On this episode of Policy Outsider, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy (III-RP) Executive Director Dina Refki interviews two attendees of the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review, a meeting supported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The conversation explores the ideas exchanged at the conference and progress in global efforts to meet the needs of refugees.
Guests
Transcript was generated using AI software and may contain errors.
Joel Tirado 00:01
Welcome to Policy Outsider presented by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. I’m Joel Tirado. We’re excited to share the mic for this episode, which explores the ideas exchanged at the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review, a meeting supported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Our guest host is Dina Refki, executive director of the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy. Here’s Dina speaking to two attendees from the event.
Dina Refki 00:47
Greetings from the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. I’m Dina Refki. Today, we were discussing the Global Refugee Forum progress review, which was held in Geneva from December 15 through December 17 in 2025. The gathering served as a high level review point between the twenty twenty three global refugee forum and the next full forum that will be held in 2027. Its purpose was to take stock of progress, assess the implementation of pledges, identify gaps, and help set priorities for the years ahead. So what did participants learn? Where is real progress happening? And where do major gaps remain as the world looks ahead to the next full form in 2027? To help us answer these questions, we are incredibly honored to be joined today by two of our distinguished guests. Our first guest is Lourena Gboeah, a former board chair of refugee congress and a former member of UNHCR’s advisory board on meaningful engagement with organizations led by forcibly and displaced people. And our second guest is doctor Diya Abdo, Lincoln financial professor of English at Gifford universe… Gifford College and founder and director of every campus and refuge, ECAR. ECAR is an initiative that works with colleges and universities to help host refugees and support a broader culture of welcome and belonging through higher education. Thank you both for being here.
Diya Abdo 02:41
Thank you for having us.
Lourena Gboeah 02:42
Thank you.
Dina Refki 02:44
So before we get into the forum itself, I’d love to begin by asking each of you to briefly introduce your organizations and the lens you brought with you to Geneva. And for that, we’ll turn over to Lorena first.
Lourena Gboeah 03:00
Thank you, Dina. It’s a pleasure to be here with you this afternoon. I had the opportunity to attend the Global Refugee Forum progress review in 2025, which was building on my participation in the twenty twenty three Global Refugee Forum through my work as a former board chair of Refugee Congress and also as an advisory board member to UNHCR’s task team on the meaningful engagement of organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people. So as a former refugee myself and someone whose current professional work at Upperly Global centers on economic inclusion for immigrant and refugee communities, I really came to these conversations with a deep personal and practice based perspective that really shaped how I engaged with discussions and also outcomes.
Dina Refki 03:57
Lorena, thank you so much. Now we turn to Doctor Diya Abdo. Doctor Abdo, what lies you brought with you to Geneva? Tell us about ECAR.
Diya Abdo 04:07
Thank you so much, Dina. So this was my first, visit, to Geneva and my first participation in the forum. I was participating as a representative of Every Campus of Refuge, which is an organization that was founded ten years ago to mobilize colleges and universities to host refugee families on campus grounds and support them in their resettlement and integration. And I was presenting or giving a a workshop about every campus of refuge at a side event held by rSpace, which focuses on highlighting refugee led organizations and refugee led initiatives. I am a second generation Palestinian refugee. I was born and raised in Jordan to parents who were displaced to Jordan from Palestine in 1967. I am an immigrant to The United States, and I’m a professor. And so the lens that I brought to this forum was mixture of lived generational experience and also professional experience in higher education. I was deeply interested in how higher education was going to play… Continue to play a part in in the in the… In in the… In these conversations.
Dina Refki 05:28
Thank you so much, doctor Abdo. So let’s set the stage here, and let’s start with experience of the gathering itself. For listeners who may not follow the global refugee forum process closely, what did the progress review feel like for you on the ground? Did it feel mainly like a diplomatic meeting, a stock taking exercise, a practical exchange of ideas, or some combination of all three. What was the tone like for you? Let’s start with doctor Abdo today.
Diya Abdo 06:05
Actually, can we start with Lorena, if that’s okay? Sure.
