Africa Refugee Led Organizations Network The African Refugee Led Organization’s Network (ARELON) was formed in 2019 when (GRN) convened 72 refugee leaders (from 14 nationalities living in 11 different host countries) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with the aim of advocating for increased refugee participation in policymaking in Africa through advocacy for improvements in the lives of refugees and to contribute to policymaking discussions and refugee response work on the continent. The discussion focused on seven priority areas, identified by participants: 1) protection; 2) education; 3) work/livelihoods; 4) energy and infrastructure; 5) durable solutions; 6) mobility; 7) addressing root causes; and 8) participation.

Gender was a crosscutting theme. The need for increased refugee participation in policymaking in Africa was an overarching theme. Participants committed to strengthening the Global Refugee-led Network (GRN) and through it, to carry out continued advocacy for improvements in the lives of refugees and to contribute to policymaking discussions and refugee response work on the continent. Participation focused on five key challenges:

• UNHCR and other stakeholders do not adequately value the views and perspectives of refugee leaders and refugee-led organizations;
• Refugee-led organizations face legal obstacles in carrying out their work, such as difficulty with formal NGO registration;
• Refugee-led organizations struggle to access funding;
• Insufficient information and transparency about policy and decision-making processes, advocacy opportunities and resources.