Thematic Papers on Fragile & Forced Displacement Contexts: Recommendations for the World Bank Group and Other Investors

Overall, the papers focus on how the WBG’s policy and programmatic interventions can be best focused to result in tangible change in the lives of affected communities and to ensure that no one is left behind. Among the recommendations put forth, the most consistent across the five thematic papers include:

• Expand partnerships with NGOs and meaningfully engage refugees, host communities, and local civil society to strengthen institutional response and coordination. Among the IDA18 Regional Sub-Window for Refugees and Host Communities (RSW) projects, only four projects acknowledged the importance of partnerships with NGOs.
• Conduct contextualized analysis of forcibly displaced populations and identify barriers that hinder access to basic social services and economic opportunities. The analysis should include socio-political aspects and other non-legal barriers that impede displaced persons from accessing services and opportunities. The analysis should also identify where integrated approaches across relevant sectors are required. This can help the Bank better understand how to strengthen project interventions and identify areas where it can better support government policies and practices.
• Share existing evidence and lessons learned in managing forced displacement crises across Bank teams and external actors to build capacity and expertise on what works in a diverse range of fragile and forced displacement settings.
• Leverage internal resources and knowledge to ensure a more coherent WBG approach is adapted to and applied to forced displacement settings. The WBG has rich experience and extensive resources in addressing issues like gender and legal identity through a variety of frameworks, tools and initiatives. These resources should be expanded to cover the forcibly displaced in all their diversity. By harmonizing and improving linkages across resources within the WBG, programming and financing will be more effectively designed and implemented to respond to displacement challenges.