Today, the scope of the global refugee problem is immense. More than 65 million people are displaced by conflict and persecution, according to the most recent statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The agency estimates that nearly 1.2 million refugees under its mandate urgently need resettlement in a safe third country.
“There's a huge desire in the international community to learn about Canada's unique model, and we have a lot to share,” Bond says. “Across the world, there's a vast, untapped resource of people who want to help, but the structures to do so don't always exist.”
Bond networked with like-minded partners, including the Government of Canada, UNHCR and the Open Society Foundations, who quickly rallied to form the GRSI at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September 2016. The Radcliffe Foundation, which is supporting the GRSI's efforts with a generous philanthropic gift, joined soon afterward. The GRSI's first conference in Ottawa in December attracted more than 70 international delegates, including government and civil society representatives from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Germany, New Zealand, the UK and the US, as well as experts from across Canada's private sponsorship system.
Since then, requests for GRSI support have poured in from around the world, a positive counterpoint to dark moves to close borders and scapegoat migrants for society's ills. “Engaging people at the local level is one of the more powerful tools we have against the high-level negative narrative on refugee issues,” says Bond, who also chairs the GRSI.