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GUIDANCE FOR PROFILING
URBAN DISPLACEMENT SITUATIONS

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

JOINT IDP PROFILING SERVICE

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Urban Profiling For Better Responses To Humanitarian Crises

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International Recommendations on Internally Displaced Persons Statistics (IRIS)

EXPERT GROUP ON REFUGEE AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS STATISTICS (EGRIS)

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Integration of young refugees in the EU: good practices and challenges

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Integration of young refugees in the EU: good practices and challenges

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How Cities Are Building Inclusive Communities

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How Cities Are Building Inclusive Communities

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The Road toward Smart Cities: Migrating from Traditional City Management to the Smart City  

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The Road toward Smart Cities: Migrating from Traditional City Management to the Smart City  

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Cities’ actions for the education of refugees and asylum seekers

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Cities’ actions for the education of refugees and asylum seekers

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Cities and Migrants II: Implementing the EUROCITIES Integrating Cities Charter

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Cities and Migrants II: Implementing the EUROCITIES Integrating Cities Charter

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Refugee reception and integration in cities

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Refugee reception and integration in cities

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Working together for local integration of migrants and refugees

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Working together for local integration of migrants and refugees

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OECD iLibrary | Working Together for Local Integration of Migrants and Refugees

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OECD's dissemination platform for all published content - books, serials and statistics

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Urban Refugee Management in Indonesia and Southeast Asia

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Urban Refugee Management in Indonesia and Southeast Asia

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Inter-American Development Bank and UN-Habitat to explore synergies for the integration of refugees and migrants in Latin America

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Inter-American Development Bank and UN-Habitat to explore synergies for the integration of refugees and migrants in Latin America

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Bringing urban refugees into local planning

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Bringing urban refugees into local planning

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International Institute for Environment and Development

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Other blogs in this series have examined historical trends in urbanisation and unpacked the local, national and international factors that influence how populations are distributed. As David Satterthwaite notes, investment decisions by national, regional and global enterprises drive urban change by attracting economic migrants. So too do people's individual decisions on whether they move and where to.

While at global level their numbers are not as significant, forced migrants are also contributing to urban change. Conflict and other forms of violence push people to move - becoming internally displaced people (IDPs) or refugees (if they cross a border).

The media and humanitarian actors often use images of remote camps as a visual shorthand for refugees and displaced people. But the majority of displaced people are in urban areas. Statistics on urban IDPs are unreliable, but the UN refugee agency UNHCR estimates that around 60% of all refugees globally are in towns and cities. This is up from approximately 15% in 2003 (PDF).

The Syrian refugee crisis has accelerated urbanisation of global refugee populations. Over 5.6 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries since conflict broke out in 2011, primarily into Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. For a variety of political, historical and logistical reasons, camps were not built at scale and most refugees live in urban areas.

False assumptions

The response has been something of an anomaly, as these refugees are outside of camps but still receive assistance. Generally, despite popular beliefs, urban refugees receive very little or no assistance at all - either from the UN or the national government. They are often conveniently assumed to be 'self-reliant' - people who have made the choice to leave or bypass a camp, who must therefore be able to make it in the big city.

But as with economic migrants, a variety of push and pull factors influence refugees' decisions on where to settle. Even in countries where refugees are legally required to live in camps, many will find ways to move to urban areas. Assumptions of self-reliance are blind to the harsh realities of urban living and the difficulties for many refugees in finding paid work.

IIED research in Kampala and Nairobi shows the struggle to access basic services, particularly healthcare. Refugees face language barriers in explaining their needs and medical conditions, and extortion from healthcare workers. In East Africa, refugees have been further stigmatised by politicians blaming neighbouring countries for 'importing' COVID-19.

Accessing housing as a non-citizen is also challenging - who you know and where you come from matter when negotiating access to shelter in an informal settlement. Refugees, particularly those without documentation, are vulnerable to predatory landlords who take advantage of the threat of deportation or fines from authorities.

