Recent large-scale flows of refugees and migrants have brought to the world's attention more
forcefully than ever the plight of persons who are forced to flee their homes because of war,
insecurity or persecution. They have also exposed how ill-prepared the international community has
been to deal with this challenge and how uneven the distribution of the burden of caring for such
people has been among countries.
In 2016, to enhance preparedness for refugee crises, improve the situation of refugees and relieve
the burden on host societies, the United Nations (UN) member states convened in New York and
adopted a declaration paving the way for a non-binding international compact on refugees. They
annexed to this declaration a comprehensive refugee response framework that spelled out a series
of short- and longer-term measures to address refugee crises. The framework has been applied in
several pilot countries and the lessons learnt fed into a global compact on refugees. The compact
was drafted by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) following broad consultations with various
stakeholders, and its definitive version was adopted by the UN General Assembly with a large
majority on 17 December 2018.
The global compact focuses on international-, regional- and national-level mechanisms for
achieving a fairer distribution of the responsibilities related to refugees, and on areas where action
can be improved. It has been criticised, among other things, for its non-binding character and for
excluding victims of natural disasters from its scope.