The current state of forced displacement is staggering. Nearly 120 million people worldwide are forcibly displaced, most living in protracted situations among host communities that are also struggling with limited economic opportunities, climate-related risks, violence, and even internal displacement themselves.
Refugee-focused organizations, humanitarian and development agencies, and governments should work together to create durable solutions that increase the self-reliance of both forcibly displaced and host populations and support the resilience of the systems that surround them. While there are a number of assessments and guides that explore the theory and practicalities of using market-systems approaches to expand opportunities for forcibly displaced populations, specific lessons learned from programs and advice on how to adapt strategies are still missing.
This paper aims to synthesize the learnings produced from existing interventions into a brief review of what is different about forcibly displaced populations and a list of tips on how to implement market systems approaches to foster inclusive system change.
