Twenty years ago, refugee women were seldom consulted and their specific needs rarely identified or taken into account. Considerable progress has been made in the interim, although policy developments have far outstripped progress in practice. Over the past 20 years, reproductive health services have become part of key global standards and increasingly practice, refugee women are usually individually registered, they generally receive food rations, and innumerable programmes have been designed and implemented to empower and protect them. Gender-based violence has gone from an invisible issue to multi-faceted prevention and response initiatives. Policy development includes the High Commissioner's Five Commitments to Refugee Women, the rollout of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming Initiative, the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Conclusion on Women and Girls at Risk No. 105 (LVII) 2006, and the recent United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Handbook on the Protection of Women and Girls. As the humanitarian community has broadened its depth of understanding and learning, new needs and issues have arisen. Issues currently on the international agenda to further protect refugee women include: how to effectively engage men; how to operationalize the prevention of gender-based violence; how to tackle the availability of safe access to cooking fuel in humanitarian settings; and how to effectively and safely empower refugee women economically. This article will provide a brief overview of progress over the past 20 years and outline current issues that require further attention. © UNHCR [2010]. All rights reserved.

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violence Reproductive Health United Nations gender issue refugee policy development empowerment health services human rights womens status womens health