Issue 63 February 2020

Cities and towns

plus articles on: • Venezuelan displacement and the Cartagena definition • detention advocacy strategies Forced Migration Review (FMR) provides a forum for the regular exchange of practical experience, information and ideas between researchers, refugees From the editors and internally displaced people, ities and towns are on the frontline of receiving and welcoming people and those who work with them. Cwho have been displaced. In the 20 articles on Cities and towns in this It is published in English, Arabic, issue of FMR, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, representatives of Spanish and French by the cities and international city-focused alliances, and displaced people Refugee Studies Centre of the themselves debate the challenges facing both the urban authorities and Oxford Department of International their partners, and those who have sought refuge. Development, University of Oxford. A number of authors explore new ways of working in urban settings – Staff including area-based approaches, multi-stakeholder partnerships, and city- Marion Couldrey & to-city collaboration – while others offer insights and inspiration from local Jenny Peebles (Editors) responses and the perspectives of displaced and host communities. Other Maureen Schoenfeld (Finance authors examine how camp management practices can be applied in urban and Promotion Assistant) settings, how resilience can be bolstered by improved communication and Sharon Ellis (Assistant) information sharing, and how municipal capacity and community dialogue Forced Migration Review can be strengthened to improve protection in high-risk neighbourhoods. The Refugee Studies Centre issue also draws out practical lessons for promoting inclusive climate action, Oxford Department of International negotiating contested authority, and encouraging urban planning that takes Development, University of Oxford, account of both displaced and host community needs. 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK We would like to thank Jeff Crisp (University of Oxford), Charles Simpson (Tufts University), Marcia Vera Espinoza (Queen Mary University of London) [email protected] and Richard Williams (independent consultant/MigrationWork) for their Skype: fmreview assistance as advisors to the feature theme. We would also like to thank Tel: +44 (0)1865 281700 Cities of Refuge NWO VICI research project, Happold Foundation, the Swiss www.fmreview.org Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Tufts University Refugees in Towns Disclaimer: Opinions in FMR do not project for their generous funding support for this particular issue of FMR. necessarily reflect the views of the Editors, the Refugee Studies Centre FMR 63 formats online at www.fmreview.org/cities or the University of Oxford. • Full magazine Copyright: FMR is an Open Access • Editors’ briefing (headline analysis of the content) publication. For details visit • Digest (expanded contents list with QR codes/web links) www.fmreview.org/copyright. For printed copies, please email us at [email protected].

Forthcoming feature themes in 2020 (see www.fmreview.org/forthcoming): • June: Trafficking and smuggling / Climate crisis and local communities ISSN 1460-9819 (double feature) Designed by: • October: Recognising refugees (submission deadline 15th June) Art24 www.art24.co.uk Printed by: With best wishes Oxuniprint Marion Couldrey and Jenny Peebles www.oxuniprint.co.uk Editors, Forced Migration Review

Thank you to all FMR’s current and recent donors Act Church of Sweden • ADRA International • Catholic Relief • Martin James Foundation • Oxfam • Refugees Services - USCCB • Cities of Refuge NWO VICI research project International • Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung • Southern New • Danish Refugee Council • Dubai Cares • Government of Hampshire University • Swiss Federal Department of Foreign the Principality of Liechtenstein • Happold Foundation • Affairs • Tufts University Refugees in Towns project • International Rescue Committee • IOM • Jesuit Refugee UK Research and Innovation/Global Challenges Research Service • Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Fund • UNHCR • Women’s Refugee Commission Warm thanks also to our readers for their support. All donations help. If you read and value FMR, please make a gift at www.fmreview.org/online-giving. Help keep this resource going! Forced Migration Review issue 63 • www.fmreview.org/cities

Cities and towns 43 Invisibility and virality in urban shelter response Jennifer Ward George and David Hodgkin 4 Foreword: Time for cities to take centre stage on forced migration 47 Improving information and communication Marvin Rees to boost inclusion and self-reliance for urban refugees 6 Urban internal displacement: data and evidence Laura Buffoni and Gail Hopkins Vicente Anzellini and Clémence Leduc 50 Pakistan’s urban refugees: steps towards self- 8 Urban response: three principles for good practice reliance David Sanderson Muhammad Abbas Khan 11 Urban planning for refugee housing: responding 52 Contested public authority in marginal urban to urgent needs areas: challenges for humanitarians Jessica Sadye Wolff Dolf J H te Lintelo, Hart Ford, Tim Liptrot, Wissam 14 Active citizenship in Athens Mansour and Aline Rahbany Kareem Alkabbani, Wael Habbal and Tom Western 55 Places of refuge and risk: lessons from San Pedro 16 Area-based approaches: an alternative in contexts Sula of urban displacement Yolanda Zapata James Schell, Mohamed Hilmi and Seki Hirano 58 A call to action: mobilising local resources in 19 Multi-stakeholder approach to urban Ethiopia for urban IDPs displacement in Somalia Evan Easton-Calabria, Delina Abadi and Gezahegn Mohamed Taruri, Laura Bennison, Shezane Kirubi and Gebremedhin Aude Galli General articles 23 Urban planning in times of displacement: secondary cities in Ukraine and Niger 61 Effective civil society engagement with Jeremy Wetterwald and Louise Thaller governments on issues around detention Grant Mitchell 26 Applying camp management methods to urban displacement in Afghanistan 64 The spirit of Cartagena? Applying the extended Anna Hirsch-Holland refugee definition to Venezuelans in Latin America 30 A citywide approach in urban Bangladesh Cécile Blouin, Isabel Berganza and Luisa Feline Freier Bipasha Dutta 67 News from the Refugee Studies Centre 32 Transformative climate action in cities François Gemenne, Caroline Zickgraf, Anneliese Depoux, Laetitia Pettinotti, Agathe Cavicchioli and Front cover Sarah Rosengaertner image: 36 Women refugees, leisure space and the city A view over Sarah Linn Kabul, Afghanistan. 38 The path of least resistance? EU cities and locally organised resettlement UNHCR/Jim Tihomir Sabchev and Moritz Baumgärtel Huylebroek 41 Cities as partners: the case of Kampala Samer Saliba and Innocent Silver

