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Building resilience and better lives at home

Addressing large movements of migrants and refugees by creating opportunities to stay

September 16^th, 2016

AdDRESSING THE ROOT CAUSES

More than 65 million people are now forcibly displaced by violence and conflict, with more refugees and migrants leaving their homes than ever before. The vast majority - 40.8 million people, including 17 million children, are displaced within their own countries. Migrants leave their home countries in search of a better life. They flee from poverty, natural disasters, climate change, poor governance, repression and persistent exclusion. Many more will flee as the impacts of environmental degradation and climate change make continued residence impossible. To prevent an even larger crisis, the world has to find enduring answers to address the root causes of displacement and to support communities hosting large numbers of displaced persons. Initiatives that prevent conflict and prepare for disaster could save many lives and significantly lessen the prospect of an exodus. Yet such initiatives are severely underfunded.

On the ground in some 170 countries, UNDP supports countries in addressing these root causes of displacement and drivers of migration, building stable societies and creating economic opportunities for communities that might otherwise see no future for their children at home. Find out what we are doing in some of the countries from where so many refugees originate.

Syria

In addition to the devastating human toll, six years of conflict in Syria has had a disastrous effect on the country’s economy. The country has seen markets collapse, rampant inflation and currency depreciation, looting and destruction. A lack of cash and employment opportunities are major challenges faced by most of the 6.5 million internally displaced people of Syria – about 45 percent of the population – as well as many host communities.

By the end of 2015, 85.2 percent of the population was plunged into poverty, and more than half of the labour force has been pushed into unemployment. Some 2.3 million livelihoods have been lost - so far. Many of the displaced have exhausted their savings and resorted to coping in ways that eventually cause further harm, such as selling off assets and reducing meals. Recent assessments show that Syrian human development indices have been rolled back 35 years since the conflict began.

Between 2014 and 2016, UNDP programmes have impacted 4.5 million Syrians across all governorates in the country, through targeted early recovery and livelihoods restoration efforts in partnership with more than 150 local actors including NGOs and faith-based organizations. UNDP is helping affected communities rehabilitate infrastructure and restore basic services, and in 2015 provided 44,000 emergency employment jobs to both internally displaced persons and host community members to remove solid waste and debris and to repair infrastructure such as the water networks in Aleppo. 1,514 businesses could be revived through provision of start-up grants, vocational training, job placements, value-chain development and market restoration.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan hosts over 1.3 million refugees and internally displaced people, while 2.7 million people left the country in 2015 alone – making it the second-largest source of refugees after Syria. In the past 11 years, UNDP has implemented nearly 4,000 projects promoting sustainable development in Afghanistan, reaching about 25 million people.

One of UNDP’s 600 transportation projects to promote economic development in rural Afghanistan, a simple bridge led to more boys and girls enrolling in primary school, by addressing safety concerns on the village’s main road.

Photo: Sayed Omer Sadaat / UNDP Afghanistan

Democratic Republic of the Congo

About half a million refugees have fled from violence and conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and 1.7 million more are internally displaced. UNDP aims to prevent further migration by promoting sustainable development in DRC. We do that by building stronger institutions, promoting gender equality and creating economic opportunities in communities that might otherwise see no future for their children at home.

Alice and Mado (photo left), who fled violence in her village with her five children, are learning how to build and sell cooking stoves. Over 750 women in the volatile north-eastern province of Ituri have set up agricultural cooperatives and small businesses as part of an inclusive programme called ‘Peace is the way of Progress’, which aims to stabilize and develop the region.

Central African Republic

The sectarian violence that erupted in March 2013 in the Central African Republic has uprooted nearly one million people. More than half of the country’s population, about 2.5 million people, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, while more than 60 percent of the people live in extreme poverty. UNDP’s priorities in the Central African Republic are promoting social cohesion and community resilience; support for the transition, including the reintegration of ex-soldiers; the fight against impunity and insecurity and aid coordination.

Together with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), UNDP has provided over 500 of these young ex-soldiers with income opportunities for constructing a youth and culture house. This infrastructure project also supports host communities, who will be in charge of running the centre and generating revenue.

Photo: Jean Jonas Tossa / UNDP Central African Republic

Eritrea

Eritrea ranked 186 out of 188 in UNDP’s 2015 Human Development Index. With about 60 percent of the population living in poverty, many young people take their chances and migrate in search of better opportunities. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 357,400 Eritreans — 9 percent of the population — had fled the country by mid-2014.

A project by the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS), with financial support from the Norwegian and Japanese governments and UNDP, is providing youth with vocational skills and training to help them find jobs. More than 1,500 youth have participated in the programme, 38 percent of them are women. Nearly 65 percent of participants have secured permanent jobs. Half of the participants of this pottery class (photo), supported through Norway, Japan and UNDP, are deaf.

