Summary
WIRL SEMINAR SERIES 2025/26
Refuge in a cold climate: the impact on women
SEMINAR SIX: INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE LAW AND THE GLOBAL COMPACT- WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?
This was the sixth and final in a series of free online seminars hosted by the Women in Refugee Law (WiRL) network on the theme of “Refuge in a cold climate: the impact on women”. These are public events, ideal for anyone whose work relates to refugee or asylum-claiming women or with an interest in the needs and experiences of refugee women. This series draws on WiRL’s global membership to apply a gendered lens in analysing the impact of increasing hostility to refugees in different states and contexts.
International refugee law and the accompanying frameworks and initiatives can seem remote and impenetrable and are also continually changing. This makes it difficult for refugee and asylum-claiming women and their advocates to keep up-to-date on their rights and how to access them. In this seminar we address that concern, asking what current initiatives offer women by way of improved protection and how can refugee women, practitioners and advocates engage with and inform these mechanisms.
This seminar featured presentations from
HÜSEYIN ALI KUDRET (CHAIR)
WiRL Steering Group Member and independent researcher and advisor specialising in EU asylum and refugee law and human rights activist.
JAMES C. SIMEON (SPEAKER)
Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University (Toronto) and former Executive Director and currently Associate Member of the International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges (IARMJ), to provide an overview of recent developments on international refugee law in particular Global Compact on Refugees. See James’ presentation here.
MADELINE GARLICK (SPEAKER)
Chief of the Protection Policy and Legal Advice Section in the Division of International Protection at UNHCR in Geneva and qualified barrister and solicitor, to speak about international protection and women.
ANA MARÍA DÍEZ (SPEAKER)
A lawyer and co-founder and President of Coalición por Venezuela, a coalition of Venezuelan civil society organizations, and representative on UNHCR’s Advisory Board of Organizations led by Displaced and Stateless People, to speak about refugee participation and an Independent Declaration on the Right to Participate.
