On the margins of the UN General Assembly, on 20 September 2016, the United States President Obama hosted the Leaders' Summit on Refugees, alongside co-hosts Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden.
The event sought to galvanize significant new global commitments to: 1) increase funding to humanitarian appeals and international organizations, 2) admit more refugees through resettlement or other legal pathways, and 3) increase refugees' self-reliance and inclusion through opportunities for education and legal work. This Joint Statement on the Leaders' Summit on Refugees was issued on behalf of the co-hosts, the governments of Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico, Sweden, and the
United States. The statement notes the lack of a "routine mechanism [...] to facilitate voluntary responsibility-sharing for refugees" and commits those States to supporting the development of a Global Compact on Responsibility Sharing for Refugees.