A growing humanitarian caseload and diminishing global resources have led to increased emphasis among donor governments and humanitarian actors on refugee 'self-reliance' and is a central tenet of the UN's Global Compact on Refugees.

Integrating self-reliance into local planning

But the concept of self-reliance needs a rethink. Many interventions designed to promote self-reliance focus on livelihoods, but a growing body of research points to non-economic factors.

Critically, any attempt to foster self-reliance at scale is likely to fail if it operates outside of local planning and governance frameworks. County governments in Kenya have recognised the positive contributions to the rural economy of refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma camps, and are now drawing up integrated development plans.

Nairobi has yet to follow suit - although finding ways to support and build on the economic activities of refugees in urban areas will be considerably more complicated and politically sensitive.

However, displaced people are moving to and changing urban areas. The gaze of humanitarian agencies and donor governments should be following them. The potential for self-reliance and the positive impacts on the local economy will be greater in towns and cities, given the number and range of opportunities available.

Returning to the Syrian refugee crisis, it is worth noting that many small and medium-sized towns underwent massive demographic shifts as refugees began to cross borders. In Lebanon, some urban populations more than doubled in a very short space of time. In Zaatari town, Jordan, residents increased from 5,000 to 10,000 between 2011 and 2016, and Al-Mafraq's population doubled to 73,500.

Municipalities faced overloaded public services without additional resources, generating tensions between refugees and their 'hosts'. Despite this, it took many years before the international community began to recognise this as a problem they should be dealing with, and even longer before assistance was actually channelled to local authorities.

This lack of attention to maintaining adequate levels of urban services reflects the emergency mindset of those who plan humanitarian response. Their approaches were developed in rural areas, often with encamped populations, and tended to target individuals or households rather than areas where people were settled find themselves.

Unpacking 'self-reliance'

There is thus a double incentive for urban local authorities to give greater attention to the displaced people who have sought sanctuary among their constituents.

Firstly, displaced people often bring skills, experience and a determination to thrive. They have explicitly chosen to move to towns and cities to pursue opportunities available there, and in a supportive policy environment can make a real contribution to the local economy. While local integration for IDPs, given they are citizens, may seem more straightforward than for refugees, they are often marginalised, particularly if they come from minority ethnic groups.

Secondly, displacement crises potentially attract humanitarian resources that could contribute to local development. Much needs to change within the international aid system before we have a world where towns and cities are encouraged and supported to provide sanctuary to people displaced by conflict.

In the meantime, new research from IIED will examine the intersections between local development and the 'displacement economies' generated by refugees, returnees and IDPs.

We will ask refugees and other displaced people what being 'self-reliant' means to them, and look at the role that individual and collective well-being, alongside refugees' and IDPs' economic activity, play in achieving self-reliance in urban areas. And we will be working with federations of the urban poor to increase their focus on displaced people living in informal settlements, and to bring the views of these less visible populations into existing channels of engagement with municipal authorities.

We'll be sharing our findings in the coming years.

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Bringing urban refugees into local planning

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Other blogs in this series have examined historical trends in urbanisation and unpacked the local, national and international factors that influence how populations are distributed. As David Satterthwaite notes, investment decisions by national, regional and global enterprises drive urban change by attracting economic migrants.

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Civil society engagement in urban displacement: Lessons from Mexico City a year after the 19-S earthquake

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Civil society engagement in urban displacement: Lessons from Mexico City a year after the 19-S earthquake

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On this day in 2017, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, known locally as 19-S, shook Mexico City displacing over 100,000 people. One year on and many people remain displaced but numbers are difficult to come by. They are mainly urban poor and marginalized communities that were disproportionately affected by the disaster and have not received adequate support to recover and rebuild. Living in tents and improvised settlements in the street, they see how government promises to restore their living conditions are vanishing in a changing political environment (elections were held in June, and a new president will take office in December 2018).

When we talk about urban displacement, two key principles apply: first, that in the context of humanitarian crises, aid agencies need to collaborate with local and national governments and align their interventions with ongoing urban development and future planning. Second, that governments are responsible for ensuring that those actions are implemented in the long run. If both principles are applied correctly, we would witness a successful bridging of the often quoted "humanitarian and development gap".