Yemen

Since fighting escalated in March 2015, the conflict has killed 10,000 people, displaced 3 million and forced 200,000 to seek refuge abroad. Yemen’s public services have collapsed, and the price of basics such as food and fuel have soared. Having lost their sources of income, many Yemeni families are unable to afford these necessities. Half are facing severe food insecurity and malnutrition.

UNDP is working with local and international partners to build resilience in Yemen by supporting displaced people, host communities and others in need by restoring livelihoods, creating jobs and promoting social cohesion and security. A new emergency programme, in partnership with the World Bank, will create more than 900,000 work days and benefit over 57,000 families. As a result, around 380,000 Yemenis in conflict affected areas will be able to access basic services such as water. Yemeni youth in host communities, such as the ones in Hajjah pictured below, are gaining crucial business skills and receive support for establishing micro-enterprises.

Burundi

The current political crisis in Burundi has displaced more than 30.000 people within Burundi, joining the 118 000 people already living in so called Integrated Rural Villages, and led to more than 270.000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries. This displacement has caused major social-economic shocks at the community level with the potential to have serious consequences in terms of social cohesion.

UNDP Burundi worked closely with national counterparts to support the community-based reintegration of over 9.000 returnees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and ex-combatants through cash for work and establishment of businesses. UNDP is now supporting durable solutions to effectively reintegrate returning IDPs and refugees in their communities. This includes providing jobs to youth, promoting social coexistence and socio-economic development.

Ukraine

The ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine as well as the drastic worsening of the socio-economic situation across the Donbas region is one of the greatest challenges facing Ukraine in its modern history. It has forced around 1.4 million people to leave their homes, leaving many of the internally displaced persons means to support their families. UNDP and its partners work to improve the resilience of internally displaced people and the communities most affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The work includes generating employment and income, entrepreneurship support, rehabilitation of critical economic and social infrastructure, building social cohesion and community security, and supporting local authorities in good governance and decentralization reform. Maryna is one of 2.000 internally displaced people who have been employed as a social care worker, taking care of elderly people.

El Salvador

“I tried to emigrate because I was living in a difficult situation, and the one thing you think about is leaving,“ recalls Francisco Pérez, a young man in Yoloaiquín, Morazán in El Salvador. Instead, he created a vegetable greenhouse with drip irrigation system along with 20 other young men in which they produce and market produce, especially tomatoes, as part of the Joint Migration and Development Initiative. According to UNDP studies, 72 percent of Salvadoran youth consider emigrating to the United States, expecting better economic opportunities than in their home country.

The Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) is a programme led by UNDP in partnership with IOM, ILO, UN Women, UNHCR, UNFPA and UNITAR with funding from the European Union and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. It aims to maximize the potential of migration for local development through the delivery of targeted support to local authorities and non-state actors. In El Salvador, UNDP through JMDI supports the government in transforming the life prospects of Salvadorans and creating new opportunities for them in their own country.

Photo: Sonia Hernandez/Adel Morazan / UNDP El Salvador

Colombia

More than 5 million Colombians displaced by the armed conflict, while over a third of the population lives below the poverty line. Internally displaced people as well as host communities often suffer from a lack of economic opportunities.

Together with the government of Colombia, UNDP seeks to promote economic inclusion while improving the competitiveness of small and medium-sized companies. At present, 1,100 businesses in 25 cities throughout the country are involved, and over 250 of these businesses are owned by individuals displaced by violence. This includes Besaida, who fled to Bogota due to armed conflict in her hometown and has now started her own restaurant with UNDP’s help. The business units cater primarily to the food, utilities, clothing and crafts sectors, and it is anticipated that the program will be replicated in other regions.

Protecting the environment, creating jobs and allowing young people to participate in politics and society need to become urgent priorities if we are to prevent a greater migration crisis. We must build peaceful and inclusive societies. We must work with national and local groups to create the opportunities and security that drive sustainable development. We must invest in development, conflict prevention and global solidarity.

As world leaders debate how to respond to the growing numbers of refugees and displaced people around the world, we must remember that a lasting solution will require us to address the root causes displacement.

Footnotes

Edited by Silke von Brockhausen, Freya Morales, Adam Cathro | With contributions from Lamia Dib, Aimee Brown, Jean Jonas Tossa, Robert Frey, Elizabeth Mwaniki, Aude Rossignol and Diane Maurissen

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FootNotes

Edited by Silke von Brockhausen, Freya Morales, Adam Cathro | With contributions from Lamia Dib, Aimee Brown, Jean Jonas Tossa, Robert Frey, Elizabeth Mwaniki, Aude Rossignol and Diane Maurissen

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Building resilience and better lives at home

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