Dawn in the City: Guidance for Achieving Urban Refugee Self-Reliance

More than 50% of refugees live in urban areas.

Eighty percent are hosted by developing nations, in cities
ill-equipped to guarantee their protection. The majority
are marginalized due to their legal, economic and
social status. They frequently lack sufficient legal and
social support—education, health care, market access
and community networks—to obtain gainful employment
or run businesses.
Refugees’ vulnerability to poverty is influenced by the
policy environment, access to services, control of assets,
choices of economic strategies and the capacity
to cope with risks. They are not a homogenous group;
their vulnerability and resilience varies. Refugees living
in marginal areas, with few social networks and reliant
on one source of income, have difficultly accessing
food, jobs and physical security. Women and girls are
particularly disadvantaged because of unequal access
to resources, decision-making and negotiating power.
Host governments’ policy and practice seldom view
refugees as potential assets who can contribute to
economic stimulation and growth—filling both skilled
and unskilled labor shortages. Where policies do recognize
refugees’ legal right to work, practice often results
in exclusion and harassment.
Regardless, urban refugees are economically active,
predominately in the informal sector, remaining on the
fringes of the economies in which they live. Many arrive
with high levels of education, but barriers to market
access means they often engage in unskilled or lowskilled
work. It is important for all programs to expand
refugees’ opportunities so that they can make choices
about their well-being and resilience, regardless of
whether they stay in their country of refuge, resettle,
return home or move to another destination.
Livelihood programs should connect refugees to services
specific to their level of vulnerability and resilience.
Refugees need a diverse set of interventions to
enhance their well-being and “graduate” out of poverty.