Whose voices are heard through FMR? We strive to include a wide variety of voices in FMR to help ensure that policymaking and programming reflect the experiences and insights of displaced people. We also encourage practitioners to write about what they have learned in their work, so that others can learn from them. These voices must be heard in order to influence the global agendas that affect the lives of displaced people. Perhaps you could: • Think about what you have learned or experienced that would be of most use to other FMR readers. • Consider co-authoring… ‘buddying’ with other local actors and/or practitioners can broaden your reach and build writing confidence. • Look at our guidance for authors at www.fmreview.org/writing-fmr and send us suggestions for articles – we’ll provide feedback and advice. FMR has a huge and diverse readership. If you write, they will read. 4 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 Foreword: Time for cities to take centre stage on forced migration Marvin Rees

As Mayor of Bristol (a City of Sanctuary in the UK), I am glad to see this issue of FMR exploring the pivotal role of cities and towns in welcoming and protecting displaced people.

The turn of a decade is always a good outlook is shaped by the reality of our global opportunity to take a step back and assess population. Bristolians – new and old – have some of the deeper trends driving our family members in cities across the world, ever-shortening news cycles. As we look and that gives us a stake in the situations back over the last ten years, surely one of facing those cities and their nations. the most noticeable features is the growing We know that we are far from the only city inability of national governments to deal seeking to take this approach. From Amman with the most pressing issues of our time. to Kampala and São Paulo to Jakarta, cities From climate change to the regulation of and city leaders are finding new ways to make social media and new technologies, solutions the inclusion of refugees a reality. Their efforts at the national level seem less likely than deserve praise but also close examination, ever to meet the challenges we are facing. so that we can learn from what works and Nowhere is this more obvious than on the seek ways to replicate good practice. issue of forced migration, where national But if progress in the next decade is governments are failing at every stage of the limited to city-level innovation and sharing, process – in dealing with the push factors that then I believe we will have missed a huge cause people to have to flee, in supporting opportunity. Alongside this work, we those people en route and in providing safe also need concerted efforts to increase the destinations that offer welcome and dignity. profile and influence of cities in the global Yet as we look ahead to a new decade, I mechanisms that govern and enable human believe that hope can be found in the growing mobility. power and influence of cities to shape a more just and humanely ordered world. Cities as equal partners Cities are already on the frontline of The good news is that such efforts have receiving and integrating those forced already begun. During the negotiations on to flee their homes. Although there is an the Global Compacts for Migration and on unhelpful lack of reliable statistics in this Refugees, I had the privilege of working area, it is generally acknowledged that the with a number of cities to collectively seek majority of the world’s refugee population to influence these critical agreements. are now in urban areas, and cities are also This resulted in the Marrakech Mayors playing an increasing role in accommodating Declaration, ‘Cities working together for people displaced within their own countries. migrants and refugees’,1 which was presented This mirrors the wider trend of growth at the Intergovernmental Conference to in worldwide urban populations, which adopt the Global Compact for Migration, is predicted to reach 6.3 billion by 2050. as well as at the UN General Assembly In Bristol, in the UK, we are proud to be meeting which adopted the Global Compact a City of Sanctuary, and the inclusion of on Refugees. It sets out the commitments all newcomers is a key principle of our of cities and also calls for them to play a policymaking. We see refugees as assets to meaningful role in the implementation our city, and seek to support them not just for and evaluation of the Compacts. their benefit but also so they can contribute The work of following up these efforts is to the flourishing of all Bristolians. This now being driven by the Mayors Migration Cities and towns 5 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

Council, a new initiative to support cities to become more influential at the global level. I am proud to sit on the Leadership Board

of the Council alongside Bryan Anslem/Redux mayors from across the globe, and together we are determined to make progress on expanding the role for cities.2 The recent appointment of the Mayors Migration Council to the Steering Committee of the UN Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund is a sign that these efforts are beginning to bear fruit. But of course there is so much further to go, and many hurdles to overcome if we are to see global governance move into a new iteration with Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol (second from right), at the first cities and networks of cities sitting alongside Leadership Board meeting of the Mayors Migration Council, national governments as equal partners. New York, July 2019. That’s why I believe this edition of Forced Migration Review is so timely. It reveals the breadth of urban contexts, showcasing the ways that cities in every part of the world are seeking to play their part in the inclusion of newcomers. It also The Mayors Migration Council (MMC) is a global highlights the complexity of these contexts, initiative led by the mayors of Amman, Bristol, Freetown, Kampala, Los Angeles, Milan, Montréal, revealing both the opportunities and the São Paulo and Zürich, and the former mayor challenges of working at the city level. of Athens. Its mission is to ensure that global But above all it powerfully makes the case responses to migration and refugee issues are for cities as indispensable stakeholders in relevant to the realities experienced in cities and the governance of human mobility. As we enable local-level policy solutions. enter this new decade full of possibilities MMC’s team provides strategic advice and support and challenges, there is a role for us all in to mayors and local government officials looking to ensuring that cities live up to their potential a) institutionalise city-level participation in national and help make the world a safer, fairer and and international policy making processes, b) build their diplomatic and advocacy capacity and c) kinder place for those forced to move. unlock and direct humanitarian and development Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol resources towards cities. An important principle @MarvinJRees throughout MMC’s work is to amplify the voices of Global South and secondary cities, which are often For more information please contact under-represented despite having the most relevant [email protected] experiences to share. 1. bit.ly/Marrakech-Mayors-Declaration www.mayorsmigrationcouncil.org 2. Other Leadership Board members are from Montréal, Los For more information please email Angeles, São Paolo, Zürich, Milan, Freetown, Kampala, Amman [email protected]. and Athens. 6 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 Urban internal displacement: data and evidence Vicente Anzellini and Clémence Leduc