Such responses tend to refer to top-down action where the people displaced are assisted and protected. But what we tend to forget is that they are key actors of their own resilience, and that non-displaced communities can also play their part in responding to urban crises. This makes us think: what is the role of citizens, including those displaced, in the context of such crises? In our recent visit to Mexico City, we realized how powerful civil society engagement can be in addressing and reducing the impacts of urban displacement.

In urban areas such as Mexico City, poverty and lack of adequate housing are at the centre of the disaster displacement problem. For decades, and particularly after the last big earthquake in 1985, the lack of affordable housing created a situation in which poor and displaced families occupied abandoned buildings and settled informally on the outskirts of the city with no, or very limited, access to basic services. Over the years, they built their houses without any regulation or implementation of building codes. Such settlements became two - three storey buildings hosting several families each.

While the government knew about the risks of having informal settlements in hazard-prone areas, no actions were taken to stop the generation of risk. When the 19-S earthquake struck, the combination of hazard intensity, high population exposure and physical and socio-economic vulnerability triggered the displacement of over 100,000 people.

Put in different terms, since 1985, people have tried to rebuild their lives and get out of poverty, but in the process, disaster risk kept rising due to the informal nature of urbanization. Displacement in Mexico City last year was no more than the outcome of unsustainable urban development practices.

We visited displaced communities in Iztapalapa, in Colonia La Planta, and Venustiano Carranza, in Colonia Morelos, some of the poorest communities in Mexico City. The living conditions remain as dire as they were a year ago. The difference, however, is that the impacts of the earthquake disappeared from the media headlines, and so did donations to support those affected. Gradually, civil society organisations supporting recovery ran out of money. People were forgotten.

Beyond the basic humanitarian support that people need, the priority for the government is to restore the damaged buildings and demolish those that are uninhabitable. But the challenges go beyond reconstruction of the physical assets. In Colonia Morelos, for example, land titling is an issue. The owner of each property receives compensation for the plot. But it is the several families informally occupying the property that find themselves even more vulnerable with a complete lack of tenure security. Living in tents on the site, they face water leaking and the threat of diseases. In Iztapalapa, the government talks about relocation, given that the neighbourhood is geologically unsuitable for construction. Nothing is being done so far, and in this vacuum, people are rebuilding in place, putting themselves at risk of future disasters.

Without the civil society engagement that has characterized the earthquake recovery in Mexico, the communities of Iztapalapa and Colonia Morelos would be in even worse conditions. They share donated medicine, food and clothes, even with those that are not displaced but who lack the basics. The colossal work of finding housing, health and other basic services is mainly led by engaged and altruistic civilians who depend on donations to carry out their work. NGOs and civil society platforms such as Fuerza Médica, Lago Tanganica 67, Habitat for Humanity and Brigada.mx, among others, have greatly contributed in supporting those displaced. In a corrupt environment, transparency is their flag.

Both the affected communities and the organisations that support them know about government responsibility, but they do not rely on it. They probably have never heard about the humanitarian and development gap, but they are filling it. They do not even talk about internal displacement, and yet, they are doing a remarkable job in reducing the impacts of displacement. From day-1, when buildings collapsed and people were trapped in the rubble, to present, where demolition and reconstruction are the priority, Mexican civilians have been the ones finding solutions that are urgently needed.

Last, but not least, what the Mexican example shows us is that none of the challenges faced by these communities after the 19-S can be disassociated from the broader challenges brought on by chronic urban poverty and lack of opportunity that transcend the earthquake impacts. With increasing urbanization in low and middle-income countries, displacement risk creation is becoming the new normal, despite progress in disaster risk reduction policies and plans that, in the Mexican case, could be defined as very advanced. How to curb this trend remains a question; but what we do know is that people need to be put first, and that we have a lot to learn from their own agency, capacity and strategies in coping with urban crises.

