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 have established a Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement. The center 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.

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.

Recent World Bank Group Analytical Work:

• Forcibly Displaced: Toward a Development Approach Supporting Refugees, the Internally Displaced, and Their Hosts
• The Mobility of Displaced Syrians: An Economic and Social Analysis
• Migration from Venezuela to Colombia : Short- and Medium-Term Impact and Response Strategy (Español/Spanish)
• 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 $3 billion so far in concessional financing for Jordan, Lebanon and Colombia, promoting job creation and expanding vital public services and infrastructure. In September 2019 the GCFF added Ecuador to the list of countries eligible for concessional funding.

III. Operations

The IDA18 Refugee Sub Window financed 20 operations to date in 10 countries, totaling $937 million. Projects span across multiple sectors including education, health, social protection, and economic opportunities. 

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.  

Preliminary project results from Djibouti, Ethiopia and Uganda show a total of 1.9 million people have gained access to social and economic services and infrastructure, of which over 1.2 million are direct beneficiaries of the project; more than half of these beneficiaries are women.

In Ethiopia, through IDA18 Refugee Sub Window funding, the World Bank is financing the Economic Opportunities Program as part of the Jobs Compact. The project supports the government’s approach to longer-term development solutions for refugees, while expanding the creation of jobs and economic opportunities that benefit both Ethiopians and refugees. The program included the passage of the Proclamation, a new law granting more rights to refugees, as one of the project’s effectiveness conditions. The project provided an impetus for the adoption of the Proclamation, which was finally adopted by the government in January 2019.

Last Updated: Oct 15, 2019