Building Communities of Practice for Urban Refugees - Brazil Roundtable Report

As part of a global project on urban refugees, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Brazil hosted a roundtable on the integration of refugees in the city of São Paulo on June 3, 2015. This roundtable was the second in a series of roundtable events held in selected cities in each of the five geographic regions. The first roundtable event focussed on coexistence in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The roundtables are part of the “Building Communities of Practice for Urban Refugees” project, an initiative designed to reinforce UNHCR’s implementation of its Policy on refugee protection and solutions in urban areas. UNHCR recognizes that well over half of the world’s refugees and asylum-seekers live in urban and peri-urban areas and that their ability to peacefully coexist in these cities is fundamental to their well-being. UNHCR understands that refugees and asylum-seekers cannot make a living or contribute to the social, economic and cultural life of a city without the support of their neighbours and the many different government agencies and offices of the host country. The roundtables are an opportunity to convene many stakeholders from various sectors of the municipal government and civil society to discuss the most positive ways to integrate refugees into the city.