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Civil society engagement in urban displacement: lessons from Mexico City a year after the 19-S earthquake

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On this day in 2017, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, known locally as 19-S, shook Mexico City displacing over 100,000 people. One year on and many people remain displaced but numbers are difficult to come by. They are mainly urban poor and marginalized communities that were disproportionately affected by the disaster and have not received adequate support to recover and rebuild.

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Local inclusion of migrants and refugees. A gateway to existing ideas, resources and capacities for cities across the world

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Local inclusion of migrants and refugees. A gateway to existing ideas, resources and capacities for cities across the world

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Protecting and supporting internally displaced children in urban settings

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Protecting and supporting internally displaced children in urban settings

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GET AHEAD (Gender and Entrepreneurship Together) training program for women entrepreneurs

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GET AHEAD (Gender and Entrepreneurship Together) training program for women entrepreneurs

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Women refugees, leisure space and the city

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Women refugees, leisure space and the city

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Addressing employment obstacles for young Syrian refugee women

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Addressing employment obstacles for young Syrian refugee women

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“By women, for women, and with women”: on the integration of highly qualified female refugees into the labour Markets of Berlin and Brandenburg

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“By women, for women, and with women”: on the integration of highly qualified female refugees into the labour Markets of Berlin and Brandenburg

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"By women, for women, and with women": on the integration of highly qualified female refugees into the labour Markets of Berlin and Brandenburg - Comparative Migration Studies

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This article focuses on the labour market integration of highly qualified female refugees in cosmopolitan Berlin and smaller towns in the county of Brandenburg. Based on interviews with civil society organisations designed mainly for female refugees, universities, employees of the job agency and government administrations, the gendered pathways of stratified access of this group to the labour markets of the two areas were analysed.

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Making Mainstreaming a Reality – Gender and the UNHCR Policy on Refugee Protection and Solutions in Urban Areas. A Refugee Perspective

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"It's a time bomb" - Protracted displacement and urban planning in Abuja

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"It's a time bomb" - Protracted displacement and urban planning in Abuja

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While attention of the international humanitarian community is focused on the crises in the Northeast, thousands of internally displaced people are stuck in limbo in Nigeria's capital Abuja. And with a city master plan that has no room for accommodating destitute newcomers, their only hope is a new approach to urban planning that is starting to take shape among a few city authority officials.
As we approach Durumi Area 1 IDP camp in Abuja, leaving the bustling energy of Area 1 bridge behind, a rusty signboard announces the site. It is only readable from certain angles, half overgrown by bushes and trees; a signpost to an area not of transit, but of - if not permanence - something for the longer term.

Durumi camp was established - or rather, established itself - in 2014, after thousands of people fled the attacks on villages in the northeast of the country by Boko Haram. The extreme surge in violence early that year led to people fleeing beyond the towns of the northeast and far into the centre of Nigeria. Its capital Abuja became a destination for many as it was considered safe and a place of opportunity. Today, more than 1.7 million people are living in displacement in Nigeria due to conflict and violence. In the first six months of this year alone, 417,000 people were displaced in the context of conflict. In addition, each year hundreds of thousands are forced out of their damaged or destroyed homes by floods and an unknown number flees from shrinking livelihoods opportunities linked to water scarcity and environmental degradation across the country. Once displaced, many people join the ranks of the urban poor and live at risk of forced evictions in marginalised city centres.

Abuja is understood to attract increasing numbers of displaced, but current estimates of how many internally displaced people live in the city are shaky and official numbers do not exist. In Durumi, the 2,740 people in and around the camp all fled here in 2014 from the northeast, suffering four years of displacement with no end in sight. Although one would expect some semblance of semi-permanent infrastructure, past the entrance of the camp there are makeshift tents and shacks made from plastic sheets and pieces of wood under trees, a few toilet cabins made from corrugated iron sheets, and little else.

This looks like anything but a long-term solution. In Durumi, like in so many other towns and cities across the globe, the absence of tenure security means people hesitate to invest in expensive but sustainable building material. Instead, they make do with second-hand corrugated iron, plastic sheeting and plywood that they can buy at low prices at the Pantakers, nearby local markets.