Securing accurate, useful data on urban displacement is a difficult yet essential task.

There is a persistent gap in the availability 70% of people who had been internally of accurate estimates of the scale of urban displaced by conflict and violence in Iraq displacement. Even when such information were living in urban areas, while 96% of is locally available, it is generally insufficient the IDP sites recorded in rural areas of to inform prevention, response and the country were actually located within durable solutions. Other types of data 10 kilometres of an urban area. This on characteristics (including gender, age data (anonymised to protect individual and disability status), living conditions identities) offers a useful picture of the (including income and access to services) relationship of internal displacement to and capacities are also required if we cities and urbanisation processes. Even are to build a more solid evidence base though obtaining comprehensive location- from which to make informed decisions related data like this is rare, the example to address urban displacement. shows that it is indeed possible to assess the scale of displacement in cities. Obtaining data A third challenge is the lack of There are many challenges involved in longitudinal data. Investments in data obtaining data on urban displacement. The collection all too often decrease after first one is the lack of general consensus the emergency phase of a crisis. This around what constitutes an urban area. is a major hindrance to assessing IDPs’ Thresholds and criteria vary across countries, living conditions over time, and limits which causes a major methodological a full understanding of the causes and barrier to presenting a global picture of characteristics of protracted displacement in the urban or rural nature of displacement. cities. Such information would be valuable This challenge may take a long time to for development actors, as they could adapt be resolved but adapting a country’s own their urban development and planning criteria would at least help to standardise interventions to take into consideration data collection at the national level. urban IDPs and host communities. A second challenge is obtaining geo- located data on internally displaced people Tackling data challenges (IDPs) in urban settings. Cities are complex The use of alternative data sources and environments, and displacement to, from technologies, including mobile phone data, and within them is highly dynamic, making satellite imagery analysis and community it difficult to know the precise location of mapping, could help to overcome these displaced populations at any point in time. challenges. For example, in Papua New In cities, IDPs tend be dispersed and many Guinea, the UN collaborated with private seek anonymity because of potential threats phone companies to use anonymised mobile to their security. This is a particular challenge phone data to measure the patterns and for humanitarian first responders trying to duration of displacement following the provide adequate protection and assistance. February 2018 earthquake. This enabled There are, however, good examples of them to obtain detailed information about geo-located data on displacement. In Iraq, when people moved, from where and to the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix1 where, and for how long they remained has coordinates on IDP sites for the entire displaced.3 Complementing these assessments country. An analysis undertaken by IDMC with qualitative information from affected using this data2 showed that in 2018 around communities would help shed light on the Cities and towns 7 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

reasons behind people’s movements and their decisions to return. The ability to measure the scale, patterns, location and duration of urban Bakr Abdulla NRC/Becky displacement, while useful, is not sufficient, however, to fully capture the phenomenon. The gap in understanding that then ensues can limit the capacity to develop solutions adapted to each context. Profiling Al Habbari informal camp for displaced people in Sana’a, Yemen, August 2018. exercises can help shed light on both the In order to achieve better outcomes and impacts that displacement can have on urban reduce the likelihood of protracted urban IDPs and their hosts, and the capacity of displacement, it is important to be aware of local authorities and other stakeholders to existing resources, skills and community address displacement-affected communities’ services. In this respect, involving urban needs and to support self-reliance.4 IDPs and host communities in broader urban A key part of building the evidence base planning and development processes will help on urban displacement lies in understanding identify those priorities – in service delivery, how cities have the capacity to absorb large infrastructure and housing development – populations, and how markets, housing and that will contribute most to achieving service provision are affected – both positively durable solutions to urban displacement. and negatively – by displacement. Sustaining Vicente Anzellini [email protected] such data collection and analysis efforts over Coordinator, Global Report on Internal time can be challenging. For this reason, Displacement capacity development of local authorities and the participation of urban IDPs and host Clémence Leduc [email protected] communities in data collection around their Research and Monitoring Fellow vulnerabilities and needs are essential. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) An exercise conducted in Mogadishu www.internal-displacement.org in 2014 and 2015 (in collaboration with the local authorities) mapped and enumerated 1. www.globaldtm.info 2. Using the framework of the EU Global Human Settlement informal settlements, which helped to Layer: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/global-human-settlement-layer identify IDPs and differentiate them from 3. Prahara P et al (2019) Comparing population displacement estimates their hosts.5 The analysis highlighted the from mobile network data and other sources. Working paper: evidence specific challenges IDPs faced in different from the Highlands earthquake in Papua New Guinea bit.ly/IDMC-PNG-GRID2019 areas of the city where little or no information 4. Joint IDP Profiling Service (2019) Displacement profiling in urban on their conditions previously existed. The areas: Methodological approaches for collecting and analysing data on exercise only covered displaced populations internal displacement in cities bit.ly/JIPS-UrbanProfiling-GRID2019 in specific settlements and not in the entire 5. See pp90–1 of IDMC (2019) Global Report on Internal Displacement city, but its results have been useful to the 2019 www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2019/ local authorities in Mogadishu in supporting durable solutions. Such data collection exercises are usually rare, however, despite To access all FMR articles on the topic of data, see our January 2020 thematic listing: being key to assessing and understanding www.fmreview.org/thematic-listings scale, characteristics and conditions. 8 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 Urban response: three principles for good practice David Sanderson

