IFC UNHCR Joint Initiative - Learning

Economic migrants and refugees can bring both benefits and costs to their hosting countries. If well-integrated, they can support themselves, their families, and their hosting countries as producers and consumers. Both economic migration and forced displacement are therefore integrally linked with development outcomes. Recognizing this, multilateral development banks (MDBs) are supporting their beneficiary member countries to improve outcomes for economic migrants and refugees, in the form of billions of dollars in grants and loans, as well as technical assistance, policy dialogues, and knowledge exchanges. This paper provides an introductory snapshot of some of the financing instruments, projects, and strategies used; particularly innovative approaches; and challenges MDBs face in expanding their engagement. It is hoped this paper will be useful to anyone who engages with MDBs and wants to understand how they engage on economic migration and forced displacement, particularly as these issues continue to grow in importance.

Humanitarians are growing dependent on corporate giants to power emergency response.

The “Advisory Model'' is an innovative finance concept developed by the IRC with the support of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations; a tool for investor and humanitarian partners to develop impactful cross-sector partnerships – allowing a “humanitarian in residence” to strengthen and support MDB, DFI, and private sector investments – from venture capital to private equity - in fragile/conflict settings. IRC is currently piloting several advisory partnerships, addressing challenges from wastewater and infrastructure to climate financing and economic development.

Urgent development and climate finance needs have rightly pushed multilateral development banks (MDBs) center stage as finance leaders grapple with how to transform the international financial architecture to meet the needs of the moment. MDBs have the financial and non-financial tools, the on-the-ground presence, the knowledge, and the policy credibility to help countries integrate and finance development and climate objectives. But there is broad agreement that their twentieth century model needs to be transformed to achieve twenty-first century priorities and finance scale.

Many countries in Europe and beyond are contending with acute labor shortages and looking to immigration as one policy option to sustain and support economic growth, alongside efforts to retrain local workers and improve productivity. At the same time, lower- and middle-income countries with fast-growing populations are exploring ways to better link their nationals with economic opportunities at home and abroad. Legal migration pathways that connect unemployed workers in such countries with hard-to-fill jobs abroad are thus gaining interest in both origin and destination countries. To date, however, employment- and skills-based mobility projects have encountered challenges in fully realizing their anticipated benefits. These include difficulties building up project infrastructure and securing private-sector engagement. As a result, many have facilitated the movement of small numbers of people. This policy brief explores the case for employment- and skills-based mobility projects, looking at how different types of cooperation can support legal migration pathways, as well as common challenges these projects face. The brief also discusses strategies for achieving economies of scale and these projects' unique value—including the chance they offer to test new migration corridors or new recruitment models, while broadening cooperation opportunities with partner countries.

This paper, along with its accompanying data, provides the first comprehensive analysis on financing for refugee education in low- and middle-income countries. By compiling and scrutinizing data on host government financing, foreign aid contributions, and philanthropic giving, a consolidated and quantified overview of all major sources of financing for refugee education in low- and middle-income countries is produced. This data is then analyzed to reveal key trends and patterns in refugee education financing, existing financing gaps, and potential biases in financing allocations. These findings are explored in the 10 facts and findings outlined in this paper, and summarized in Box 1 below. It is hoped that this dataset and analysis will help to improve the understanding of financing for refugee education in low- and middle-income countries and inform future discussion and debate on refugee education financing.

This paper examines the role of mobilising political will in establishing the conditions necessary for economic and social inclusion of refugees, internally displaced persons, and formerly displaced persons who achieve durable solutions such as voluntary return. It investigates the role and conditions to mobilise political will for more comprehensive and inclusive policies that can lead to long-term local development in contexts of forced displacement in low- and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs). Case studies from Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ecuador, Iraq and Lebanon illustrate the ways in which political will, or its absence, can shape the approach to supporting the forcibly displaced and hosting communities. The paper also proposes a conceptual model for mobilising political will to facilitate sustainable development support in contexts of forced displacement.

In the field of development finance, the challenge of marshalling private investment in support of development goals is among the most vexing, and one that World Bank President Ajay Banga—a former Mastercard executive—has touted as a top priority.

