Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion

Rebuilding one’s life implies more than having a roof over your head and a safe place to sleep. It means reclaiming control of your future. 

A powerful way to do so is to work for a living. Through decent work, refugees and displaced people can provide for their families’ needs, maintain their dignity, become more resilient and be empowered to shape their future. Being able to work and making use of their skills and talents also allows refugees to contribute to their host communities. 

How does UNHCR help?

We help people who were forced to flee their homes and are now living in a new community by promoting their economic inclusion, advocating for their right to work and supporting their inclusion in government social protection systems. We support refugees to gain access to the labour market in their host communities, which in turn allows them to seize economic opportunities.

Learn more:

• Economic inclusion: How can it be achieved? Read more
• ​Global Compact on Refugees: A roadmap Read more
• Do refugees have the right to work? Read more

As part of our work, we collaborate with a wide range of partners, including States, development and humanitarian organizations, the private sector and civil society to enhance economic outcomes for refugees as well as host communities:

• Inclusive market systems – When designing effective interventions that will support refugees to work in local markets, a comprehensive understanding of the market system and the barriers for refugee inclusion is key. We work with the International Labour Organization and other partners to promote an inclusive market systems framework.
• Financial inclusion – Most refugees have no access to financial services, which limits their capacity to engage in sustainable livelihoods. We work with financial service providers and relevant partners to remove these barriers.
• Poverty Alleviation Coalition – Many refugees live in extreme poverty and vulnerability. The Poverty Alleviation Coalition is a global coalition of non-governmental organizations, led by UNHCR together with the Partnership for Economic Inclusion of the World Bank. The coalition aims to empower the poorest refugees and their host communities to move out of poverty through the Graduation Approach.
• Agriculture and Food Security – Refugees in rural areas count on farming to eat and earn a living. We work with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and other partners to support refugees' inclusion in agriculture value chains and improve their income while ensuring healthy and nutritious food for everyone.   
• Social protection systems – We work to include refugees and asylum seekers in government systems and align UNHCR assistance to these systems. This provides predictable means for vulnerable families to meet basic needs, access family and social welfare services and support access to jobs and complementary decent work and health insurance benefits.
• MADE51 – To showcase what an innovative, market-based model for economic inclusion of refugees might look like, we developed Made51 – a global brand of artisanal home décor and accessories crafted by refugees.
• Data and Analysis – Data is critical to policy-making and programming. We work with partners to improve the collection and analysis of socio-economic data and build a useful data library. 

Economic inclusion for refugees: How can it be achieved? 

Empowering refugees to earn a decent living and participate in local economies requires the engagement of a broad range of stakeholders. UNHCR’s role is to advocate for and convene different stakeholders and foster collaboration between them. To this end, we are building partnerships with financial service providers, development agencies and private sector companies. In environments where work is already underway to strengthen refugees’ livelihoods, we coordinate with governments, humanitarian and development actors, the private sector and other partners to enhance inclusion and access of refugees to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities and related services and programs.

A roadmap to empower refugees to lead productive lives: The Global Compact on Refugees 

In December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly affirmed the Global Compact on Refugees – a blueprint for governments, international organizations and other stakeholders to ensure that host communities get the support they need and that refugees can lead productive lives.

The compact highlights a growing recognition of the development challenges posed by large-scale refugee situations and the need for inclusive development in refugee-hosting areas to build the resilience of local and refugee communities. It calls on all sectors of society to help enhance refugees’ self-reliance. 
The compact positions itself as a means of mobilizing support to ensure refugees and their host communities share in a country’s progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Learn more about the Global Compact on Refugees.

Do refugees have the right to work? 

The right to work includes the opportunity for people to earn a living through work that is freely chosen or accepted. The right to work encompasses all forms of work, from independent self-employment to jobs that pay wages or salaries. The corollary of the right to work is the right to just and favourable conditions of work. In other words, these two rights provide everyone, including refugees, equal access to decent work opportunities without discrimination and regardless of legal status and documentation.

Under international law, decent work for everyone is provided through Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is given binding force by Article 6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights. In addition, the International Labour Office ILO had developed international labour standards that apply to all workers, including refugees. 

Articles 17, 18 and 19 of the 1951 Refugee Convention explicitly recognize refugees’ right to access the labour market, prescribing a level of treatment for refugees that is relative and connected to their legal attachment to the country of asylum. Article 24 sets out the right of refugees to benefit from labour legislation and social security. 

To facilitate access to decent work, States need to take deliberate, concrete and targeted steps to stimulate economic growth and development, raise standards of living and overcome both unemployment and underemployment. States also need to pursue full and productive employment while safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms and reducing the informal economy.

Developing States that have limited resources are permitted to provide access to employment opportunities for refugees gradually if this is necessary. These States must still take steps to realize access to decent work for everyone, including refugees, for example by seeking international assistance and cooperation.

To access decent work, refugees need, among other things, to be able to exercise their right to freedom of movement, to form and join trade unions and other labour association, to have their previous qualifications recognized and to have access to vocational and other training opportunities. Refugees also need to be able to contribute to and make use of social security benefits, as well as have access to effective remedies to enforce their right to access decent work opportunities.

Further resources and materials:

• 2019 - 2023 Global Strategy Concept Note: Refugee Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and UNHCR: A 10-point multi-stakeholder action plan for employers, refugees, governments and civil society
• Comprehensive list of UNHCR decentralised evaluations on livelihood strategies and approaches
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Policy Guide on entrepreneurship for migrants and refugees
• UNHCR centralized evaluation of livelihoods strategies and approaches
• COVID-19 Emerging Practices on Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion: Version 1 - Version 2