Lourena Gboeah 06:09
So I would actually say that the atmosphere felt like a combination of all three. As I mentioned, the different lenses in which I attended the, progress review from, my attendance started from a training that we, as the UNHCR advisory board, put together for refugee leaders and experts who were going to be in attendance. And my colleagues, specifically from refugee congress, from RCUSA, from the US advisory board. We actually put together a training on networking for diplomacy. So that was sort of like a prelude to all of the refugee leaders who would be in attendance to give them tools and tips as to how to mingle and network in the different spaces that they would be interacting with over the the next couple of days. So for me specifically, I also… What I didn’t mention before was that I also moderated a a panel that spoke to the upcoming the upcoming anniversary of the global compact on refugees. So it was really amazing to hear from speakers from all across the world in terms of efforts that they’re making to help shape and continue the sustainability of the global compact on refugees. But then, you know, there were moments where I, you know, specifically would network with individuals from civil society that had opportunities to talk to individuals who were representing their own states, states as in, you know, government from different countries. So it was really a… An opportunity for individuals who you wouldn’t ordinarily be in the same room with to be able to really connect. And I think one of the most interesting things that UNHCR did was that, the seating was very symbolic of the, some of the steps towards, meaningful refugee participation. In that, the the 16 members of the, UNHCR advisory board were sitting at the front of the room. Now this is something that, had not occurred in the past, but it was really symbolic to show the strides and efforts that UNHCR has been making towards meaningful refugee participation and ensuring that, the voices of refugees, experts who are in the room for them to be at the front of the room.
Dina Refki 08:53
Excellent. So, Diya, I know that you’ve, led a workshop on ECAR on the side of the conference, but how did the conference, the atmosphere feel like for you? What was the tone like?
Diya Abdo 09:08
So this is my first forum, and so I can’t compare it to previous, events, and I can’t tell if there was a shift or a change. It was really interesting to hear, Lorena, talk about centering refugee voices. That was certainly something that I felt throughout. There were sort of curated opportunities and experiences, outside of the forum for refugee led organizations and leaders to connect. So my own workshop and session was at, which was a side event. And that in itself, even the building and the whole feel of that side event was very different from the forum itself, which, as you can imagine, was happening in large spaces that were very official and very formal. However, I did feel the presence of many young people, and that was incredibly heartwarming to see young people speaking up and at the forefront, making statements, representing their countries, representing their their own experiences. And so I think the… For me, the the the feeling of the youth forward voices was something that that… The tone for me was very positive because of the amplification of the voices of refugee youth.
Dina Refki 10:30
That’s incredible. So the symbolic of of having all the lived experiences centered voices of refugees there as well as the the youth voices is incredibly hopeful. Let’s talk about, the strongest strongest signs of real follow-up and follow through. In other words, where did it seem like commitments were being translated into meaningful actions, for you? Where… In other words, where are we with the status of refugees or the global response to refugees, if I may. Basically, we’d like to know, did you hear about any models that felt Mhmm. Reflected, real commitments, meaningful actions? From what, you’ve heard and experienced, where are we? Where do we stand currently with the global refugee response? What are signs of progress that we’re seeing or or signs of of the translation of commitments to action?
Diya Abdo 11:44
So it was very obvious that universities belong in the space of refugee response. Response. And so this particular session, the 15 by 30 session or the higher education session, centered models like the Global University Academy, In Zone Program, the each one, take one movement. So there was clearly the sense that there were successes in bringing universities or higher education from my own vantage point into refugee response, and the focus now was on how to scale what is already working. And there was a clearer focus on concrete commitments from the universities. We know, for example, that refugee enrollment in higher education has gone from 1% in 2019 to 9% today, and that is a significant increase and a success in its own right. And it it still means, however, that a large number of of refugee youth are still locked out of education, but that’s certainly an increase from from 2019 towards the the goals that were set. But seeing new programming or new initiative emerge… New initiatives emerge around higher education is a mark of success or moving the needle in the right direction when it comes to, higher education and involvement in refugee response.
Dina Refki 13:28
Awesome. Thank you, Doctor Abdo. Lorena?
Lourena Gboeah 13:32
Thanks for for sharing the idea. I I totally agree. Higher higher education is is really important. Speaking from an economic inclusion perspective, I really wanted to start up about, start out by saying I’ve come to adopt this term which states partnership is the new leadership. So that idea really resonated with what I heard throughout the progress review. One of the cross cutting findings of the progress review that stood out to me is that progress has been the strongest where, you know, pledges are embedded within national systems and supported and coordinated by partnerships across sectors such as Dia mentioned education, health, legal access, and also economic inclusion. So that acknowledgment alone really signals that economic inclusion is no longer being treated as a peripheral, but as foundational to refugee protection and also long term stability. And I think, you know, that finding in the midst of others confirms really that, you know, economic inclusion really has moved to the center of the conversation. So, you know, the focus is really no longer on sort of like that short term assistance that refugees get when they first arrive, but really on how, you know, refugees can really achieve long term stability through through the access to education, work, and opportunity.