Fatima

We are invited into one of these shacks by Fatima Umaru. When Fatima arrived in Abuja in 2014 her family first moved into an unfinished house that had been left abandoned by its owner. She was lucky to find such a plot of land with a partly built house, she says, as it provided better protection and more space than they could otherwise afford. However, one day the owner of the house continued construction and Fatima and her family of six had to move out. Today, her house is a small shack with a tiny courtyard partitioned off with plastic sheeting, and all the cooking is done outside under the trees.

The trees are the main reason why she and many others chose to live outside of the walled plot on which the "official" camp is located. The little shade that the trees give makes all the difference in hotter months and tents can be more easily constructed underneath them.

Fatima's shack looks a lot like the shacks in which many of Nigeria's slum dwellers live today. Informal settlements have grown rapidly over the past decades across the country and 50% of the urban population is estimated to live in slums. However, urban planning processes, housing markets and basic service delivery in Nigeria's towns and cities are not currently set up to accommodate informality. A bias against informal housing and employment is deeply rooted within administrative systems and procedures and will be hard to overcome.

In Abuja it may perhaps be harder than elsewhere: Abuja was conceived as and still is a nation-building project. The new capital was proclaimed in 1976, to be developed in the centre of the country, where the cultural and ethnic diversity of the nation would come together under the banner of the new Nigeria. A master plan for the city was developed and construction began in 1979. Between 2000 and 2010, Abuja grew by almost 140%, making it the fastest growing city in the world. However, the original master plan remains the blueprint for the city's planners and authorities. Unchanged for almost 40 years it is now at the heart of many, if not all, of the barriers to solutions for housing, services and jobs for the poor and the displaced that come into the city.

Abuja Master Plan: http://www.newtowninstitute.org/newtowndata/NTmaps/abuja.jpg

However, new forces within Nigeria and within city councils are emerging. Officially, the Federal Capital Development Authority of Abuja (FCDA) and the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) remain steadfast in their belief in and adherence to the original master plan of 1979. But within the institutions and in collaboration with independent researchers and urban experts, alternative narratives are evolving. A 2014 study, conducted by a group of researchers including an employee of the FCDA, highlighted the acute shortage of housing and proliferation of informal settlements accelerated by in-migration including from those displaced in the Northeast, and noted that "amid these challenges, and coupled with limited resources, the city administration is surprisingly trying to realise its elitist vision of an orderly and beautiful modern city."

Others within the FCDA and the AMMC are adding their analysis and building a case for a more flexible approach to urban planning. As earning an income is a daily struggle for the Durumi's internally displaced they are pleading for a new understanding of informality. For them it is clear that unless the notion of informality as illegality changes in the coming years, the displaced in Durumi and in the six other camps in Abuja are at high risk of becoming displaced again. This high level of vulnerability is of detriment to the city and to its function as a nation-builder. If the city does not capitalise on the skills and labour of informally settled communities, and with a growing number of poor without access to income and housing, the risk of insecurity is likely to increase. As Dr Chiahemba Nor of the FCDA mutters as we drive back to the centre, "it's a time bomb".

Next year, Nigeria will have been independent for as long as it was under British colonial rule, 59 years. It's time to throw off the shackles of outdated ideas of blueprint urban planning and embrace the city as what it is: a dynamic and organically growing, interconnected system that is only as strong as its weakest parts. As strong as Fatima, her displaced family and her neighbours are allowed to be.
With special thanks to Dr Sherif Razak, Dr Chiahemeba Nor, Bashir Abdullahi and Zainab Gajiga for their support and insights.

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"It's a time bomb" - protracted displacement and urban planning in Abuja

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While attention of the international humanitarian community is focused on the crises in the Northeast, thousands of internally displaced people are stuck in limbo in Nigeria's capital Abuja. And with a city master plan that has no room for accommodating destitute newcomers, their only hope is a new approach to urban planning that is starting to take shape among a few city authority officials.

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Integration of migrants and refugees at the local level. What would success look like?

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Integration of migrants and refugees at the local level. What would success look like?