Refugees are often depicted as economic burdens on the communities where they have found safety, and on the international aid system. This overlooks the fact that 55% of refugees live in countries where their right to work and fully participate in society is restricted.

Initially, it was manifested primarily through higher consumption financed mainly by increased spending by the government and humanitarian organisations. Despite being forced to flee their homes, refugees from Ukraine very quickly entered the labour market as employees and entrepreneurs. In our study, we take a closer look at this phenomenon and analyse its economic impact on the Polish economy, comprehensively considering the supply side of the economy, including labour supply and productivity, and the demand side, estimating by how much this has collectively raised Polish GDP.

The Venezuelan exodus is the largest migration flow of its kind in the recent history of the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC)region. It represents the secondlargest population flow in the world (surpassed only by that of the Ukraine crisis) and the largest flow in the world for a non-conflict country. Since 2015, over seven million Venezuelans—about a quarter of the country’s population—have left the country, escaping economic collapse, political persecution, and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The majority of these people (over six million) have settled in countries in the LAC region. Some have made their way to other countries, mainly the United States and Spain. This report examines their situation in the four main host countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, and around the world are reestablishing themselves in Brazil. An innovative housing and employment program in São Paulo, implemented with private sector support, offers a model for inclusion.

Today, nearly 80 million people are displaced from their home and this number is expected to reach 300 million by 2023. Kiva's data illustrates that lending to displaced populations is both viable and scalable.

This research explores the needs, priorities, challenges, and risks faced by refugees engaged in the digital economy, drawing on findings from 62 community-based workshops with 541 participants, held across seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes (EHAGL) regions. Learnings and practical recommendations provided through this research were co-created with refugee community members and will form the basis of our ongoing strategy to promote an inclusive digital economy for refugees and host communities. We hope that, in turn, this research – and the participatory ethos underpinning it – will serve to guide global stakeholders in shaping the digital livelihoods programming and strategies of the future. A short, shareable blog based on the in-depth report has also been published and is available here.

The World Bank Group´s latest Private Sector Rapid Survey (PSRS) on Afghanistan. Businesses are still contending with a severely constrained banking and financial sector and lack of consumer demand.

The global displacement crisis has surged to unprecedented level with Africa accounting for 45% of the total numbers. Sahel, Sudan, DRC show the highest numbers, largely conflict-induced with conflict taking a toll on economic growth and affecting neighboring countries facing their own crisis. Real GDP growth is on average 2.5% lower in conflict affected areas. For e.g. with the conflict in a pivotal country for the HoA such as Sudan, the Sudanese economy is expected to shrink by 23% in 2023, affecting not only exports, trade routes but also imports representing crucial economic ties, forex with neighbors such as Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Sudan, CAR and others. While humanitarian support coordinated by government remains crucial, private sector solutions are also called for longer term solutions. They play a pivotal role leveraging their resources, products, services and expertise. ‘Private sector is investing into the conversation and economic activities. It’s not charity, not CSR. It’s what it takes for all to raise together.

A large camp in Kenya currently hosts refugees from more than five different nations, currently serving a population of over 200,000, delivering services in protection, safety, dignity, and security, with specialized support to women and children’s mental health. Divided into four areas, the camps are not currently connected to any power grids, with power connections to neighboring communities an unreliable solution. IRC healthcare facilities are currently reliant on diesel to power their services. Nearly 100% of the basic needs of the camp’s population are delivered through development partners and funded by aid. For example, humanitarian organizations provide cash transfers to clients, many of whom spend these resources on energy for cooking and lighting. Current conditions are unsustainable.

A partnership between the international NGOs SPARK and Qatar Charity, supported by Qatar Fund for Development, aims to expand routes to formal employment for refugees in Turkey. For further information follow this link.

When host countries allow refugees to earn income, two main groups benefit: refugees, who become financially autonomous, and international institutions that can reduce the humanitarian aid that would otherwise be needed to support refugees. Uganda is one of the more progressive countries when it comes to promoting the financial independence of refugees and shifting from humanitarian aid to development ways of working. This note considers how successful refugees in Uganda have been in becoming financially independent and estimates how assistance has been saved due to these efforts at economic inclusion. Using the international poverty line of US$2.15 in 2017 purchasing power parities to proxy the costs of basic needs, the results suggest that the amount of total aid needed was reduced by almost 45 percent. They also show that many refugees live in poverty, implying that the present combination of aid and work is inadequate to assure a decent standard of living. While more assistance is needed in the short run, reductions in development assistance are feasible but require upfront investments in refugee earning capacity to realize them.

