Pilot schemes to include refugees in social protection | iloplp

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Activities, stakeholders and guidelines

Pilot schemes to include refugees in social protection

Practical tips and guidelines on key activities and stakeholders involved

Click on one activity below to see detailed guidelines

Stakeholders involved
National social protection institutions
Humanitarian partners
ILO technical specialists
Guidelines
Target schemes based on analysis of the national social protection landscape.
Focus on mitigating barriers faced by certain population groups, specifically refugees.
Prioritize outreach for population groups with low rates of social protection coverage, including refugees.
Face-to-face outreach can be particularly useful with groups that are unfamiliar with social protection.
Ensure pilots are closely linked to, if not embedded in, national social protection institutions.

Stakeholders involved
National social protection institutions
ILO technical specialists
Government representatives (national)
Guidelines
Support the development of practical and costed recommendations for extending coverage.
Identify administrative, technical and financial functions needed for scheme design and implementation.
Target capacity-building based on identified gaps in institutional capacity.
Consider forming technical working groups to address design and operational aspects for the inclusion of refugees in national social protection.

Stakeholders involved
Humanitarian partners
ILO technical specialists
Guidelines
Use humanitarian actors’ understanding of forced displacement, and the related needs and politics, as well as their direct reach to forcibly displaced communities.
Consider how regular knowledge exchange and shared staff positions can bring humanitarian and development operations together.
A particularly successful element has been the sharing of human resources, as in the case of the joint UNHCR-ILO technical specialist position based in the Horn of Africa. This position helped strengthen action to extend social health protection in the region and promoted communication and coordination between the two agencies.
Look for entry points to work jointly on linking humanitarian (cash) assistance and social protection. Consider a “twin-track” approach of strengthening national social protection systems on the one hand and working on refugee inclusion on the other.

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