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UNHCR policy on refugee protection and solutions in urban areas

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Mixed Migration Center -

Frontline cities – the urban reality of mixed migration

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Frontline cities - the urban reality of mixed migration | Mixed Migration Centre

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The following essay was originally compiled for the Mixed Migration Review 2020 and has been reproduced here for wider access through this website's readership. The essay's author Chris Horwood is the Director of Ravenstone Consult and independent consultant. International migration is irreversible and predominantly an urban affair.

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Sampling Guide for Displacement Situations and Practical Examples

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Innovative  Sample  Designs  for

Studies of Refugees and Internally

Displaced Persons

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Sampling for Surveys of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons

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Cities Welcoming Refugees and Migrants: Enhancing effective urban governance in an age of migration

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Cities Welcoming Refugees and Migrants: Enhancing effective urban governance in an age of migration

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Cities Welcoming Refugees and Migrants: Enhancing effective urban governance in an age of migration, 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a5f429a4.html [accessed 22 September 2021]

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

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Refworld | Cities Welcoming Refugees and Migrants: Enhancing effective urban governance in an age of migration

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Refworld is the leading source of information necessary for taking quality decisions on refugee status. Refworld contains a vast collection of reports relating to situations in countries of origin, policy documents and positions, and documents relating to international and national legal frameworks.

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A Roadmap for Advocacy, Policy Development, and Programming:
Protection in Mixed Movements along the Central and Western Mediterranean Routes 2021

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Refugees in Towns. What Facilitates Refugee Integration? Refugees in Towns Project 2020 Report

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Improving information and communication to boost inclusion and self-reliance for urban refugees

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Socioeconomic Integration of Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees - The Cases of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

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How best to communicate on migration and integration in the context of COVID-19?

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Results of the SHARE NETWORK SURVEY - Impact of COVID-19 for refugees, migrants & the organisations working with them

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Back to survey homepage

Results of the SHARE NETWORK SURVEY
Impact of COVID-19 for refugees, migrants & the organisations working with them
The SHARE Network online survey mapped the impact of COVID-19 for welcome, integration and inclusion in the EU - for asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and the organisations working with and alongside them.

Survey questions covered both the negative impacts of the crisis, and potential opportunities it has presented for refugees, migrants and integration that can be taken forward during the recovery. Questions provided suggested responses from which participants could select as many options as they felt relevant, alongside space to note any impacts not included in survey answer choices and provide additional information. Scroll down to view the survey questions and responses...

Just over 23% of survey responses highlighted interruptions to education and training as a key impact of COVID-19 restrictions for refugees and migrants. Interrupted activities included language learning (8.8%), school education (7.5%) and adult education and training (7%). Although many of these activities moved online, was limited by a lack of equipment or internet connection (8.2%) and digital/technical skills (7.3%). digital access for refugees and migrants

Additional comments also highlighted the significant impact of the pandemic on development benefits accruing from labour migration, including declining global remittances and requests for return assistance made to national authorities in countries of origin, by migrant workers who had lost their jobs in destination countries.

The biggest impacts of COVID-19 for survey respondents were on the operational activities of their organisations.

27% of responses noted an increase in volunteering opportunities for refugees and migrants arising from the COVID-19 situation, alongside an increased interest from local communities in volunteering for integration (8.5%). New employment opportunities for refugees and migrants were more limited by comparison, and noted by 7.3% of responses.

Just over 14% highlighted increased opportunities for migrants to regularise or extend their legal residence in European countries, highlighting examples such as the Portuguese government's initiative that offered approximately 375,000 migrants temporary regularised status and access to healthcare and social support. Additional comments urged that national authorities make regularisation schemes permanent, using lessons learned from the successes temporary initiatives developed in response to COVID-19.

13% of responses noted an increased public awareness of the role of migrant labour in essential roles and sectors brought about by COVID-19. Examples included Finland, in which difficulties in recruiting migrant fruit pickers during lockdown led to the hiring of Finnish citizens to carry out these roles. Some Finnish fruit-picking recruits made complaints about working conditions and pay, which has prompted new public discussion and interest in improving conditions for migrant workers in Finland.