Dina Refki 15:06
That’s incredible, Lorena. Yes. So I wanna dig deeper into that idea of pledges for those who are not perhaps familiar with how this form works. And so you said the strongest elements are states partnerships or pledges embedded in national, compact. So give us a little bit of information on how that works. What does a pledge mean, and what does it mean to embed a pledge into the national strategy?
Lourena Gboeah 15:42
Sure. Absolutely. So the the Global Refugee Forum, basically is a convening… A larger, convening, right, that brings, states together to figure out ways in which they can address or share the burden of the the refugee crisis. So it’s a part of the global compact on refugees. So at, you know, the convening, the last one, which was in 2023, states came together and they they make these pledges stating what they can do within their purview to be able to support this crisis and to sort of, like, share the burden on host countries that are hosting refugees. So not only are states making pledges, in this context states meaning countries not only are countries making pledges, but civil society makes pledges. Different organizations can come together to make pledges, and pledges sometimes are multistakeholder. Right? You have a a government. You have an NGO. You have civil society. They could all come together and sort of, like, come up with a pledge that they are going to make, in regards to how… You know, or what their efforts are in reducing, this burden on host countries. So at the… When we when we got to the, or should I say post the twenty twenty three Global Refugee Forum, there are over 3,000 pledges that were made across, you know, sectors, across government. And when we got to the progress review, it’s important to note that only 20% of those pledges had been fulfilled. So the progress review was to take stock at all of the pledges that had been made previously and what had been fulfilled and what still needed or was a work in progress. So at the 2025 progress review, as I mentioned, only 20% of pledges have been fulfilled, and 45% of pledges are currently in progress. So this really shows how commitments are easier to make versus the actual implementation. Right? It really takes these pledges being embedded into the systems of the countries that are hosting and actually you know, making these pledges or the institutions that are within to all really work together in in efforts to see, you know, these pledges come into fruition.
Dina Refki 18:39
That’s incredibly important to to note with respect to these implementation gaps that we’re seeing. So it’s not just the commitments that are made, but there’s a huge gap in implementation. So, doctor Abdo.
Diya Abdo 18:53
Yeah. I wanted to follow-up on something that Lorena said, which I think is so important. Host countries. So these are the… And I think that’s yet another layer. So not only is it that most pledges are not fulfilled, it’s also that there’s a mismatch between where the pledges are made and where the work actually happens to support refugees. Host countries that Lorena is mentioning, these are low middle income countries that are hosting the majority of the world’s refugees. They are the ones that are doing most of the work or to quote the term that we use, sharing the burden, carrying the burden, often with very little financial support that matches their commitments. And so from a higher education perspective, the local universities in those host countries that are doing extraordinary things are doing it with almost no recognition. Right? And so when you hear about universities in Somalia or universities in Rwanda or universities in Syria or universities in Palestine or universities in Pakistan, that are doing work, but they’re not on our radar, in our rankings. They’re not in our research partnerships. They’re doing hard work, and they’re doing it largely, alone. And so I think that’s an important thing too. A It’s not matter of fulfilling the pledges, but also aligning the pledges with where the work is actually happening.
Dina Refki 20:26
And seems
Diya Abdo 20:27
If that makes sense. I don’t know if Lorena agrees, but at least that was my sense. I I totally agree.
Dina Refki 20:34
Yeah. Yeah. That’s an incredibly important point to make here. I’d like to ask you, Doctor. Diya Abdo, of, what, when it comes to higher education being, part of the solution here, what countries are doing better? What models should we be looking at and and really trying to replicate or scale, at a global level?
