Increasing levels of conflict and higher frequency of disasters mean forced displacement is on the rise in every region of the world. In 2022, the number of people forced to flee from their homes surpassed 100 million for the first time. Because displacement situations have become increasingly protracted, countries must commit to greater investments to help forcibly displaced people and host communities build their own livelihoods and become self-reliant. In this regard, socio-economic integration is one of the key durable solutions to forced displacement.
Socio-economic integration must be understood as a broad concept, encompassing the experiences of refugees in all contexts, and as an integral part of both protection and durable solutions.
As we emerge from a global pandemic, we have seen an evolution of attitudes toward the digital economy and the promises it holds for employment opportunities. What might this frontier space of technology-enabled employment offer for the millions of refugees and forcibly displaced persons looking for livelihoods and prosperity?
UNHCR has traditionally spoken of three durable solutions for refugees: voluntary repatriation, resettlement and local integration. But the organisation has now introduced the concept of ‘local solutions’. What does this notion mean and does it have any value?
Social connections are well recognised as contributing to integration. Research undertaken in Scotland offers useful, sometimes counter-intuitive insights into their role over time, plus learnings that could be explored in other contexts.
Enabling self-reliance through the right to work is essential for refugees’ socio-economic integration. The impact of the Jordan Compact presents an interesting case study for policymakers.
Services and policies need to be more thoughtfully designed to enable young refugees’ social and economic integration. This requires a better understanding of what constitutes sustainable integration and what factors promote it.
Without access to basic economic rights, refugees will not be able to build self-reliance. Case-studies from Kenya and Jordan show that providing financial services is not sufficient if rights are absent.
Donors, humanitarian agencies, development finance institutions and host countries are looking to the private sector to play a key role in supporting refugees to integrate into host communities.
Public-private partnerships are laying the foundations to enable sustainable and ethical value chain approaches to be used in displacement-affected communities.
Turkey’s large refugee population faces major challenges in accessing legal employment. Several legal measures could improve their situation.
The lack of defined systems of asylum management in India and other South Asian countries means that those in need of protection have been left without any legal avenues for integration.
Persons affected by forced displacement undoubtably know what solutions are best for them, yet their voices and ideas are rarely included in policy discussions at national levels.
Of the almost 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burkina Faso, most have been settled in reception sites but others have chosen to integrate into host communities. This article explores the determining factors that have led to their successful integration.
Supporting Afro-descendant and indigenous internally displaced women to develop initiatives based on their particular culture could contribute to their integration and to host communities.
Women’s cooperatives can help enable the socio-economic integration of Syrian women in Turkey and address gendered barriers to the labour market. Obstacles remain, however, if the cooperative model is to be sustainable in the long term.
The international donor community has already moved towards integrating a development approach into its response to protracted refugee situations. Donors now need to enhance their engagement with local, national and regional partners to overcome the remaining obstacles to the sustainable socio-economic inclusion of refugees.
UNHCR in Southern Africa has been collaborating with development actors to support the socio-economic integration and durable solutions for displaced people in the region. Various considerations and lessons emerge from this work to date.
With durable solutions available only to a very small proportion of the global refugee population, self-reliance programming and the measurement of self-reliance outcomes are increasingly important topics in re-thinking the quality and sustainability of socio-economic integration.