A recent review identified three key principles for good practice in urban humanitarian response; taking these on board may help all actors to avoid wasting effort and missing opportunities.

A review was recently conducted of good Within shelter programming, an approach practice by humanitarian aid agencies that has a long-term perspective and which (local and international non-governmental has garnered widespread support in recent organisations, UN agencies, and members years is the ‘settlements approach’, also of the International Red Cross and Red known as an area-based approach (ABA). Crescent movement) in contexts of conflict, This approach focuses on neighbourhoods violence, displacement and natural as the starting point for engagement disasters, including those exacerbated by and is also heavily oriented towards climate change.1 This Good Practice Review supporting local actors (displaced people (GPR), undertaken for ODI and ALNAP, and host populations) to engage in recovery, identified three main principles for good upgrading or improving environments, practice in urban humanitarian response. depending on the crisis in question. As such, the growing popularity of ABAs stems Take the long-term view from their greater engagement with local The first principle for engaging in urban areas actors, and the shift that they represent is to ‘take the long-term view’. This requires away from sector-based delivery towards paying heed to the long-term impact of any coordinated, cross-sectoral responses. humanitarian response on a city. Many Implementing ABAs, however, is far quick decisions and short-term measures from easy. An initiative in the Central – such as where to site a ‘temporary’ camp African Republic, for example, helped some that in time becomes permanent – can have 20,000 people returning from conflict to a lasting impact. Humanitarian response resettle in Bangui in 2016–17; it engaged should, wherever possible, see aid as an a wide group of stakeholders working in investment, wherein limited aid budgets four neighbourhoods and, among other are not used up on short-term measures activities, undertook capacity building of designed to meet immediate needs only. local authorities, multi-sectoral settlements- An example of this concerns shelter. based assessments, and extensive negotiation In Jordan and Lebanon, a number of aid and discussion with stakeholders. The GPR organisations – such as the Norwegian noted that the initiative faced challenges Refugee Council – are addressing the around coordination (which delayed shelter needs of Syrian refugees by project implementation), limited local working with landlords to upgrade capacities, and limited resources (which their properties in return for allowing prevented project replication in other refugees to live in them. This has the neighbourhoods). Other examples of ABAs advantage of investing aid funds in existing also point to implementation challenges. infrastructure (thereby contributing to This reflects the complicated nature of a city’s improvement, even if only on a the city and the difficulties inherent in modest scale) and engaging positively with meaningful engagement in such locations. host populations. The drawbacks include uncertainty around the length of time Engage with complexity that this support will be provided (two The traditional aid architecture, which years has been the timeframe for some evolved from working mostly in rural projects) and what happens afterwards. areas and from providing aid in camps, is Cities and towns 9 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

ill-suited to urban complexity. The cluster urban areas are vast and complicated. A approach, which embodies sector-based systems-oriented approach helps to map delivery, has been sharply criticised in terms some of these complexities and to determine of its effectiveness in urban response where where to make best efforts to what ends. a more holistic, multi-sectoral response This may vary according to different may be needed, with stronger inter-cluster crises. As the GPR notes, “During an acute linkages and city-level coordination.2 The emergency, humanitarian organisations GPR, however, refers to two approaches may substitute for a service provider by that are useful in urban responses: installing tanks or bladders and initiating people-centred and systems-oriented. water trucking. In protracted settings, A people-centred approach focuses considerations include encouraging on aspects such as the use of ‘assets’ municipal authorities to cover the financing (skills, abilities, friendships and so on) for the salaries of their staff, as well as that people build, use and sometimes funding for operations and maintenance, lose at times of crisis. This reinforces the and mobilising the central government need for humanitarian action to focus and possibly development actors (once the foremost on people – something that risks situation allows for their return) to actively getting lost in the mire of urban action. commit to restoring services and helping the A systems-oriented approach helps utility move towards financial stability.” to describe the interconnected nature of Project management tools that might the elements of city life, such as markets, have suited camps and the delivery of economies and infrastructure. Having a goods to remote areas may be much less systems perspective on urban interventions suitable for urban areas. The GPR reviewed is critical. For example, water, sanitation a number of tools and approaches that and hygiene (WASH) considerations in agencies employ at the outset of operations UNHCR/Djerassem Mbaiorem

