※ The English version follows below.
https://www.niskanencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Opportunity-by-Design.pdf
On January 23, 2026, Robo Co-op, together with the Global Impact Sourcing Consortium (GISC), hosted a closed-door roundtable in New York on Impact Sourcing and Refugee Economic Inclusion.
The roundtable was convened at a time of rapid AI-driven workforce transformation, growing geopolitical fragmentation, and the emergence of new regulatory frameworks such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). It brought together senior leaders from policy, research, the UN system, and the private sector to examine how inclusive, digital supply chains can advance refugee economic inclusion while also strengthening business resilience and compliance.
◆The discussion was anchored by perspectives from:
▫Kim Jintae, Founder and CEO, Robo Co-op
▫Kristina Zitnanova, Senior Policy Officer, UNHCR New York
▫Denise Bell, Senior Fellow, Niskanen Center
▫Masaaki Maeda, Secretary General, Nippon Club (Welcome Remarks)
◆Main Points of Discussion
A central theme was the shared recognition that the greatest risk posed by AI is not disruption, but exclusion. Speakers emphasized that without intentional intervention, refugees risk being further marginalized by the AI transition, deepening existing inequalities through new digital and language-based divides.
Participants discussed how digital impact sourcing, AI-enabled learning, and remote work models can help address these risks—by integrating skills development with language access, overcoming mobility constraints, and enabling refugees to contribute meaningfully to global value chains. Throughout the discussion, refugees were consistently framed as economic partners and contributors to system-level innovation, rather than passive beneficiaries.
The roundtable reinforced that refugee economic inclusion is no longer peripheral to humanitarian policy. It is increasingly central to workforce strategy, supply-chain due diligence, and long-term economic stability.
◆The discussion also drew on: ▫Economic Participation and the Global Cost of International Assistance in support of Refugee Subsistence Needs (November 2024, A joint World Bank-UNHCR report)
▫Opportunity by Design: How States Turn Immigration into Economic Advantage (December 2025, Denise Bell)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Opportunity-by-Design.pdf
Robo Co-op thanks all speakers and participants for their leadership and engagement and look forward to advancing this dialogue into concrete collaboration.