Diya Abdo 21:08
Yeah. So I mentioned a few programs earlier. Right? So I talked about, and these were mentioned at the forum, the Global University Academy. These are… This is a a program that pulls together the resources of institutions across multiple continents, to create a universal higher education model for refugees or the in zone program. That’s the University of Geneva that are create… Creating access for displaced learners that each one take one where, you know, a university pledges to take a refugee, or provide them with access to degree programs or to offer digital learning platforms for 10 refugees. So there are specific details for these programs. Want to say that all of these programs are wonderful, but they’re all focused on academic success. They’re getting refugee students into degree programs. And the model that we espouse at Every Campus a Refuge is one that really is a whole of a person approach. So it’s not just about getting students into higher education. We recognize that higher education is a pathway, of course, to success. But there are other, needs and wants, that individuals, human beings have that support their thriving and not just surviving. So physical resettlement, housing, community integration that uses campus infrastructure, these are gaps that programs that focus on degrees and higher education do not necessarily fill. And so, yes, there are models to look out for, but there are models to aspire to. One of the models that’s been around for a while and, of course, that, many of us know about is the Canadian model, right, the World University Services of, Canada Student Refugee Program or WSCC. Mhmm. And it’s used repeatedly as a benchmark, and it deserves that recognition. It’s been running for decades. It operates across dozens of campuses in Canada. The students… The Canadian students raise the funds through their campus, I think it’s fees or, a levy to fund refugee sponsorship, and then they sponsor refugee students, and they provide them with, you know, wraparound support. And so I guess what I want to say is that we should aspire to a university engagement that not only elevates higher education as an end in itself or degrees as an end to itself, but also sees universities as a key durable civic actor in refugee resettlement and integration. So not just as a degree provider, but as a a space and a place for integration and true integration for refugees.
Dina Refki 23:56
That’s incredibly important. And we we acknowledge, that this… The the ECAR model is really evidence based. All research around academic success really, emphasizes that students have to be socially integrated. They have to be integrated into the fabric of their communities. They have to have an emotional well-being aspect to succeed in colleges. And what ECAR does is really strive for that social integration, that sense of belonging. And what it’s also doing is really also affecting the climate or or, making sure that the climate around the student is welcoming, and that’s really important to their success. Now I wanna also go back to an issue that Lorena had said… Had mentioned that the support is not just short term as the model that we have for refugee recipients here in The US, but it is a longer term, commitment to the well-being of refugees and their settlement and their, community integration as well. So, yes, we applaud you for having a model that really, confirms research evidence of what it entails to have academic success by focusing on the entire person and not just one aspect of their lives. In speaking of The US, and what the conditions here are at this moment, we’d like to ask you if you have the attention of policymakers in The US, what would one lesson or one takeaway or one advice would you like to share with them, whether state actors or federal actors about refugee, well-being, refugee integration, and resettlement in The US? What would you like to tell them?
Lourena Gboeah 26:00
So this is, Lorena. I would really like to emphasize the point that, you know, meaningful integration or inclusion, it really requires a shared responsibility across policymakers, to Dia’s play, universities, employers, and local communities to really build systems that work in practice and not just in principle. And that’s especially important for newcomers. I know you asked Dia earlier about what sort of models that ECAR probably did their research on to look towards. I wanted to also put that in the context of integration as it relates to economic inclusion as well. We really see like one of the big disconnects between the global commitments on refugee inclusion and the lived reality is that it really shows up after resettlement, especially when it comes to entering the labor market. So in The US, refugees typically receive about a ninety day resettlement window, which is often treated… Is often, in quotes, treated as, like, sufficient for integration. And in practice, that time frame is far too short for for rebuilding a professional career. So here at Uproly Global, we routinely, you know, work with job seekers years after arrival who oftentimes remain unemployed or underemployed. And it’s not due to lack of skill or motivation, but because barriers exist. Barriers such as limited professional networks, unfamiliar hiring norms, language challenges, and the absence of industry specific guidance. And, you know, I… A couple of years ago, I visited Australia, and I learned a little bit about, you know, their sort of, like, resettlement system and how it works. So I like to contrast, you know, countries such as Australia, which offers a longer, more phased resettlement model with up to eighteen months of intensive support and additional services really extending up to five years. So that approach really, I think, it better reflects the reality that economic integration actually takes more time. So I just wanted to emphasize that. And I also wanted to really highlight and remind us all that The US, you know, in ways has always been a leader, as it relates to funding the crisis, as it relates to, resettlement. Right? I know we’ve moved away from that quite recently, but I just wanted to remind us of how we, you know, welcome the stranger. Although, you know, there are and have been gaps, but at least, I felt that we were getting to a point where we’re working towards or collectively working towards, you know, taking care of those gaps. But now we seem to be moving further and further away from that.
Dina Refki 29:09
Thank you, Lorena, Doctor Abdo.
