served as a Youth Advisor to the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism and the UN Alliance of Civilizations. He works as a school liaison with the Surrey School District and is a referee and coach with BC Wrestling and Canada Wrestling.

Daniel Gamboa

117.3 million

Over 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced at the end of 2023.

Elvis Uwimana

📍France

Elvis Uwimana is a refugee advocate, community leader and educator. He fled Burundi and has lived as a refugee in Rwanda since 2015. He is Co-founder and Executive Director of Light4Refugee, a refugee-led organization in Mahama Refugee Camp. It supports hundreds of refugee youth with academic preparation, English instruction, leadership development and access to complementary pathways. As Network Lead for Theirworld's Climate Task Team, he shaped advocacy on climate and education, bringing youth perspectives to the UN General Assembly and the G20. He holds a Master's degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action from Sciences Po, pursued through the UNIV'R University Corridor, a complementary pathway for refugees. He also holds a Bachelor's degree from African Leadership University.

See Elvis' LinkedIn

Faiza Shakori

📍Australia

Faiza Shakori is a community advocate working to advance equity, inclusion and social cohesion. Originally from Afghanistan, she resettled in Australia as a refugee in 1999, arriving with limited English and few resources. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University and a Master of Human Resources Management from the University of Sydney. For over a decade, she has worked across the not-for-profit and corporate sectors. She leads initiatives that promote economic participation for refugees and people with disabilities, builds cross-sector partnerships and elevates underrepresented voices.

Jîn Dawod

Jin Dawod sits smiling at a microphone, her hands resting on a closed laptop, in a room with a video screen that says 'Private session – the United Nations Office of Geneva'

📍Türkiye

Jîn Dawod is a Syrian refugee leader and Founder and CEO of Peace Therapist. This refugee-led and women-led social enterprise provides culturally sensitive mental health and psychosocial support to communities affected by conflict, displacement and crisis. She has built a multilingual network of more than 150 mental health professionals, reaching over 80,000 people in 26 countries. Her work connects mental health with peacebuilding, social cohesion and humanitarian policy, and she contributes to international discussions on refugee leadership and durable solutions. Her recognition includes the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award – Europe, the UN SDG Action Award and Forbes 30 Under 30.

See Jîn's LinkedIn

Khatira Abdul Samad

📍Pakistan

Khatira Abdul Samad is an Afghan refugee, refugee rights advocate and social entrepreneur based in Pakistan. She founded the Ameen Foundation for Refugees (AFRe), a refugee-led initiative working with refugees, internally displaced people and marginalized communities on education, livelihoods, health, protection and women's rights. Through AFRe, she has created mobile and pop-up classrooms for children and girls unable to access formal education. She also helps Afghan refugees and asylum seekers navigate protection services and find information on resettlement and complementary pathways. She has participated in the Global Refugee Forum and represented Afghanistan as an International Youth Climate Delegate at COP28. Her work has been recognized with the Peter Drucker Purpose Summit Audience Award and the Ember Caring for the Carers Award.

Matthew Lam Joar

📍United Kingdom

Lam Joar is originally from South Sudan and became a refugee in Kenya after fleeing his country at 15. Passionate about sport, he was selected in 2015 for the first Refugee Olympic Team. After the 2016 Olympics, he focused on higher education and became Camp Coordinator for the Refugee Olympic Team through the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation. His experience spans humanitarian programming, sport for development and project management. He has worked with organizations including UNHCR, One Young World, AHEEN and, currently, On Running, and has supported refugee-led initiatives across Africa and Europe. He holds a master's degree in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the University of Oxford.

Nigina Abdul Moqim

📍United States of America

Nigina Abdul Moqim is a refugee leader and humanitarian practitioner with over 15 years of experience advancing refugee protection, integration and participation across Afghanistan, Europe and the United States. After fleeing Afghanistan as a child, she began her education in a refugee camp. She later represented refugee youth at the UNHCR NGO Consultations in Geneva and went on to work with UNHCR in Afghanistan. Displaced again in 2021, she rebuilt her life with her family in the United States. As Program Manager for Family Wellness & Integration at HIAS, she leads national initiatives and contributes to its work on community sponsorship, labour and education pathways and family reunification. She holds a Master of International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, and a Bachelor of Law.

