The seminar series aims to disseminate findings from quantitative research on forced displacement and to discuss its implications on programming and policy. It provides a platform for disseminating research that is targeted, forward-looking and will help practitioners and policymakers design and deliver effective forced displacement programs.
Our tenth seminar, The Psychosocial Value of Work: Evidence from Refugee Camps in Bangladesh, presented findings from Rohingya refugees showing that engaging in productive activities may yield benefits that go beyond earning a wage or income, such as improved psychosocial wellbeing.
Our ninth seminar, Compounding Barriers: Access to Economic Opportunities, Gender and Forced Displacement, presented research on gender and livelihood opportunities in situations of forced displacement in Darfur and Ethiopia. These novel findings reveal how gender inequality and displacement status compound to constrict the livelihoods of displaced women and underscore the need to design durable solutions through inclusive, intersectional approaches.
Our eighth seminar, Gender norms and conflict-induced displacement: evidence from Colombia and Jordan, presented findings on the impact of forced displacement on gender norms in Colombia and Jordan. These novel studies underscore the complex and nuanced ways that attitudes around gender change through displacement.
Our seventh seminar, Building the Evidence on the Gender Dimensions of Forced Displacement, was part of the Fragility Forum 2022. During displacement, families are often separated, assets and livelihoods are lost or disrupted, and women face higher risks of intimate partner violence. But access to social services and employment may be better than in their places of origin. The experience of displacement, as well as the barriers and opportunities displaced people face, differ strongly between women and men. However, surprisingly little is known about these gendered dimensions of displacement.
A podcast, The Graduation Approach in FCV Settings, was also featured at the Fragility Forum 2022. The speakers presented five case studies of impact evaluations of ‘graduation’ programs implemented across FCV contexts in Afghanistan, Uganda, the DRC, Nigeria and Mozambique.
Our seventh seminar, Building the Evidence on the Gender Dimensions of Forced Displacement, was part of the Fragility Forum 2022. During displacement, families are often separated, assets and livelihoods are lost or disrupted, and women face higher risks of intimate partner violence. But access to social services and employment may be better than in their places of origin. The experience of displacement, as well as the barriers and opportunities displaced people face, differ strongly between women and men. However, surprisingly little is known about these gendered dimensions of displacement.
Our fifth seminar, Gender Dimensions of Forced Displacement, showcased the launch of the World Bank Group’s yearlong Gender Equality and Development +10: Accelerate Equality initiative, which explores the important progress made and lessons learned in reducing gender gaps and increasing women’s economic empowerment over the last 10 years, and takes stock of remaining challenges, while strengthening partnerships with a diverse group of stakeholders in the quest to #AccelerateEquality. This high-level event brought together researchers, practitioners, civil society and leaders, sharing new results from the GDFD program, reviewing implications for policy design, and shedding light on the importance of embedding principles of gender equality within the development of durable solutions to forced displacement.
The seminar focused on addressing the knowledge gaps surrounding the impacts of forced displacement, especially in terms of how men and women are affected differently. The World Bank’s Gender Dimensions of Forced Displacement program seeks to bridge some of these gaps by studying how gender inequality interacts with and compounds forced displacement. In the first of four webinars under this series, presenting GDFD research findings, World Bank Senior Gender-based Violence Specialist Diana Arango and Harvard’s Dr. Jocelyn Kelly presented research on the heightened risks of intimate partner violence among displaced women in Colombia, the DRC, and Liberia. These novel studies shed light on the relationship between instability and conflict in the community and violence in the home and point to critical policy implications for protecting women from abuse. Read brief.
The webinar focused on the challenges faced by Venezuelan refugees and migrants and their impact on the local economy. As of October 2020, there were 261,441 Venezuelan nationals living in Brazil, representing the largest share of Brazil’s 1.3 million refugees and migrants population. While the economic gains of immigration are well documented in the literature, the evidence on the impacts of forced displacement are mixed and focused mainly on high income countries. World Bank Young Fellow in Forced Displacement Mrittika Shamsuddin and coauthors investigate the short-run fiscal impact of Venezuelan refugees and migrants on the public expenditure and revenue of Roraima state and on labor market outcomes, including unemployment, employment and earnings in the study Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Brazil. This study expands on a previous paper Integration of Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Brazil that looked at Venezuelans’ access to education, social protection programs and labor market outcomes in Brazil.
The webinar focused on a study looking at the impact of providing vouchers for essential household items (EHIs) on child health, mental health, resilience and social cohesion among internally displaced persons and their hosts in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The evaluation found positive and significant improvements to participants’ mental health, both 6 weeks following the intervention and a year later. This study provides highly credible evidence, using randomized assignment, that the provision of EHIs via vouchers causes substantial improvement in adults’ mental health and mixed effects on resilience and social cohesion.
The seminar featured a presentation of the paper, Prison or Sanctuary? An Evaluation of Camps for Syrian Refugees by Thomas Ginn, Research Fellow at the Center for Global Development. Other presenters included: Ewen Macleod, Former Director, Division of Resilience and Solutions, UNHCR; Chinedu Obi, Young Fellow in Forced Displacement, FCDO-UNHCR-WB forced displacement research program; Marine Casalis, Senior Research and Partnerships Manager, ETH Zürich, Immigration Policy Lab; and Haneen Ismail Sayed, World Bank Lead Operations Officer, Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice. The event was moderated by Paolo Verme, Lead Economist and Program Manager, World Bank.
The series Building the Evidence on Forced Displacement: From Research to Policy Making, is organized by the FCDO-UNHCR-WB Building the Evidence on Forced Displacement program, Innovations for Poverty Action, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, the World Bank Development Impact Evaluation unit, the Center for Global Development, the International Rescue Committee Airbel Impact Lab, the World Food Programme and UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti.