The third edition of the Global Survey on Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion, conducted biennially by the Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Unit in the Division of Resilience and Solutions at UNHCR HQ, sheds light on the economic landscapes of refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, returnees, and stateless individuals and delves into the enabling environments in UNHCR country operations.

Over the summer, CGD launched the MDB Reform Accelerator, a hub for evidence-based analysis and strategic outreach around MDB reform. As part of that initiative, we're hosting a set of conversations around private capital mobilization on the CGD Podcast with experts in both private and public funding to find out: What's worked? What needs to change? And where can we go from here?

ITC partnered with the International Security and Development Center and the Norwegian Refugee Council to design and carry out the survey assessing the experiences of small businesses in fragile and conflict-affected settings in eight countries (Burkina Faso, Colombia, Honduras, Iraq, Kenya, Myanmar, South Sudan and Ukraine). This SME Competitiveness Outlook assesses the impact of conflict and fragility on business performance. It unveils a Fragility Exposure Index, and shows that fragility, as experienced by firms, can be reduced by 25% if they take actions to reinforce competitiveness. These include engaging with business support organizations, improving financial management and retaining skilled staff. The report finds that direct support to firms is helpful and must be complemented by reforms to promote peace and stability and improve the business environment. Humanitarian partners, development agencies and capable state institutions must collaborate, coordinate and have a deep understanding of the context to avoid reinforcing the drivers of fragility, and maximize positive outcomes.

The number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence and human rights violations globally is likely to have exceeded 114 million at the end of September 2023, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced. The main drivers of forced displacement in the first half of 2023 were: war in Ukraine and conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar; a combination of drought, floods and insecurity in Somalia; and a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, according to UNHCR’s Mid-Year Trends Report, which analyses forced displacement during the first six months of this year.

The project report, available in English and Portuguese, contains valuable lessons learnt that help build the business case for the inclusion of refugees in the Brazilian labor market and defend the role of the private sector in promoting values such as diversity, inclusion, and equality. It is expected that the experience contained in the report will serve as inspiration for other similar initiatives in Brazil and around the world to promote inclusive development.

The research uncovered a ‘grey-zone’ between the siloed division of humanitarian and development interventions. Rather than repeated, short-term emergency assistance, the protracted nature of needs and displacement in contexts like Somalia, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Libya and Iraq calls for more sustainable interventions towards self-reliance and durable solutions. This raises questions about which actors are best placed to implement such "grey zone" interventions, as well as how those are best financed and coordinated.

The paper shows that climate-related forced displacement is insufficiently addressed in two fundamental commitments made towards the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) between 2015 and 2023: National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It describes the important role NAPs and NDCs play in prioritising the tackling of certain aspects of climate change adaptation, identifies gaps on forced displacement, and proposes ways of adding it among their policy objectives, and of mobilising finance to reach them.

This paper provides the first overview of efforts by low- and middle-income countries to extend the coverage of national social protection systems to the forcibly displaced persons they host. It presents a baseline of de jure (legal) and estimated de facto (actual) coverage in 12 countries; analyses the conditions enabling access to social protection by the forcibly displaced; draws lessons from Iraq, Sudan and Uganda in terms of challenges and successes; and offers guidance to major stakeholders on extending social protection initiatives to forcibly displaced persons.

Key recommendations for governments and development actors include: 1. Use private sector mappings to build evidence-informed strategies, enhanced by collaborating with the private sector. 2. Advocate with the private sector to raise awareness of the benefits that migration can bring for their businesses. 3. Support the creation of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and promote private sector driven knowledge exchange at the global, regional, national and local levels. 4. Increase access to decent jobs for migrants, especially women and youth, through targeted traineeships, mentoring and the provision of childcare solutions. 5. Address policy and regulatory barriers to migrants´ integration, while promoting social cohesion. 6. Involve the private sector in decision-making processes regarding migration policies as well as sectoral policies affected by, or having an impact on, migration, in particular labor market policies.

