Building an inclusive world with and for refugees

For over seven decades, as part of its mandate, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has helped to find ways for refugees fleeing war and persecution to rebuild their lives. There have always been three solutions:

1. Voluntary repatriation (where refugees return home should circumstances allow, usually the preferred choice)
2. Resettlement (relocating from an asylum country to a country that grants them permanent status)
3. Integration within what is known as a host country (where refugees have generally first fled to and remain in, often without being granted the same rights as legal residents or citizens).

I have had the privilege of meeting many incredible refugees in my work. Many have lived in legal limbo for years or decades, waiting for peace so they can return home. They often struggle to support themselves and their families, living in deprived urban areas or refugee camps working in low-wage sectors, with no legal right to work.

Only a tiny percentage are able to return to their home countries, and even fewer are resettled in new ones. The need to find durable, long-term solutions for refugees is becoming ever more urgent, as new and protracted conflicts drive more and more people from their homes.

We need a new approach to reflect the changing world around us. An approach that harnesses the combined efforts of all actors, including Member States, international organisations, civil society, the private sector, experts and, most importantly, the talents, skills and resilience of those forced to flee.

The Global Compact: a blueprint for change

The Global Compact on Refugees (the Compact), adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2018, offers a way forward. As the first international agreement to name self-reliance (the ability to provide for one’s own needs) as a core aim, the Compact flipped the narrative around refugees, from ‘burden’ to contributors in the countries hosting them.

UNHCR has moved with speed, coordinating action to facilitate policy reforms that promote better integration of refugees, including in local schools, medical care and labour markets. In the spirit of the Compact’s ‘Whole of Society’ approach, UNHCR works in partnership with a coalition of actors, from governments to development banks, other UN agencies and charities, to local businesses and philanthropists.

By ensuring that refugees are included in national systems for services, such as education and healthcare, UNHCR ensures a sustainable refugee response, aligned with the broader development agenda. Where this isn’t possible, UNHCR works with partner organisations to deliver those services directly to refugees.

Economic inclusion: the pathway to self-reliance

Since the Compact, access to formal employment for refugees has surged from 18% to 45%. A recent study from Poland underscores the positive impact of inclusion: Ukrainian refugees contributed between 0.7% and 1.1% to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023[1]. Because they are able to work in Poland, fewer than 5% rely on government or humanitarian aid[2].

Recent studies from Latin America and the Caribbean tell a similar story[3]. The benefits extend to businesses hiring refugees: new research shows consumers in Europe are more likely to buy from companies hiring refugees.

In countries where formal employment is barred to refugees, UNHCR facilitates vocational training to build and maintain skills and employability, and supports refugee-led businesses with equipment, entrepreneurship training, and access to microcredit and courses.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees, including in Malawi, Jordan and Lebanon, have set up businesses after being granted access to microfinancing for the first time. I’ve seen firsthand what a difference this can make to lives, like Isaac’s, a shop owner who arrived in Kenya from Rwanda as an orphan and grew his business after completing a training course and getting a loan, with support from UNHCR. He now has several shops in Kakuma refugee camp and proudly told me during a visit that he employs seven refugees.

Educational inclusion: building strong foundations

Integrating refugee learners into national education systems is essential in building social cohesion and more inclusive societies. A range of countries have given refugees access to public schools, from Uganda, Chad, Kenya and Ethiopia in sub-Saharan Africa to Pakistan, Iran, Türkiye and Mexico. Yet, with opportunities to study limited, more than seven million refugee children (51%) remain excluded from school[4].

To increase capacity, UNHCR constructs facilities, trains teachers, and provides tailored support to help refugees transition into local educational systems. These efforts continue to shift the dial towards more inclusive approaches in refugee-hosting countries, like Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugee children are being taught in the local language and national curriculum for the first time this academic year.

Since 1992, more than 24,000 refugees have been given a chance to earn higher education diplomas through UNHCR’s scholarship programme – often their only viable route in due to financial and other constraints. I’ve met some incredible scholars on my visits to camps and settlements, like Monicah, also in Kenya, who was forced to flee intense fighting in South Sudan at 12 years old. When she first arrived in Kakuma camp, she couldn’t speak the language, write her name or count to ten. Today, thanks to a UNHCR scholarship, she studies Law at the University of Nairobi and is the first ever student with a refugee background to be elected President of the University of Nairobi Students Association.

Working together for a more inclusive future

I am inspired daily by the determined unity of partners coming together in the face of growing global challenges to drive forward transformative action for refugees and host countries: the mobile network operators bringing connectivity to the world’s most remote refugee settlements; the companies and financial service providers easing the documentation requirements for refugees so that more to access bank accounts and loans; the community groups and refugee-led organisations bringing refugees and locals together.

In the complex political environments of host countries, UNHCR is in constant dialogue with the government and other key actors and stands ready to facilitate positive change at any moment.

We’re only just finding out what we could achieve if we work together to overcome the barriers preventing refugees from being able to participate fully in host communities. This transformation was at the top of the agenda at the Global Refugee Forum, the world’s largest international gathering on refugees, held in Geneva at the end of last year. It was incredible to see more than 1,600 pledges of support (financial, material and technical) made, which will enable successful interventions to be scaled up and replicated in different countries and sectors, and will boost the capacity of host communities to include refugees in public services and employment.

Refugees need our solidarity now more than ever. This month is World Refugee Day (20 June) – a wonderful opportunity to stand in solidarity with refugees and consider what more you can do. Whether you’re welcoming a refugee into your community or workplace, buying from brands that support refugees or advocating for better policies, together we can make the world a more inclusive place for refugees.

Elias’ story: Refugee integration in Ethiopia that works for everyone

“I left Somalia because of drought”, says Elias, a solar entrepreneur who arrived in Ethiopia from Somalia as a teenager in 2011. With his mother, he headed for Melkadida – a remote camp-turned-integrated settlement, hundreds of kilometers from the national electricity grid.

“In 2014, [a UNHCR partner] invited us to come and participate in their [training] programmes. I chose electricity because I was interested in technical skills.”

Inspired, Elias formed a cooperative with fellow refugees to install and manage solar-powered streetlights. The cooperative was called IFTIIN which means ‘light’ in Somali.

In 2020, the cooperative was selected to run the camp’s first solar grids, installed by IKEA in partnership with UNHCR. “The [solar] mini grid has brought so much happiness to the community.”

It provides electricity to hundreds of thousands of households, helping to create businesses and foster exchange between refugees and host community members. “I have my own family here who all rely on my income”, says Elias, as do many others in the community who are now able to support themselves, thanks to the grid.

Sources

[1] Deloitte & UNHCR, Analysis of the impact of refugees from Ukraine on the economy of Poland, 2024.
[2] Ibid.
[3] IDB, OECD & UNHCR, Socio-Economic Integration of Forcibly Displaced Populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024.
[4] UNHCR, Unlocking Potential: The Right to Education and Opportunity, 2023.