Policy Papers

In light of recent policies aimed at preventing the arrival in the EU of individuals seeking international protection and safety, over 40 humanitarian and human rights organizations working to protect the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, call on EU member states and the European Commission to respect EU and international human rights legal frameworks and safeguard the global refugee protection system.

Read the joint briefing. 

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) represents a significant advancement in mandating responsible business conduct within and outside the European Union (EU). This guide, developed by a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs), aims to assist other CSOs in supporting the transposition and implementation of the CSDDD across European Union (EU) Member States, ensuring that the Directive's objectives are met ambitiously and effectively.

Research on forced displacement reveals a wide gap between policy processes and the people that such processes seek to assist. This paper proposes actionable recommendations on how to operationalize the concept of ‘meaningful refugee participation’ in decision-making processes that affect the lives of refugees.

This report proposes specific actions to strengthen the role of local actors and potentially local humanitarian leadership in the response in Burkina Faso, so that it is more appropriate to needs, faster and more sustainable, and responsive to the changing reality dictated by an increased violence, while keeping people at the centre.

As we continue to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, it is vital that no one is excluded from vaccine coverage. This briefing note addresses some of the challenges faced by displaced people – including refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, stateless people, and others in displacement contexts – in accessing Covid-19 vaccinations.

Gender-based violence is a global pandemic existing in all social groups across the globe, yet it has largely been ignored in the COVID-19 response and recovery plans. Barriers to achieving gender justice continue to exist, but progress made since the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign show that there are solutions.

Dominant narratives promoting economic growth at the expense of state institutions and basic social services have long underpinned a neoliberal model of spiralling debt and austerity in the MENA region. This exacerbates political capture and inequality and takes shape in an environment of media concentration and shrinking civic space.

By 2030, the richest 1% are on course for an even greater share of total global emissions than when the Paris Agreement was signed. Tackling extreme inequality and targeting the excessive emissions linked to the consumption and investments of the world’s richest people is vital to keeping the 1.5⁰C Paris goal alive.

The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed and worsened the depth of inequality in West Africa. It has pushed millions into poverty. However, the pandemic offers West African governments a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest heavily in inequality-busting policies by boosting public spending, making tax systems more progressive, and tackling joblessness and precarious work.

The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting closure of South Sudan’s schools in March 2020 exacerbated many of the challenges female learners face in pursuing an education. Research conducted for this paper found that increased poverty, domestic care work, early and forced marriage, and teenage pregnancy would make it difficult for female learners to return to schools when they reopened in May 2021.