Nearly four years after the first 2019 Global Refugee Forum, the UNHCR’s Regional East and Horn and Great Lakes Region office jointly with UNHCR Private Sector Partnerships Team Africa took stock on the various ways we have been cooperating successfully with the private sector in the region to support forcibly displaced populations. It highlights the importance of advocating for legal frameworks enabling refugee employment and effective coordination among partners for successful private sector engagement jointly with key regional bodies such as IGAD, ICGLR and the EAC, and national governmental counterparts. The report also showcases the significance of working with the private sector and key technical partners such as the FAO to integrate forcibly displaced populations into agricultural value chains, provide access to jobs, find innovative solutions for economic inclusions etc. It highlights the importance of working through key accelerator partners such as the WB, IFC, Chambers of Commerce and to ensure that

This paper provides a factual baseline of the extent to which refugees and internally displaced persons are included in development planning, specifically in the national development plans and sector plans of low- and middle-income countries; in the international development co-operation strategies of Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members and participants; and in the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks of the UN development system at country level. It contributes to measuring progress towards commitments – under the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and the UN Action Agenda on Internal Displacement – to treat forced displacement also as a development issue. Finally, it formulates policy recommendations to further improve the inclusion of the forcibly displaced in development planning.

Refugee-related investments have much opportunity for growth and can be of great mutual benefit to both refugees and local communities. The business case for investing in refugee-related companies or projects is gradually becoming visible in several world regions and contexts, from East Africa to Europe. This paper takes stock of the current state of the space, highlights notable challenges being faced and derives some recommendations to guide future efforts in evolving the field of refugee-related investing.

This research brief shows how refugees take advantage of their freedom of movement to establish trade networks and engage with the Rwandan economy, explores some of the differences between refugee enterprises in Mahama and Kigali, and includes recommendations for policymakers and development and humanitarian actors for enhancing the feasibility and impact of entrepreneurship support for refugees in Rwanda.

Over the last decade, the migration landscape in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has changed significantly. In this context, the socio-economic integration of immigrants is an increasingly high priority on the regional development and policy agenda. For this reason, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have collaborated on this joint exercise that builds on OECDs previous experience in measuring migrant inclusion as well as IDBs expertise in building data around the state of migration in Latin America and the Caribbean, and UNDPs presence on the ground and experience working with national and local governments in the region to advance their development priorities. This report provides a general overview of the state of socio-economic integration of migrants in 12 LAC countries by 2021. It presents a series of quantitative indicators related with, for instance, labor market informality, self-employment, youth employment, school attendance, reading literacy and living conditions. This exercise also relies on selected policy indicators that shed light on the regulatory framework within which migrants integration takes place. The objective is to provide decisionmakers and policymakers in host countries with useful indicators to better understand where the gaps are in terms of migrants integration and to help them identify the areas where they should focus their efforts and scarce resources.

Through this research, ILO and UNHCR set out to better understand the implications and impact at the intersection or nexus of humanitarian support and market-based interventions for development and livelihoods in forced displacement contexts, based on a literature review and deep dive cases (Ethiopia, Uganda, Lebanon, Nigeria, Jordan, Zambia, Niger).

From 2019 ‐ 2021 a research collaborative between Tufts University, the International Rescue Committee, and Catholic University Eichstaett‐Ingolstadt conducted case studies in Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, and Uganda on refugees and migrants who had been in these host countries between three and eight years. This brief highlights the main findings and policy recommendations.

To support the 2030 Agenda, MDBs and DFIs have been asked to mobilize more private capital alongside their own investments in private firms. Mobilization volumes to date remain small, but progress has been made in developing new models that can attract different types of private investors at greater scale. From an historic focus on transaction-level mobilization from commercial banks, and issuing bonds to institutional investors, MDBs and DFIs have broadened the range of financial structures they use, and broadened the range of investors that they mobilize capital from, including institutional investors. Innovation and experimentation have occurred both at the level of individual transactions and at the level of portfolios of assets. Scaling up multi-asset mobilization involves a shift in business model from “originate to hold” to “originate to share.” To further implement this model, MDBs and DFIs need to increase their capacity to originate assets, standardize asset terms and documents, pool assets in shared vehicles, share risk data, and be more strategic about selling assets. DFIs that do not currently do so can also mobilize private capital by issuing bonds.