Diya Abdo 29:13
Thank you. I really want to build on, what Lorena said. Yes. That integration is… Doesn’t happen after ninety days. And we know that The US refugee admission program, which has been operating under these guidelines since 1980, expects displaced individuals with a past that still needs a lot of healing, individuals who need perhaps to learn a new language, to adjust and adapt to a new environment, to become financially independent three months after they land, in in The US. It’s it’s untenable, and it it means that integration, is often interrupted in many ways and that it takes a long time. And oftentimes, we hear, well, that’s what used to allow us to take in, you know, over a 100,000 refugees. The US used to be a leader in refugee resettlement in the sense that we took or admitted larger number of refugees with the argument that we could do that if we could provide a certain number of resources that would allow us to take more people. In other words, resources being the reason or one of the reasons why we had to keep it to ninety days. So knowing that integration takes longer than ninety days, but still wanting to maintain our leadership status, hopefully, return to that one day, our leadership status in refugee admissions, we have to consider all the actors, all the stakeholders who can fulfill those gap. I don’t wanna say gaps because I don’t think we have gaps. I think we have an abundance of resources. It’s a mind shift, right, or it’s a mind frame shift. We have to think differently about where those resources are and how they can be accessed. And I want to remind people who are listening, you know, when you say, if you can say something to, you know, whoever, leadership, states, whatever, I want to remind them that we have thousands of universities in The US, hundreds of universities and colleges in every city, sorry, in every state, dozens potentially in every county and every city that should be looked at not just as degree providing but as resources unto themselves, and that these should be considered when we design any integration framework. When we’re looking at resources to provide individuals with integration support, universities should naturally be considered as resources in that framework. And so that’s why the idea of, for me, these conversations that we might be having right now about state led, refugee resettlement, in The US is incredibly exciting because it allows us to mobilize universities as actors in their state. And to say very convincingly, if you step up as a university in your state to sponsor or co sponsor a certain number of refugees, that directly impacts what your state can do and what it can pledge and hopefully commit to and eventually enact in terms of refugee resettlement. So I guess what I would say is really let’s think about universities differently. Whenever we’re creating a framework for true integration, universities should be considered not just as a higher education pathway, but also as an integration, framework.
Dina Refki 32:47
Absolutely, Doctor Abdo. You… Your model of ICAR has also demonstrated that that, the universities can play a much wider role in our societal problems and and the the refugee resettlement, challenge as well. Another angle that I wanted to also allude to is not… With the ninety days limit on support of refugee resettlement is is that, it it really leads to a very, very, very harmful phenomena of descaling because… And underemployment because there is so much pressure on that individual or this family to be self sustaining. And so they are pushed into what is known as survival jobs, which really tend to not leverage the talents and experiences and and degrees, honestly, that some refugees bring. And we have an incredible problem of deskilling that is happening with this sector. And so that calls for attention to extending and perhaps those, adopting an Australian model or models that that really look at that resettlement as a a phased process and a a more lengthy process so that we avoid deskilling and underemployment, which which really, harms the economic development of any community when we are real… When we are doing a, a brain waste, basically, with that, with channeling refugees into jobs that are not commensurate with their experiences. I I know that we’re coming up on, the end of our time together, but I wanted to ask you both a a very, important question. What gives you hope, and what worries you or concerns you as we stand today with the global response to refugees?
Diya Abdo 35:00
This is Dia. What gives me hope is the greater centering of refugee voices, lived experience in the design of of initiatives of support, that it is clear that, you know, that that that’s… That there’s a shift, in centering, the agency and the dignity of, individuals who will… Are affected the most. What gives me, hope also is the incredibly loving, kind, compassionate communities that I come across every time I interact with a university or college in The US that wants to do the work of welcome and inclusion. And so at a time when things feel kind of hopeless, I always remind people that really there’s so much love in communities all across this country, big and small. Very true. Very true. Yes. Think one of the things that gives me concern is what’s happening around the world in terms of forced displacement at the moment, and the way that we have excluded certain groups of the scholastic side that that happened in Gaza, for example, the attack on higher education in Palestine and in countries where that is not given the attention that it deserves. If we are talking about attacks on higher education, we should be talking about higher… Attacks on higher education everywhere and not just cherry pick where where that’s happening. Absolutely. So what gives me concern is the rise in forced displacement that’s happening right now as we speak in countries, in the Arab world and neighboring countries, and the attacks on higher education that go unnoticed in those, in those regions as well. Absolutely.
Dina Refki 37:08
With the explosion of wars everywhere, it’s really concerning what these wars will produce in terms of displaced occupation… Displaced people. Lorena, what gives you hope, and what concerns you?
