Out of camp or out of sight? Realigning responses to protracted displacement in an urban world

For decades, the response by the international community to mass movements of people fleeing war or political persecution has been to provide humanitarian assistance in camps. Yet despite highly-charged debates on the negative impact of maintaining forcibly displaced people in often inhospitable and remote regions and dependent on humanitarian assistance, camps have continued to be a default response to new refugee crises. Camps are not, however, the choice of the majority of the world's displaced people, and estimates suggest that over 60% of refugees and half of internally displaced persons (IDPs) now live in towns and cities. Research, international policy discourse and local action have been slow to catch up.

The experiences of urban refugees and IDPs, their understandings of well-being and self-reliance, and their contributions to host communities remain understudied. There is a critical need for evidence to inform innovative solutions to protracted displacement that support both the specific vulnerabilities of displaced people and the needs of the urban poor amongst whom they often live.

With the ultimate goal of improving self-reliance, well-being and the productive livelihoods of refugees, returnees and IDPs this research examines the potential of an urban response to protracted displacement to assess how cities can foster displaced people's self-reliance and local integration, while benefitting host governments and communities. The research is the first large-scale study to compare experiences of displacement in cities and camps and provide evidenced analysis of the comparative outcomes for displaced people in these different settings. It focuses on four countries with large displaced populations: Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Jordan and Kenya,

The ultimate goal is to improve the well-being and productive livelihoods of displaced people and to enable their full participation in urban life and contribution to host cities. The overall aims of the research are to:
1. Build an evidence base for national and local governments, humanitarian agencies and donors on the opportunities and challenges of hosting displaced people in camps vs. urban areas
2. Promote an assessment of current responses to urban protracted displacement, raising awareness of unmet need and the potential economic and social contributions of refugees and IDP for host cities
3. Build the capacity of municipal authorities, displaced people, organisations of the urban poor and other local actors to use participatory planning to develop innovative, inclusive solutions to forced displacement.

The countries studied host some of the largest refugee and IDP populations in the world. All four countries rely on international aid to support the costs of the displaced - particularly those in camps who lack the right to work and whose freedom of movement may be limited. Three of the four countries are piloting the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, the UN's 2016 vision for managing forced displacement.

Through partnership with displaced and host populations, and collaborations between international experts, operational actors, developing-country academics, local NGOs and affected communities, this research project will produce: an assessment of how an urban response can support a rights-based approach to local integration; guidance for municipal governments facing large influxes of people, and evidence to support international policy and decision-making on innovative solutions to protracted displacement.

Who will benefit from this research?
The ultimate goal is to improve the well-being and productive livelihoods of people living in protracted displacement, to enable their full participation in urban life. Direct beneficiaries of this research include:
- Displaced people and members of low-income host communities in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Jordan and Kenya
- Municipal authorities, service providers and CSOs/NGOs in Kabul, Addis Ababa, Amman and Nairobi
- National authorities with responsibility for refugees, IDPs and returnees
- International, humanitarian and development actors and donors (NGOs, UN, Red Cross, bilateral/multilateral donors).

How will they benefit from the research?
The research will examine the potential of an urban response to long-term displacement, to assess how cities can be welcoming and productive spaces for displaced people, fostering self-reliance and local integration and benefiting host governments and communities. It thus has considerable benefits for a wide range of stakeholders.

The research will benefit displaced people and hosts in the focus cities, generating locally-appropriate policies and practices that remove barriers to productive livelihoods and access to basic services, and identifying interventions promoting collective/individual well-being.

Urban refugees and IDPs in other countries will benefit from international policy engagement of the PI and Co-Is on how towns and cities can promote self-reliance of displaced people, and why urban interventions should be prioritised.

The research will directly benefit municipal authorities, service providers and local actors by developing capacity to generate, analyse and use data via participatory planning processes that are sensitive to the needs of the displaced and hosts. National authorities will benefit from improved social and economic integration of displaced people with host communities.

International humanitarian actors and donors will benefit from actionable policy and programming recommendations for urban refugees/IDPs on supporting self-reliance, displacement economies, and municipal capacity through outputs of international relevance.

What will be done to ensure that they have the opportunity to benefit from this activity?
The research programme will promote productive interaction between urban refugees/IDPs, the urban poor, municipal authorities and other local actors. A participatory planning process in each country includes 6-monthly stakeholder workshops throughout the project. These ensure that beneficiaries are involved in the design of research tools, validation, analysis and co-produced solutions that support self-reliance, well-being and productive livelihoods in cities.

Local researchers and partners will be encouraged to seek opportunities at national level to share findings from the research and communicate their experiences of the participatory processes.

The research team and Advisory Panel, with UN, NGO, donor and humanitarian actors as members, are exceptionally well-placed to produce high-level impact. Research findings will be disseminated through media targeted at national and international humanitarian and development actors and donors, including policy briefings, practitioner-oriented working papers, blogs and webinars.

Outcomes will include:
1. New methodologies based on co-produced knowledge and displaced people's own assessment of pathways to self-reliance and well-being
2. An assessment of how an urban response to protracted displacement can support rights-based approaches to local integration
3. The first large-scale evidence base to support national policy decisions on the merits for both host and displaced people of displacement solutions in urban vs. camp settings
4. Guidance for municipal governments facing large influxes of people, and
5. Evidence to support local, national and international policy on innovative solutions to protracted displacement