The report is the first ranking of the 50 top-performing global companies on refugee economic integration. Refugee Integration Insights (RII) is a specialized provider of private sector refugee data and insights. RII enables scalable sustainable solutions to the growing refugee crisis by providing investors and other organizations with the information necessary to track and assess corporate refugee action across a range of quantitative and qualitative metrics. As a nonprofit, RII’s mission is to channel capital and resources towards refugees. The company was founded by Sindhu Janakiram and Ignaco Paullier after they won the 2020 Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge with their product Refugee ETF, the first public markets investment product focused on refugees.

The results revealed a striking level of mistrust directed towards migrants, particularly if they are women. These groups faced challenges when accessing basic financial services like opening a savings account or securing a loan showing intersectional discrimination. Noticeable differences were found in the lower quality of treatment and service provided to Venezuelan customers compared to Peruvian ones. By doing so, the research allowed us to understand better and map out the existence of systemic barriers for Venezuelan migrants and women in opening savings accounts and obtaining loans.

The report analyses the extent and quality of official development assistance (ODA) and other official flows (OOF) for refugee situations in low- and middle-income countries in 2020-2021, towards the burden- and responsibility-sharing rationale of the Global Compact on Refugees.

An estimated 95 economic inclusion programs are underway in contexts of forced displacement in 45 countries, more than half led by governments. This note examines the experience of economic inclusion programs that serve forcibly displaced people, including internally displaced people, refugees, and their host communities. It also examines the emerging lessons learned in program design and delivery based on new data on the footprint of economic inclusion programs and a review of evidence on forced displacement and economic inclusion programming.

Of the 6 million Venezuelans who have fled turmoil in their homeland, more than 1.7 million of them have settled in Colombia. Without bank accounts, few have had the opportunity to create businesses and establish stable lives. But Bancamía is changing that.

This study mapped refugee entrepreneurship activities that are being delivered through UNHCR country operations, implementing partners, and in partnership with other players. It also reflects on emerging practices in the field for strategic guidance

This Consumer and Market Study explores economic activities, employment trends, consumption levels, access to finance, and consumer preferences of refugees and host communities in Uganda’s largest refugee-hosting areas in the Southwest and West Nile regions. The aim of this study is to understand the potential market of the eight reviewed districts and identify possible entry points for the private sector. Among the key findings, the study identified a large consumer market, worth about $485 million measured as annual consumption expenditure, and the potential to develop agribusiness value chains, formalize access to finance and engage private companies in the provision of solar products.

This summary is based on a wider report which maps private-sector activities relevant to migrants and explores how private and public-sector actors can engage jointly with migrants at various stages of the migration cycle. It discusses entry points for donors and governments aiming to establish greater engagement by the private sector or support privately-owned initiatives in migration that can help to make migration processes safer, as well as strengthen the rights of migrants and improve the levels of service provided to them.

This IFC study, produced in partnership with The Bridgespan Group, takes an unprecedented look at over 170 initiatives in both Africa and the Middle East to understand the nature of, and derive lessons from, private sector engagement with refugees and host communities. The study was a first attempt to assess the landscape of initiatives and identify critical enablers for impact and scale and common pathways of private sector engagement that go beyond funding humanitarian assistance.

Co-sponsored by the World Bank, the Confederation of Danish Industry, the European Investment Bank and the International Chamber of Commerce, the Charter of Good Practice on the Role of the Private Sector in Economic Integration of Refugees offers guidelines on how the private sector can facilitate refugee integration into host community economies. It supports policy-makers and practitioners in enabling the private sector to play a stronger role in the Economic Integration of Refugees.

This IFC study examined the refugee camp and town in the same way that a business looking to enter a new market would evaluate the possibilities. According to the report, Kakuma has an economy of $56 million per year, based on household consumption. At the time of the study in 2017, the camp hosted about 165,000 refugees (that number has since climbed to more than 180,000). The neighboring town—also called Kakuma—is home to 60,000 people, many of whom work with refugees. The combined population of the camp and town qualify it as Kenya’s tenth-largest city.