Building houses to support returning communities in Bangui, Central African Republic, in 2017. 10 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

to better understand what is needed. One of and to engage with local stakeholders.7 The these is context analysis – in order to better report also found a lack of city-level multi- grasp the dynamics of a city (in its pre-crisis stakeholder coordination mechanisms context). One of the best-known forms of and that this contributed to a “divergence context analysis is perhaps the Emergency between international and local actors”. Market Mapping Analysis (EMMA) Urban humanitarian action must be toolkit, which has particular resonance undertaken in close collaboration with for urban areas where markets thrive.3 authorities if it is to be effective. This means, Another approach involves assessments for instance, adhering to the structures and and targeting, geared towards identifying regulations of a city’s municipal planning; those who are most vulnerable. This can be where authorities may not be functioning, especially complex in a city, where people agencies are recommended to adhere to may be hidden or dispersed, or may not the policies that do exist, in order to reduce want to be found. Partly for these reasons, the risk of creating parallel structures. and also because it is obviously not good Other actors include gangs, which present practice to ignore host communities, ICRC a strong form of governance within the advocates for ‘whole-of-neighbourhood’ (usually poor) neighbourhoods they control. assistance in protracted urban emergency Research from ALNAP observes that any settings.4 Reinforcing the earlier points on work carried out by humanitarian players the deficiencies of a single-sector approach, in a city neighbourhood controlled by a systematic review of urban assessment a gang “will be subject to discussion or approaches found that multi-sectoral authorisation by the gang, whether one is assessments work best: “A population’s needs aware of it or not”. The GPR reports on how for shelter, WASH, health, food security and agencies such as ICRC are “quietly testing” livelihoods do not exist in isolation from approaches for engaging with gangs. one another. Rather, needs interact to shape The need for collaboration between vulnerability, and must thus be met with a humanitarian actors is hardly new but failure multi-sectoral approach to guide targeting.”5 to collaborate in urban response – where The third approach is profiling – sectors are closely linked in the dense, the collaborative process of identifying interwoven nature of city life – leads to internally displaced people or groups wasted efforts and missed opportunities. through data collection and analysis in order David Sanderson [email protected] to provide assistance and protection.6 Judith Neilson Chair in Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney www.be.unsw.edu.au Collaborate 1. Sanderson D (2019) Good practice review in urban humanitarian The third principle for good practice in response, ODI/ALNAP https://goodpracticereview.org/12/ urban humanitarian response as identified 2. IRC (2015) Humanitarian Action in a New Urban World, World by the Good Practice Review concerns Humanitarian Summit Regional Consultation, Europe and Others meaningful collaborations – with local actors bit.ly/IRC-urban-WHS-2015 and between humanitarian organisations. 3. www.emma-toolkit.org Taking local actors first: simply put, external 4. ICRC (2018) Displaced in Cities: Experiencing and Responding to Urban Internal Displacement Outside Camps bit.ly/ICRC-cities-2018 humanitarian organisations who work in 5. Patel R, King J, Phelps L and Sanderson D (2017) What practices isolation are most likely doomed to fail, are used to identify and prioritize vulnerable populations affected by and may well cause harm in doing so. Chief urban humanitarian emergencies? Systematic Review, Humanitarian among local actors are city authorities, who Evidence Programme, Oxfam bit.ly/Oxfam-SystematicReview-2017 are all too often overlooked in humanitarian 6. JIPS (2014) Guidance for Profiling Urban Displacement Situations: operations. A 2016 study of a number of Challenges and Solutions bit.ly/JIPS-guidance-2014 cities in crisis found that city authorities, 7. IMPACT and UCLG (2016) Consultations on Humanitarian who themselves were often overwhelmed, Responses in Urban Areas: Perspectives from Cities in Crisis were ignored by international agencies www.uclg.org/sites/default/files/cities_in_crisis.pdf who failed to understand local dynamics Cities and towns 11 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities Urban planning for refugee housing: responding to urgent needs Jessica Sadye Wolff

Hamburg’s urban planning model, developed in response to the arrival of large numbers of asylum seekers in 2015, offers a number of lessons for refugee housing policy.

Between January 2015 and December historically divided phases of emergency 2019 more than 82,000 refugees arrived in housing and long-term development by Hamburg in northern Germany, a city of 1.77 increasing social housing stock, benefiting million people. Refugees in Germany are both refugees and host country citizens. assigned to the country’s 16 federal states However, even given the city’s noteworthy according to a distribution system based approach, it is not without challenges. on population and tax revenue, so densely populated cities receive a high number Location and integration of refugees relative to the developable Given the urgency for additional construction, land area. Under the distribution system, and facilitated by the new National approximately 46,000 refugees have been Building Code section which permitted the assigned to stay in Hamburg. The rapid construction of refugee housing in non- population increase in Hamburg exacerbated residential areas, Hamburg’s city government an already limited social housing stock increasingly established housing sites in (which in December 2014 stood at just more remote locations across the city. For 79 housing facilities with a capacity of example, one container housing site for 712 approximately 11,000 places1) and the city had people, Kirchenpauerstrasse, was built in the insufficient locations for new development HafenCity neighbourhood, situated twenty to accommodate arriving refugees. minutes away from a transit stop and in the To enable accelerated housing middle of an urban construction site with development, the Mayor of Hamburg no other residential neighbours. Another proposed an amendment to the Federal site for 700 people, Am Ashenland II, was Building Code in order to allow the built in an agricultural area, physically construction of temporary refugee divided from the nearby residential accommodation in non-residential areas, neighbourhood by impassable railroad tracks. including industrial areas, car parks and From conversations with refugees it commercial sites, for a period of three to was clear that they would prefer to live five years.2 This policy was intended both in larger urban areas due to a greater to enable the construction of temporary availability of housing and jobs, proximity accommodation and to offset the existing to a greater diversity of people, and existing social housing shortage. The policy was social connections with friends or family. approved by the federal government Opportunities for integration are limited by in 2014 for use by city governments locating new housing sites quite far from nationally and expanded in 2015. The other residential neighbourhoods and by government in Hamburg made full use site design. Many sites are not connected of the new policy; more than 50 new sites to existing streets and are intentionally have opened since the end of 2014. designed to appear temporary. Proximity Urban planning approaches in Hamburg facilitates interactions, both among refugees offer an alternative to mainstream refugee and between refugees and local residents housing policies by: 1) developing short- and when housing is located further away term temporary accommodation and from local residential areas and amenities, 2) facilitating a transition between the the integration experience for refugees 12 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

is more difficult. Furthermore, the time limit on these sites means that they will eventually be returned to their original use and residents will have to find alternative housing.

