Deputy High Commissioner remarks – Launch of the ILO PROSPECTS “Lessons learned” report

Distinguished colleagues, partners, and friends,

It’s a pleasure to join you today for the launch of this important report by the ILO. It offers not only a valuable stocktaking of how PROSPECTS has evolved over the past five years – what we’ve learned, what’s worked in practice, and where challenges remain. As we work toward more sustainable and coordinated responses to forced displacement, these kinds of learning moments are increasingly important.

At UNHCR, we are proud to partner with ILO, UNICEF, IFC, and the World Bank – with the strong support of the Government of the Netherlands – to help translate policy into practice, and mandates into meaningful outcomes for displaced people and host communities alike.

The backdrop to today’s discussion is sobering. The humanitarian system is under immense strain, with consequences that are all too real. Refugees are receiving less food, less shelter, less access to clean water. Protection services – especially for women and girls – are shrinking just as risks are rising. Schools are closing. And hope is fading, forcing more people onto dangerous onward journeys.

With 123 million people displaced, and with today’s funding gap threatening the most basic forms of assistance, the need to align around sustainable, national responses could not be clearer. We have to go beyond short-term aid. We need responses that are rooted in development systems, shaped by local leadership, and geared toward long-term inclusion.

That’s where PROSPECTS comes in. This partnership reflects a shift in how we work together – bringing diverse institutions under a shared vision: to support host countries in turning policy commitments into tangible results for refugees and host communities. Since its inception in 2019, PROSPECTS has provided a platform for greater alignment, not only to coordinate – but to collaborate and converge.

Of course, institutional and operational coordination is always a work in progress, and Phase II, started in 2024, offer an opportunity to advance that convergence. Across the eight PROSPECTS countries, partners are aligning around common policy priorities, investing in joint planning, and supporting governments as they craft pathways from vulnerability to resilience.

This report captures that progression. It tells the story not just of what was done – but of how it was done – acknowledging the complexity, the trade-offs, and the importance of staying adaptable.

Let me highlight a few examples that speak to what’s possible:

• In Egypt, we’ve seen growing private sector interest in employing refugees – supported by legal and policy reforms and encouraged by PROSPECTS partners who have helped align enabling conditions with market demand. This the result of advocacy, joint programming, and smart alignment with national reforms. While early, these developments are promising.
• In Iraq, I have seen myself how refugee inclusion in the Kurdistan Region’s social protection system began during PROSPECTS Phase I. Today, it is being carried forward by the government itself – a step forward that demonstrates the potential of early collaboration to ensure smooth transition, even if challenges remain.
• And in Kenya, PROSPECTS-supported data and analysis helped shape the Shirika Plan, a nationally led strategy to transition from camp-based aid to integrated settlement approaches. The implementation is still unfolding, but the foundations are in place for ambitious refugee self-reliance and local development.

These are not isolated initiatives. They are examples of what can be achieved when we align efforts, work in step with governments and stay focused on the long term.

The report makes one point particularly clear: siloed, single-sector solutions no longer match the reality of displacement. If we are serious about impact, we must design programmes that link skills development with job creation. We must embed financial inclusion in entrepreneurship support and connect social protection to local economic development.

At UNHCR, we are seeking to apply these lessons. We’re working to move beyond parallel services, toward inclusion in national systems. We’re investing more in multi-year partnerships. And we’re reinforcing our role in protection—not just as a service, but as a cross-cutting lens for all programmes.

In Phase II of PROSPECTS, we’ve taken a stronger role in protection leadership, actively contributing to the new policy matrices, and supporting joint advocacy to ensure legal and policy environments reflect refugee rights.

We know this is not easy work, and that the pace of change varies. But it’s an approach we believe in and that we are committed to strengthening.

The report also raises key questions we must keep asking:

• How do we generate decent work in fragile or rural areas where markets are thin?
• How do we adjust when conflict disrupts our plans – as we’ve seen in Sudan and beyond?
• How do we build resilience – not just into communities, but into our own ways of working?

These are not new questions – but they require renewed focus, and realistic expectations about what progress looks like in complex contexts. And this report offers some measured, honest and grounded answers. It acknowledges what’s worked and what hasn’t. And it frames learning not as an afterthought – but as a core pillar of how we grow and improve.

Let me end with a note of thanks.

To our colleagues at the ILO – for your leadership, your technical excellence, and your commitment to integrated, evidence-based programming.

To our partners at UNICEF, IFC, and the World Bank – for working with us to shape more coherent and truly joint approach.

And to the Government of the Netherlands – for your unwavering support and vision. Your investment in PROSPECTS has enabled us not just to act – but to change how we act. And your emphasis on policy change and access to rights has kept our work grounded in the bigger picture.

As we look ahead, let’s continue to reflect, adjust, and improve. Let’s keep putting protection, inclusion, and sustainability at the heart of everything we do.

Because sustainable responses are not just a strategy. They are a commitment, a promise – to the communities we serve, to the governments we support, and to each other. So, let’s keep up the good work.

Thank you.