Refugee Livelihoods in Urban Areas: Identifying Program Opportunities

In September 2011 we will begin a one-year research project that will analyze the livelihoods context of refugees and identify programming opportunities in three urban settings in Egypt, Israel, and Ecuador. For refugees in urban areas, there is little evidence about which humanitarian programs work, what livelihoods initiatives refugees undertake themselves, and where opportunities for programming interventions lie. Our research seeks to address this knowledge gap. Working with local research partners in each country, we will explore new approaches to supporting refugee livelihoods, drawing on related fields of inquiry, such as low-income urban (slum) development and youth employment and entrepreneurial initiatives, which could be adapted for refugees.