Resident discontent There has been widespread pushback in Hamburg regarding the development of the housing sites for two main reasons: firstly, local residents xxxx do not want a large development for refugees constructed in their neighbourhoods approximately 3,000 people. These sites were (‘large’ defined by residents’ organisations as to be built to federal social housing standards more than 300 people per site) and, secondly, and be reserved exclusively for refugees for the selection of these sites did not include 15 years, after which time they would become customary public engagement processes. part of the city’s social housing pool; after 30 Many neighbourhoods created new residents’ years the developer would be allowed to sell organisations or mobilised existing groups the apartments. In response, a collection of to mount legal challenges against the city. 13 residents’ neighbourhood organisations In many cases, local antipathy to plans was mobilised to create a group called ‘Hamburg disguised as legal cases defending obscure für gute Integration’ (Hamburg for Better nature reserve policies and endangered Integration) that petitioned the government tree species. While the city won nearly all to limit the number of refugees living in any of the 40 cases, legal proceedings delayed one location. Leaders of the group assert construction at many sites for between six that their pushback against the housing plan and 18 months. Given that new refugees was not an objection to welcoming refugees; were arriving on a daily basis, the local rather, it was a community initiative in government could not afford further delays. support of integration. In July 2016, the local Interviews with city planners suggested government entered into agreements with that, as a result, they intentionally started to 13 residents’ groups that no more than 300 locate more refugee housing sites in poorer refugees would be housed on any given site. neighbourhoods, with the expectation that local residents either could not or would Lessons for urban housing policy not be willing to pursue a legal objection. In comparison with other urban refugee Other local city planners felt that, as a result, housing programmes that offer rental the location of new refugee housing sites in subsidies or incentives for incremental poorer neighbourhoods was disproportionate. development, Hamburg’s use of urban In October 2015, as pressures on refugee planning regulations to provide temporary housing grew, the local government and long-term housing is noteworthy. announced its intention to construct a large Lessons from the city’s unprecedented permanent housing unit in each of Hamburg’s approach to embedding refugee housing seven districts, each of which would house into national and neighbourhood planning Cities and towns 13 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

For integration and self-sufficiency, place matters. An individual’s experience and exposure to a new culture, and their ability to access existing support systems and educational or economic opportunities, are closely linked to their location. Urban planners’ point of influence lies at the site selection Jessica Wolff phase. It is critical to Temporary container housing for asylum seekers, located in an urban construction site (see aerial view include additional opposite) in HafenCity, Hamburg, with no urban amenities or services, or residential neighbours, nearby. spatial indicators processes demonstrate new, transferable that relate to the integration experience – methods of bridging the divide between such as proximity to residential areas and historically segregated phases of relief and neighbourhood demographics – which could reconstruction. The progressive nature and further improve the site selection process as innovation of Hamburg’s recent refugee well as local community engagement, and housing policies can serve as examples of best enable city planners to prioritise sites that practice both for humanitarian organisations will allow refugees to integrate more easily. providing shelter and for municipal It is important to note that Hamburg is a governments seeking to expand housing particularly wealthy city that was able to fund provision for marginalised communities. new development through a budget surplus, Housing nearly 38,000 refugees in less with support from the federal government. than two years is a substantial achievement, While many other municipalities welcoming although conversations with refugees, refugees may not have the same financial local residents and city planners alike resources, the outcomes of Hamburg’s policy suggest that improvements can be made. offers lessons for countries that are seeking The application of this kind of new land creative ways to initiate construction of new use planning needs forethought, buy-in affordable housing units for marginalised at local and federal levels, and continued populations in land-constrained urban areas. monitoring. Bypassing customary community Jessica Sadye Wolff [email protected] engagement processes to facilitate rapid Program Manager, Immigration Policy Lab, development may cause delays later on. Stanford University https://immigrationlab.org/ Segregating refugee housing from residential and Researcher, Refugees in Towns Project, Tufts areas and neighbourhood amenities raises University additional challenges for refugees seeking 1. Data on monthly arrivals and new housing construction in to establish their lives in a new city. Hamburg available at: www.hamburg.de/sfa-lagebild/ In a system where a majority of refugees 2. This article is based on Wolff J S (2018) Land Use Planning rely on government-provided housing, as in Innovations in the Midst of a ‘Migration Crisis’: Developing a Spatial Hamburg, urban planners can have a positive Definition of Refugee Integration https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/118228 impact on the integration experience by influencing the spatial distribution of housing. 14 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 Active citizenship in Athens Kareem Alkabbani, Wael Habbal and Tom Western

Members of the Athens-based Syrian and Greek Youth Forum explain how it provides a platform for active citizenship in the city.

