Cash in hand Urban refugees, the right to work and UNHCR's advocacy activities

The UNHCR Policy Development and Evaluation Service (PDES) has released in May 2011 a report called ' Cash in hand Urban Refugees, the Right to work and UNHCR's Advocacy Activities'. As a dispersed population that often lacks secure legal status and access to social services, urban refugees face particular challenges. Urban economies are cash-based, and work is the key livelihoods strategy for refugees in urban settings.  By becoming self-reliant and productive, refugees with the legal right to work can benefit their local communities and host countries in addition to improving their own situations. Urban livelihoods and refugees right to work are therefore priorities for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and advocacy is an essential tool to help its staff to reduce barriers to this right.

The research examined three countries in which livelihoods assessments had been carried out, but where the right to work remains both out of reach for most urban refugees and a difficult topic on which to conduct advocacy, due to socio-economic conditions, the host government's position on integration or other factors. These cases were chosen to highlight  some of these challenges as well as to search for good practices or lessons learned in the face of adversity. In most instances, there is no formal advocacy strategy around the right to work per se, though in certain cases advocacy is planned as part of livelihood strategies that have recently gotten underway. 

Even where refugees have the right to work and the situation seems more promising (e.g. Latin America), formal advocacy strategies are still needed at the national level. As a result, data are scarce on responses to UNHCR and partner efforts to enhance the right to work. The paper therefore takes some licence in pointing to practices that could inform an advocacy strategy and be considered good practice, even if they are not always  labelled as such in the field, and their actual impact has not been formally measured. Although the cases examined illustrate the significant challenges to advocating for urban refugees ‟ right to work, they also confirm the importance of advocacy as a strategy, and reveal  potential lessons for formal advocacy strategies. 

The research for this paper  was based on desk reviews of the literature and semistructured interviews of several key informants, including staff or consultants from UNHCR and its implementing partners. In addition to India, Yemen and Egypt, the paper touches on other countries or regions where appropriate. 

To download the full report: http://www.unhcr.org/4dc7f82c9.html