See Niginia's LinkedIn

Rooan Al Kalmashi

Solutions

In 2023, nearly 1.1 million refugees from 39 countries decided to return home from a total of 93 countries of asylum. Four out of five of those returning were Ukrainian or South Sudanese. However, as most returns occurred in contexts not entirely conducive to return in safety and dignity, they may not be sustainable.

In addition, 5.1 million people displaced within their own country returned to their place of origin during the year. Nearly 62 per cent of all IDP returns were within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1.8 million) and Ukraine (1.3 million).

According to official government data, 158,700 refugees were resettled to third countries in 2023, representing 35 per cent more (40,000) than during the previous year. Despite the uptick in numbers, this still only accounted for 8 per cent of the estimated 2 million individuals globally identified by UNHCR as in need of resettlement. A further 30,800 refugees acquired the citizenship of their host country during the year and were locally integrated.

Sagalee Omer

📍Australia

Sagalee Omer is Founder and Director of Shooters Shoot, an Australian youth organization that uses sport, culture and storytelling to create belonging and improve well-being for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. He also founded Locationest, a storytelling platform centring community voices. At the 2025 CRCP, he spoke on refugee resilience and integration through arts and sport. His work focuses on youth engagement, post-arrival integration, mental health and community-led solutions. He advocates for refugees and young people to be recognized as experts and partners in shaping the systems that affect them.

See Sagalee's LinkedIn

Saina Avesta

📍Australia

Saina Avesta is a proud trans woman and former refugee from Iran. A refugee community leader, human rights advocate and independent consultant, she specializes in trauma-informed, inclusive practice in protection, resettlement and settlement contexts. At 18, she fled persecution in Iran based on her gender identity and spent almost seven years in Türkiye. There she became a peer leader in the queer refugee community, before resettling in Australia through UNHCR in 2021. She founded the Persian Queer Network, which supports Persian-speaking LGBTIQA+ refugees and asylum seekers, and runs the consultancy Avesta Advisory. She is a Refugee Community Specialist at STARTTS in Sydney. In 2025, she delivered a plenary statement for the Forcibly Displaced People Network at the GRF Progress Review in Geneva.

See Saina's LinkedIn

Salah Jawish

1 in 69

This equates to more than 1 in every 69 people on Earth.

Yusra Herzi

📍Canada

Yusra Herzi is an international human rights lawyer and Program Officer for Forced Displacement at PILnet, where she works to expand access to justice for refugees, stateless people and forcibly displaced communities. Originally from Somalia and now resettled in Canada, she brings both lived and professional experience to her work. Over six years in labour and international human rights law, she has led strategic litigation and advocacy strengthening refugee labour rights across Southeast Asia. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Master of Arts in Strategic and Defence Studies. She co-authored Refugees at Work: Rights and Realities under International Law with Emily E. Arnold-Fernández.

See Yusra's LinkedIn

View the CRCP Refugee Advisory Group members bios as a PDF

CRCP Refugee Advisory Group members bios

Impact

CRCP

The Refugee Advisory Group has been actively engaged in the preparation and implementation of the CRCP and Working Group events.

Every year, members help shape the agenda and inform policy discussions, and take up speaker, moderator and panellist roles in multiple sessions, to ensure that refugee voices and expertise are in the centre of the debate.

Delegates at rows of desks in a large conference hall listen to a panel discussion on stage, with speaker photos on a big screen.

Global Refugee Forum

The Refugee Advisory Group has supported consultations on the development and implementation of pledges for the Global Refugee Forum 2023. In the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025, the Group officially submitted their first pledge. Members committed to:

providing technical input into CRCP policies
advancing responsibility-sharing across States and partners
strengthening meaningful refugee participation
grounding advice in community consultation
supporting government and stakeholders to implement their pledges to advance third-country solutions.

Two people speak from a podium with UNHCR and Global Refugee Forum branding, country flags lined up behind them.

Stakeholders announce new pledges on day two of the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025

Advocacy on resettlement and complementary pathways

Members support global advocacy efforts, contributing to awareness-raising and policy influence across the world.

For example, the Group submits a formal statement for the Projected Global Resettlement Needs, a key publication for resettlement advocacy.

The sun lights up the dust behind groups of Sudanese refugees walking and on carts behind horses

How to support the Group’s work

The Refugee Advisory Group to the CRCP works closely with a wide range of partners to strengthen refugee leadership in global discussions on resettlement and complementary pathways. If your organization is interested in supporting or collaborating with the Group, please reach out to us for further information: [email protected].