The protracted nature of forced displacement worldwide has brought to the fore not only refugees’ humanitarian needs but also the development challenges they face. These daunting challenges emerge in four critical and interlinked areas.[1] Refugees – in particular, refugee children…
Refugees face multiple barriers to gaining access to employment. In addition to the frequent lack of access to the right to work in host countries and the lack of accessible legal and safe economic migration pathways, there are added barriers…
Whether doctors, teachers, engineers or IT specialists, the highly educated refugees I interviewed in Norway, Sweden and Germany between 2016 and 2017 aspired to continue working within their occupational fields. In order to do so they need to validate their…
In addition to shelter, water, food and education, refugees (just like everyone else) need productive employment. Generating an income to meet one’s basic needs and provide for one’s family is essential for human dignity, and is a human right under…
With currently 5.6 million registered Syrian refugees being hosted by neighbouring countries and over six million internally displaced within Syria, creating economic opportunities has become a central component of the resilience approach in response to the crisis. Acknowledging the destructive…
The issuing of over 100,000 work permits to Syrian refugees in Jordan as of May 2018 – following a joint commitment by the Government of Jordan and the international community – is in itself an important achievement. However, work permits…
As elsewhere in the world, the gig economy – in which companies develop mobile platforms which bring together workers and the purchasers of their services – is fast taking root in Jordan. These platforms enable businesses to order timed and…
Markets help crisis-affected populations access goods, services and economic opportunities that are critical to meeting their basic needs and supporting their livelihoods. Nevertheless, many aid organisations continue to provide in-kind assistance in areas where markets are functional. This may help…
In search of greater freedoms and opportunities, thousands of Eritreans have fled their country in recent years – many directly across the border to Ethiopia. One estimate by the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, in 2016 put the number of registered…
Labour and capital investment are increasingly seen as the solution to protracted refugee situations. Aid agencies expect forced migrants to be good entrepreneurs and to become self-reliant by finding jobs and/or starting businesses. This puts the responsibility of ‘succeeding’ firmly…