As of January 2016 there were an estimated 40.8 million persons internally displaced by conflict and another 19.2 million displaced by disasters in 2015 alone.[1] The parameters of internal displacement – from its causes to its solutions – are broadly…
UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) frequently seeks to develop protection capacity of refugee-hosting states, for example through creating or adapting national legal frameworks; assistance in registration and status determination; knowledge transfer in government institutions; support of civil society institutions through…
Energy services are essential to the most basic human needs. Whether for eating (fuel to cook), moving (fuel for transportation of people and goods), maintaining a liveable temperature (heating or cooling), education (light to read by) or earning a living…
Headlines and hashtags speak of the refugee ‘crisis’ as if the mere presence of people from another country poses a threat. Even among humanitarians, refugees are often understood as a ‘burden’ to be shared. This rhetoric obscures the reality that…
The idea of linking refugee protection and assistance programmes with development aid is far from a new idea, with its potential as a win-win situation for donors and asylum states and, in theory at least, for refugees as well. As…
A central element in the search to better understand and find durable solutions for displacement – and one that regularly eludes us – is how those directly affected by displacement can best contribute towards this process. Often lost in the…
Many of the hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees to whom Yemen offered prima facie refugee status over the decades are having to return as a result of the fighting in Yemen. Meanwhile, uprooted Yemeni populations have been crossing the…
Host governments and communities are often concerned with the impact refugees will have on their economy. One idea for addressing this concern is to guide response – from the moment of refugees’ arrival – in a way that capitalises on…
The family allowance (Bolsa Família) consists of a small cash transfer programme granted to poor families. Established in 2004,[1] it unified scattered initiatives, such as school, food and fuel allowances which previously came under the responsibility of the Ministry of…
The lives of those displaced by a conflict are greatly affected by the initial policies formulated to address the crisis as it unfolds. In addition to the challenge of ‘starting over’, groups displaced by conflict continue to be marginalised by…