PAGE 12 Pledgers reported that they have formed over 100 new partnerships and collaborations since joining the pledge (5). Some examples include: United Kingdom: Five firms that joined the pledge - Ashurst, Allen & Overy, Orrick, Reed Smith, and White & Case - developed a new collaboration called the Family Reunion from Europe (FRFE) project, together with another global firm and the legal charity Refugee Legal Support (RLS). The lawyers from these firms are fully trained and supervised by expert lawyers at RLS to assist individuals in Greece and other countries who have family members legally residing in the UK to access family reunion rights, following the UK's departure from the European Union. Kenya: The Refugee Consortium of Kenya partnered with the Coptic Hospital Gender Violence Recovery Centre and Nairobi Women’s Gender Violence Recovery Centre to provide survivors of gender-based violence with medico-legal support, promoting their access to justice and sensitizing hospital staff on appropriate legal responses to gender-based violence. Hong Kong: Herbert Smith Freehills joined a collaboration of a number of international firms – including DLA Piper, Linklaters, Ashurst and Allen & Overy which are also signatories to the Pledge – in assisting refugees to apply to the Hong Kong Immigration Department for work authorization. Since the start of the project in 2016, an ever-increasing number of refugees have been supported to secure work rights each year and, the application procedure has transformed from an unclear process that took months, to a streamlined process taking a matter of weeks. France: Barreau de Paris Solidarité - Paris Bar Association entered into five new partnerships with NGOs to support its asylum clinics and other work to address the unmet legal needs of those forcibly displaced. Through its asylum clinics – many of which are run out of its Solidarity Bus - the Paris Bar Association is able to reach over 1,500 asylum-seekers each year, including those living in the streets, camps or emergency shelters. Doing this in partnership with NGOs allows it to share resources, such as translators, and to ensure appropriate referrals are made to address the nonlegal needs of their clients. United States: Bloomberg’s Legal and Compliance Department collaborated with the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) and Immigration Equality to undertake country conditions research to support asylum claims. The research focused on the violence and discrimination faced by transgender, gender non-conforming, and HIVpositive individuals in Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela. (5)This number is drawn from the data submitted by pledgers and represents only a snapshot of new partnerships and collaborations established. Many pledgers have shared that the Pledge has had a catalytic impact on their refugee rights work, but not all pledgers who submitted a report quantified the number of new partnerships and collaborations entered into and it is difficult to quantify which partnerships reported were the direct "result of" the Pledge.