7% of survey responses noted improved and new cooperation between stakeholders and institutions in the context of integration and inclusion during COVID-19, in particular the closer engagement of public authorities and the private sector.

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SHARE Network survey results: Impact of COVID-19

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Back to survey homepage Results of the SHARE NETWORK SURVEY Impact of COVID-19 for refugees, migrants & the organisations working with them The SHARE Network online survey mapped the impact of COVID-19 for welcome, integration and inclusion in the EU - for asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and the organisations working with and alongside them.

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LEGAL AND PROTECTION POLICY RESEARCH SERIES - Rights of Refugees in the Context of Integration: Legal Standards and Recommendations

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A guide to international refugee protection and building state asylum systems

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THE RESPONSIBILITIES AND OBLIGATIONS OF MIGRANTS TOWARDS HOST COUNTRIES

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A Restriction of responsibility-sharing: Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the Global Compact on Refugees

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This report examines the current and potential use of the GCR to address COVID-19 and its impacts, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the implementation of the GCR itself.4 It provides analysis of and reflections on the effects of the pandemic and concomitant challenges on different aspects of the GCR, ranging from shrinking asylum space and restricted responsibility-sharing to how the Compact features in public advocacy surrounding pandemic responses. Questions explored in the report include: How is the GCR used to address COVID-19 and its impacts? What is the impact of COVID-19 on the implementation of the GCR in terms of refugee protection? What might these impacts mean for the GCR's shortand longer-term viability? It then offers key take-aways and recommendations aimed at a variety of actors.

Partners

Sectors

Livelihood & Social cohesion
document.single.download (PDF, 1.02 MB)

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A Restriction of responsibility-sharing: Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the Global Compact on Refugees

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This report examines the current and potential use of the GCR to address COVID-19 and its impacts, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the implementation of the GCR itself.4 It provides analysis of and reflections on the effects of the pandemic and concomitant challenges on different aspects of the GCR, ranging from shrinking asylum space and restricted responsibility-sharing to how the Compact features in public advocacy surrounding pandemic responses.

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Lessons from Responsibility Sharing Mechanisms For an ambitious and strong Global Compact on Refugees

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UNHCR - A Guide to International Refugee Protection and Building State Asylum Systems: Chapter 8 - Respecting the Rights and Dignity of Refugees

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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A Guide to International Refugee Protection and Building State Asylum Systems

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1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees

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1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child

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Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

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Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

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International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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OAU CONVENTION - Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa

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Cartagena Declaration on Refugees

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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

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Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, adopted by the Colloquium on the International Protection of Refugees in Central America, Mexico and Panama, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, 22 November 1984

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Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement

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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

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Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement

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Urban migration and COVID-19: Cities on the frontline of an inclusive response and recovery

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This article first appeared on the OECD' s website. MMC engages in content partnerships with several organizations, and cross-posting does not indicate an endorsement or agreement.

By Samer Saliba | 14 April 2021

The international community is not doing enough to financially support those who are doing the most for migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people during this global pandemic: city governments. While many cities have the mandate to serve people in vulnerable situations, including migrant and displaced residents, they often do not have enough financial resources to meet the increased demand and need of new arrivals. Lost revenue due to the economic impacts of COVID-19 will further curtail cities' ability to deliver critical services to their residents this year. Some estimates suggest city governments could see revenue losses of up to 25 percent in 2021, precisely when their spending needs to increase to pay for recovery efforts and continuously growing populations. In a recent survey, 33 municipal finance officials in 22 countries across all continents reported already seeing a 10 percent decrease in their overall revenue and around a five percent increase in expenditure. This "scissors effect" of local government revenue and expenditure will be most felt in cities in developing countries. African cities, for example, could potentially lose up to up to 65 percent of their revenue in 2021.

