Education
When children and young people are forced to flee, they can miss out on years of schooling. UNHCR works with governments and partners to help them access quality education and training. With almost half of the world’s refugees under 18 years, this is critical to prevent millions of children from falling behind their peers.
School also offers a stable and safe environment for children who have been through the traumatic experience of displacement and can help protect them from forced recruitment into armed groups or child labour.
Livelihoods and economic inclusion
UNHCR works to promote livelihoods and economic inclusion for refugees. We advocate for their right to work and support them in becoming more resilient and achieve self-reliance.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
Solutions
We work hard to protect and assist refugees, but our goal is to find solutions that allow them to rebuild their lives.
Finding solutions that enable refugees to live their lives in dignity and peace is a core part of our work. They can include voluntary repatriation, resettlement and integration.
Your support helps us to create a safer, more stable world for those who need it most.
Environment, Disasters and Climate Change
As we look to the future, we know climate change and the environment will continue to impact on our work at UNHCR and the lives of forcibly uprooted people around the world.
We are working to reduce our environmental impact, meet the protection challenges already being amplified by climate change and prepare for those to come.
Innovation
We are also preparing for future humanitarian challenges through our Innovation Service. With more people forcibly uprooted than ever, and the number continuing to grow, we must find innovative solutions to adapt and continue to deliver for people forced to flee.
The UNHCR Innovation Services develops, tests and scales new solutions and ideas, including in digital inclusion, data and AI, environmental response and refugee-led innovations.