We founded the Syrian and Greek Youth Of course, these politics and poetics of Forum (SGYF) in 2018 to support community- belonging are met with hostility by some. building activities among refugees, asylum Xenophobia and racist attacks have been seekers, second-generation Syrians and Greek on the rise in a country beset by financial nationals. Our long-term goal is to help these crisis, where there has also been broader and other communities become fully active criminalisation of immigration, and citizens. Athens is where we live, work, sleep, institutionalisation of racial profiling and love and play – we actively resist the idea detention.1 Since their election in mid-2019, that refugees are vulnerable victims or tragic the New Democracy government has pursued figures. We are citizens. We came together the eviction of refugee squats and has passed as a team of activists through a shared asylum laws that violate human rights. understanding of the importance and value of Yet this gives us motivation. Where acting as a community, particularly through there is no international non-governmental building projects by the community for the organisation (INGO) in the middle, new community. We research and implement best possibilities emerge for direct communication practices of inclusion, and work in solidarity and collaboration between the municipality and collaboration with other migrant and and local communities. minority organisations and communities. Activist projects Urban struggles SGYF is involved in city-level projects such as The Forum’s work is set against an urban Curing the Limbo which contributes to efforts backdrop in which various narratives of to empower communities and help them ‘crisis’ gather and overlap. In the midst move beyond the limbo state of uncertainty of a difficult economic situation, and the and inaction that most asylum seekers absence of the State in service provisioning, experience.2 We are a named solidarity other actors and organisations have to community in the Curing the Limbo project step in. There is a lack of State support and we are referred to as Athenians by its for solidarity and activism, but we work organisers in recognition of the value of the with others to build solidarity networks, community work we do. We have worked bringing together multiple perspectives hard both to connect and empower the Syrian and different areas of activism. community in Athens, and then to represent Athens has long been an arrival city, this community at various levels: within local both for those who have recently crossed politics, at meetings with representatives borders and, historically, for people moving from the European Union and the UN within Greece’s borders and migrating Refugee Agency (UNHCR), at numerous from elsewhere. It is common to hear cultural events, as part of everyday life in people say that “there is no such thing Athens, and within the municipality. We as a native Athenian” – while an Arabic have developed a high level of trust within proverb states that if you stay among people and beyond the Syrian community and have for forty days you become one of them. established ourselves as a key resource for Meanwhile, border closures and restricted Syrians in Athens and elsewhere in Greece. freedom of movement keep people in Individually, we are learning languages the city, which in turn demands efforts and both pursuing and providing education: to build community and belonging. all tools for active citizenship. We have been Cities and towns 15 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

preparing skills development programmes organisation, hard work and solidarity. We for over a year, of which several are up and are now in the process of registering as an running. We are also involved in various NGO, to ensure the sustainability of our other initiatives in Athens, including: work in an ever-changing political situation. participating in business courses supported by Solidarity Now and Odyssea, two Athens- Opening up the city based organisations focused on social action Through our experience in Greece we have and solidarity; being part of the Greek Forum gained a deep understanding of the effects of Refugees’ political inclusion campaign, and impacts of refugees on the hosting receiving facilitation guidance and advocacy community and vice versa, and are turning training, and information on international this knowledge into action. Our work and domestic law; running sound recording emanates from the Syrian community, but workshops and producing a radio series;3 it is not only for them. Rather, we aim to offering motivation and awareness courses; work and share our resources with other giving talks and concerts at schools and communities, empowering all of us in the festivals on themes of democracy, culture process. And this in turn is animated by and political inclusion; conducting regular efforts to be included in the political and beach and street cleaning; participating in cultural life of Athens – demanding greater agricultural projects; raising community rights but also embracing our responsibilities awareness of environmental matters and and contributing to the well-being of the city. solutions; running a culture department, We watch the city and ask what we can including a Syrian dance programme; and do as citizens. This is what we understand as developing and sharing music skills. active citizenship, and this is why we consider We are working on many more projects, SGYF as a platform for citizenship. We aim which include: producing a template business to motivate and inspire other groups to plan to support people looking to start their become an active part of the city, to champion own businesses; developing a plot of land diversity and to empower all of us together. outside Athens into a site of sustainable food We work to expand solidarities and to open up production; opening a cultural café where the city – unmaking borders between citizens language exchanges, creative performances and non-citizens, between refugees and hosts. and cultural discussions will take place; Kareem Alkabbani [email protected] finding a shared house for long-term members of SGYF, and for emergency accommodation; Wael Habbal [email protected] working with children to expand the scope Tom Western [email protected] of our work for the community; offering further media production and film classes; Core team members of the Syrian and Greek and providing a sewing and craft programme, Youth Forum www.facebook.com/SGYF2019/ and training to repair musical instruments. 1. In 2012 Operation Xenios Zeus expanded ‘stop and search’ powers for Athens police and led to an increase in the detention We are leading a plan to use existing of people who had crossed borders to get to Greece. See Rozakou construction skills within the community to K (2018) ‘Solidarians in the Land of Xenios Zeus: Migrant renovate ruined buildings, thereby expanding Deportability and the Radicalisation of Solidarity’, in Dalaklglou D and Agelopoulos G (Eds) Critical Times in Greece: Anthropological accommodation options for refugees and Engagements with the Crisis London: Routledge. pp 188–201. reducing the problem of homelessness in the 2. https://curingthelimbo.gr/en/home city. And we are in communication with the 3. https://citizensoundarchive.com Ministry of Education to obtain permission to enter the city’s refugee camps, in order to Keen to read FMR and also help the planet? help the communities there to find alternative Email us at [email protected] to cancel your print copy! solutions to encampment, and working Request email notifications instead (www.fmreview.org/ together in the meantime to improve the request-fmr), for instant access to the latest issues. (Please do continue to request print copies for training situation in the camps. We have built SGYF and advocacy purposes or if your – or your partners’ – to this level with no budget – just goodwill, internet access is less reliable.) 16 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 Area-based approaches: an alternative in contexts of urban displacement James Schell, Mohamed Hilmi and Seki Hirano

A geographically focused, multi-sectoral, integrated approach is increasingly recognised as more appropriate when responding to the needs of both displaced and host populations, especially in urban contexts.