While the international community is paying more attention to municipal finance in relation to climate change, sustainable development, and urban development in general, the same cannot be said of urban migration and displacement. Few municipal finance mechanisms focus explicitly on financing for urban migration and displacement, despite the fact that the majority of migrants and displaced people reside in cities. Moreover, donors with low risk tolerance often disregard city governments in low to middle-income countries. In response to the unmet needs of cities, my organisation, the Mayors Migration Council (MMC), recently launched the Global Cities Fund on Inclusive Pandemic Response supporting five cities to implement inclusive response and recovery programmes of their own design.

"African cities, for example, could potentially lose up to up to 65 percent of their revenue in 2021." #DevMatters

Along with Beirut (Lebanon), Lima (Peru), Freetown (Sierra Leone), and Mexico City, Barranquilla (Colombia) was one of the first five cities to receive a Global Cities Fund grant. With Colombia now home to nearly two million Venezuelan refugees, eight percent of Barranquilla's population is foreign born, the majority of them Venezuelan. 1 Venezuelan refugees in Barranquilla face multiple barriers to finding employment and achieving self-reliance, including limited job opportunities, unfamiliarity with the new job markets, and a lack of social networks to help them navigate the city. While Colombia's recent decision to grant regularised status to nearly one million Venezuelans provides crucial relief to their ability to find formal work, these barriers persist nonetheless and are compounded by COVID-19's impact on the local economy, further isolating Venezuelans and other newcomers to Barranquilla.

Barranquilla is representative of countless cities being asked to do more with less in this age of urban migration and displacement, COVID-19, and economic downturn. The city's budget is approximately $1,000 per capita 2 and most international support is focused on short-term humanitarian interventions responding to the displacement of Venezuelans. While humanitarian assistance is necessary, Barranquilla views migrants and displaced people as an opportunity to strengthen the city's economy, focusing on long-term, economically driven programmes that benefit both newcomers and the city at-large.

Acting on this belief, the Municipality is using the Global Cities Fund to help refugees, migrants, and internally displaced Colombians overcome barriers to accessing the formal labour market and increase their chances of earning an income. Todos Somos Barranquilla offers a comprehensive suite of services to 100 people - including refugees, women, youth, victims of armed conflict and persons living with disabilities - providing them with specialised vocational training, psychosocial support, legal documentation, and direct access to 200 employers in Barranquilla.

"While the city has welcomed the decision to grant protection status to Venezuelans ... local governments in Colombia will likely have to provide more comprehensive services to this population, but without additional financial resources." #DevMatters

While the city has welcomed the decision by the national government to grant protection status to Venezuelans, it implies that local governments in Colombia will likely have to provide more comprehensive services to this population, but without additional financial resources to do so. Most newcomers view Barranquilla as a final destination rather than a point of transit, which is why the city needs the support of the international community to fund, scale and refine its inclusive approach. International initiatives like the Global Cities Fund or the Inter-American Development Bank's support to foster urban integration in five Colombian cities, including Barranquilla are a good start but more should follow. With over 2,550 cities affected by COVID-19 worldwide and in need of financial support, the Global Cities Fund's "model behaviour" needs to become business as usual globally, so that other cities can benefit too.

This is why the Mayors Migration Council and our partners in IOM, UCLG, UN-Habitat, and UNHCR are calling the international community to support an inclusive Covid-19 response in at least 22 cities by the end of 2022: 22 for 2022. 3

1. Data shared by the Barranquilla District Municipal Government with the Mayors Migration Council.

2. Ibid.

3. To learn more and become a partner, contact fund@mayorsmigrationcouncil.org. .

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Urban migration and COVID-19: Cities on the frontline of an inclusive response and recovery - MAYORS MIGRATION COUNCIL

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This article first appeared on the OECD' s website. MMC engages in content partnerships with several organizations, and cross-posting does not indicate an endorsement or agreement. By Samer Saliba | 14 April 2021 The international community is not doing enough to financially support those who are doing the most for migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people during this global pandemic: city governments.

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Culture and Climate Change: Handbook for City Leaders

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Urban Internal Displacement: Data and Evidence

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FMR 63 - Urban Internal Displacement - Data and Evidence