Humanitarian assistance and social protection in contexts of forced displacement: effects on social cohesion

The increasing and sustained presence of displaced people in host communities worldwide has led to a rising focus on social cohesion in displacement settings, and how to improve it.

Many factors influence social cohesion, and assistance from governments or international agencies is unlikely to be the central determinant. However, assistance provision may nevertheless play a role in influencing attitudes and interactions between displaced and host communities (horizontal cohesion) and between those communities and the state (vertical cohesion).

This research explores this relationship in various displacement settings, drawing on primary research in three country case studies (Cameroon, Colombia, Greece). What are the potential effects of assistance on social cohesion? And how do these effects differ if assistance is delivered by independent humanitarian agencies versus linked in some way with the state social protection system?