Forced Displacement

A development approach: Helping the displaced and their hosts

As part of a global effort, the World Bank Group is actively engaged to help better manage the forced displacement crisis, in support of its mission to reduce poverty and contribute to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Bank takes a development approach that will:

• complement emergency relief activities
• focus on addressing longer term, social and economic challenges
• benefit both the forcibly displaced and their hosts.

In partnership with UNHCR and other organizations, the Bank works through:

• better data and analytics
• innovative financing
• effective operations on the ground

The IFC (International Finance Corporation) is leading efforts to engage the private sector in supporting refugees and hosts. For example, in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, IFC is helping to increase access to finance to micro-borrowers, foster skills training and entrepreneurship, and improve services.  In Kenya, IFC is raising awareness among firms of market opportunities offered by refugees and host communities

In the long term, the Bank Group is putting a stronger focus on prevention and addressing the drivers of conflict to create more stable societies, so that people will not need to flee.

I. Data and Analytics

Research at the World Bank Group aims to build the evidence-base on addressing the social and economic aspects of forced displacement. Better data and analytics will help to inform policies and improve targeting of development programs that can improve the lives of affected people.

Joint UNHCR-World Bank Group Data Center

The World Bank Group and UNHCR will launch a new data center which will focus on the collection, analysis and dissemination of primary microdata including income, consumption, skills, health status, and economic activities. This builds on collaboration between the two institutions on joint analytical work, joint work with government institutions to expand the collection of microdata; and joint missions to inform Bank Group programming of new resources to address refugee situations. The Center aims to meet the demand for reliable, comparable, and timely data, to enhance decision-making by policymakers and partners and improve the lives of affected people.

• Blog: A new data center to improve the global response to forced displacement
• Concept Note
• Fact Sheet

Building the Evidence on Forced Displacement:  A Multi-Stakeholder Partnership

A joint partnership program between the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank Group and UNHCR focuses on developing new research on protracted situations of forced displacement. This program will generate evidence on what works to ensure future investments are well targeted, prioritized and represent good value for money.

Activity Highlights:

• New Study Focuses on Risk Aversion to Understand Why Some People Flee Conflict, While Others Don’t
• New Study Looks at How to Optimally Target Humanitarian Assistance When Budgets are Stretched
• Young Fellows Discuss Innovative Research on Forced Displacement

Recent World Bank Group Analytical Work:

• Forcibly Displaced: Toward a Development Approach Supporting Refugees, the Internally Displaced, and Their Hosts
• The Welfare of Syrian Refugees: Evidence from Jordan and Lebanon
• "Yes" in My Backyard? : The Economics of Refugees and Their Social Dynamics in Kakuma, Kenya
• Kakuma as a Marketplace

II. Innovative Financing

For low-income host countries:

The International Development Association, the Bank’s fund for the poorest, is making $2 billion available to support refugees and host communities during its 18^th replenishment period (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020). Five countries—Burundi, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania, and Rwanda—have become eligible for assistance in November 2018, in addition to Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Niger, Pakistan, and Uganda (September 2017) and Bangladesh (June 2018).

Operations are now under preparation and implementation, with the overarching goal to:

• shift from crisis response to managing risks;
• support host communities and lagging regions;
• move towards social and economic inclusion; and
• take regional and country-level approaches.

For middle-income host countries:

The Global Concessional Financing Facility, launched in partnership with the UN and Islamic Development Bank, has unlocked $1.4 billion so far in concessional financing for Jordan and Lebanon, promoting job creation and expanding vital public services and infrastructure. The GCFF recently announced that Colombia is eligible for concessional funding to respond to the needs of Venezuelan nationals who entered the country fleeing an ongoing crisis at home.

III. Operations

The Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project

In the Horn of Africa, violence and insecurity are driving refugees to seek safety in neighboring countries across the region, where they live in areas that face significant developmental challenges of their own. The Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project covers 4 host countries — Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda — to support a sustainable development response led by local governments in partnership with communities. The project invests in basic social services such as primary education and health care; safe water infrastructure that includes conservation measures to rehabilitate degraded watersheds; and small enterprise and skills-based employment for refugees and host communities. In Ethiopia alone, the project works in numerous areas that host over 800,000 refugees. The goal is to help nearly 1.2 million people covering both host communities and refugees over a five-year period.