The Potential of Community Sponsorship

Community sponsorship programs have many positive impacts – both on refugees and the host community – and are an effective and innovative tool for increasing and improving pathways to protection.  

Growing the Global Protection System 

Community sponsorship has been recognized as a critical tool for growing and improving refugee protection in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, the Global Compact on Refugees, and the Three-Year Strategy on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways.

Community sponsorship is supporting refugees and other persons in need of international protection through resettlement and complementary pathways, such as humanitarian corridors, labor mobility schemes, and education pathways. 

Improving Integration and Settlement Outcomes  

Studies and evaluations of community sponsorship programs around the world show that community sponsorship tends to have a positive impact on refugee integration and participating in these programs is beneficial to both host communities and newcomers.  

The formal and informal support provided by sponsorship groups can help refugee newcomers to navigate their new community, find employment, and build friendships.  

Mobilizing and Strengthening Local Community 

Around the world, thousands of individual sponsors and hundreds of civil society organizations - including advocacy organizations, refugee agencies, faith-based organizations and community associations - are engaged in organizing and implementing community sponsorship programs. Through the mobilization of these sponsors, several hundreds of thousands of refugees have been welcomed worldwide through community sponsorship programs.  

The relationships formed between sponsors and newcomers contribute to building a diverse and welcoming community – bringing together those with differing political views, cultures, and life experiences. This has the potential to improve the narratives surrounding “refugees” and to create more welcoming host communities.