Russell Kennedy commits to pro bono pledge at the Global Refugee Forum at the United Nations.
Russell Kennedy joins an esteemed international legal community, headed by International NGO PILnet (Public Interest Law Network), to present a joint pledge at the UNHCR’s 1st Global Refugee Forum. The pledge commits to 54,000 pro bono hours annually to protect and find solutions for refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless persons and other forcibly displaced persons.
With the number of refugees having risen to over 25 million people worldwide this decade, the international community has recognised the need for change in the way it responds to refugee situations. The Global Refugee Forum provides a platform to advance the objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees which calls for greater support to refugees and the countries that host them, often among the poorest in the world, and also aims to help refugees achieve greater self-reliance so that they can contribute more to their own future and to that of the host community.
PILnet and representative firms deliver the pledge to the UNHCR Global Refugee Forum (credit: PILnet)
The Global Refugee Forum is an opportunity to translate the principles of the Global Compact on Refugees into concrete action.
Russell Kennedy is facilitating this through a concrete pledge that will create real world, tangible benefits for refugees and host communities.
Russell Kennedy is joined in the pledge by Arthur Cox, Allen & Overy, DLA Piper, Herbert Smith Freehills, Microsoft (legal), Morrison & Foerster, NSP Legal Office, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, and Tilleke & Gibbins.
More information about the UNHCR, and the movement created by the Global Refugee Forum can be found here.
You can learn more about our pro bono practice
here, or by signing up to the pro bono mailing list
here.