Lourena Gboeah 37:25
So I I… It’s so interesting that you chose Dia and I, for this, this, interview. First of all, Dia and I, have been our colleagues in in this space. So… And her experience with, you know, higher ed in this space really, you know, offsets my conversation around the economic inclusion because the the two things are interrelated. And what gives her hope is is so similar to what gives me hope. As I mentioned earlier, you know, I’m a former refugee from Liberia, and I’ve sort of, like, you know, been doing this advocacy work since 2023 when I was in grad school. And I have seen such an evolution, specifically speaking, from my time at refugee congress, which is an organization that’s built and led by, forcibly displaced people. So almost at its inception is when I started, with the organization. That’s where I got my advocacy roots. And all this time, we’ve really been fighting to ensure that the wherever, you know, refugee issues and forcibly displaced people are being discussed, we as an organization, as members of the organization, want it to be at those tables. And we’ve really evolved to the point that we’re currently one of the leading refugee led organizations here in The US that’s often consulted. So that gives me hope, the strides that have been made towards meaningful refugee participation across all of the players, across UNHCR, across employers who hire refugees, across policymakers in their offices who include our voices and conversations. But it’s one thing to be a part of those conversations in those rooms, But, you know, it’s one thing when what is discussed in terms of, you know, including refugees from the conceptualization stage all the way up to the end and really seeing lasting policy changes that have been made because of our involvement. That gives me hope. One of the things that is concerning, as I mentioned earlier, you know, we’ve made such great strides. We’re not there yet. We have work to do. But, of course, now, you know, that work is currently… Is being interrupted, right, by what’s going on currently in the external context of, you know, our administration. And I also wanted to really share some stats that sort of highlight my concerns. According to the Economic Policy Institute, immigrants account for approximately 14% of The US population yet contribute nearly 18% of total economic output. So this highlights, you know, the outsized role in driving growth. And then… So it’s really important to highlight that because, you know, the the more, you know, current policies are not in favor or don’t uplift these strides that have been made in terms of the out… The economic output of immigrants and refugees, the more and more, you know, The US economic, sector suffers. You know? Although immigrants make up about 20 or less than 20% of The US workforce, they’ve been responsible for 88% of the growth in the working age population over the past five years. So it it really concerns me to see all of these negative policies, that are currently, being put in place. It concerns me the job seekers we work with, some of which, are affected by, the current executive orders that have been, put in place as it relates to, disseminating, humanitarian protection programs and excluding, people from coming and and even, you know, halting family reunification. So those are all things that have been concerning to me.
Dina Refki 41:48
And, Lorena, yeah, you’re absolutely right that this part of the argument, refugees and immigrants as a driving force for economic growth is… Tend to be the more suppressed part of the argument. Well, the dominant narrative now is really the deficit based, or the resource intensity that, refugee resettlement needs. And and so it needs to be amplified, really, and and how the country is is going to be losing a lot of that, growth with the current policies that it’s going through to the other direction. Thank you both for joining us and for your authentic, real reflections. We are incredibly honored to have you both. You are two powerful leaders with lived experience in the professional leadership to, enact a positive impact in this world, and we are incredibly thankful for your leadership. The global refugee forum, progress review is intended to measure progress and identify gaps, but conversations like this remind us that global processes matter most when they translate into real systems of welcome, opportunity, and protection in people’s lives when they’re actually implemented on the ground and move from mere commitments to actual implementation. Whether through workforce inclusion, higher education, or community based support, the challenges had is not only to make commitments, but to make these commitments tangible and to have them impact positively the lives of immigrants and and refugees. Thank you both for, doctor Diya Abdo and Lourena Gboeah for being our guests today.
Joel Tirado 43:46
Thanks again to Dina Refki, Lourena Gboeah, and Diya Abdo for that conversation. If you liked this episode, please rate, subscribe, and share. It will help others find the podcast and help us deliver the latest in public policy research. All of our episodes are available for free wherever you stream your podcasts and transcripts are available on our website. I’m Joel Tirado; until next time.
Policy Outsider is presented by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York. The Institute conducts cutting-edge nonpartisan public policy research and analysis to inform lasting solutions to the challenges facing New York state and the nation. Learn more at rockinst.org or by following RockefellerInst. That’s i n s t on social media. Have a question comment or idea? Email us at [email protected].
“Policy Outsider” from the Rockefeller Institute of Government takes you outside the halls of power to understand how decisions of law and policy shape our everyday lives.
Listen to a full episode archive on Spotify, or subscribe on your preferred podcast platform.