The last two decades have been characterised The Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s by a significant increase in humanitarian Urban Coordination Guidance note, for emergencies due to the frequency and scale example, recommends that humanitarian of conflicts, natural hazards, displacement stakeholders “support the operationalization and rapid urbanisation. To strengthen the of area-based coordination mechanisms collective response to these emergencies, operating at city and/or municipal levels, the Humanitarian Reform process was approaching coordination within a defined launched in 2005. One of the outcomes of geographic area and adopting a multi- this was the establishment of the cluster sectoral and participatory perspective”.1 approach to improve partnerships among Area-based approaches2 are not new. This humanitarian actors and enhance the type of approach builds on the experiences effectiveness of humanitarian response. of urban and regional planners working on Since then, the sector-focused cluster community renewal in poor and vulnerable system has become the default coordination locations since the 1960s and 1970s.3 The mechanism in most major emergencies. Urban Settlements Working Group (USWG),4 The cluster system’s coordination while acknowledging small differences in structure improved response strategies and agencies’ respective definitions, defines area-/ information management and resulted in settlements-based approaches as commonly relatively consistent allocation of resources to comprising the following four characteristics: affected populations within specific sectors. Geographic: targeting geographic areas However, it also encouraged stakeholders to with high levels of need, delineated act in isolation – specialising, collaborating by physical, social or administrative and developing tools only within their own boundaries (or a combination of these sectors. These silos have been accompanied factors), which can vary in scale from by: a lack of collaboration across sectors; a neighbourhoods, through wards and tendency to develop responses that operate in districts, to the whole town or city. parallel with, or are completely disconnected from, host government efforts; and a lack of Multi-sectoral: considering needs, flexibility in diverse and complex contexts. capacities and access to services across all A growing consensus has emerged sectors (shelter, WASH,5 health, livelihoods that humanitarian response requires a and so on). paradigm shift. Too often, humanitarian Inclusive: considering all population actors have been slow to adapt to the groups in that location – for example, host, changing needs of affected communities displaced, returnees, (urban) poor and in diverse contexts, and have been unable those with specific vulnerabilities. to effectively and consistently adopt the Participatory: involving all those actors integrated multi-sectoral approaches that present or operating in that location – are considered essential in complex urban notably, local authorities, local civil society contexts. The value, therefore, of a multi- and service providers, international sectoral integrated approach in urban organisations and so on. contexts has been particularly recognised. Cities and towns 17 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

In response to increased interest in the leads. This process has since expanded to approach, and to support humanitarian several other towns and cities across Syria. actors in applying the approach in complex In Iraq, where displaced populations urban contexts, the USWG has compiled are living in dispersed settings and within and analysed over 30 case-studies. More host communities, a series of Community than a third of these explicitly address Resource Centres (CRCs) have been created the impacts of displacement in cities and as outreach hubs in key governorates of towns, outlining how various organisations return including Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, have adapted their response, both in Ninewa and Salah al-Din. These CRCs humanitarian and development contexts, facilitate service delivery through information often starting from addressing needs provision, referral to service providers and in a single sector and then expanding community engagement, targeting the needs to an area-based approach in areas that of the community holistically rather than have been identified as vulnerable.6 based on displacement status or developed Through analysing these case-studies, by sectors working in isolation.8 The a number of key observations and potential priorities of CRCs are established through benefits of applying the approach in urban a comprehensive area-based assessment displacement contexts have emerged. process, requiring operational actors to collaboratively prioritise short- to medium- Creating platforms for a common approach term interventions across multiple sectors. Commonplace in the application of an area- This coordination framework is undertaken based approach is the creation of a ‘platform’ in partnership with the Iraqi government’s which brings together a range of actors to Joint Coordination and Monitoring Center. agree and implement a collective response. The neighbourhood approach was also These platforms convene actors operating in applied to inform the post-earthquake different sectors (shelter, WASH, protection, response in 2010 by a number of partners in health, livelihoods and so on) from national Ravine Pintade in the Haitian capital, Port- and international humanitarian and au-Prince. The Katye platform for response development actors and, increasingly, from was designed to meet the basic humanitarian local authorities. These platforms help foster needs of earthquake-affected displaced a common approach by creating firstly a households by providing safe, habitable shared understanding (to inform planning) neighbourhoods and creating the conditions and secondly a shared vision, resulting needed to upgrade essential services. in a set of common priorities targeting Earthquake recovery activities included populations in those locations in need. community mobilisation, protection, health, A notable example is an area-based settlement planning and shelter, and WASH. approach applied in Ar-Raqqa, in the North These examples highlight the potential and East Syria region (NES). To support added value of this approach in humanitarian affected populations, REACH7 undertook crises in complex urban contexts. The fact a series of area-based assessments in that the approach does not – at first glance partnership with the NES NGO forum. The – sit neatly within standard humanitarian assessments provided a comprehensive coordination structures and ways of working overview across the city, complemented by brings both benefits and challenges. For granular assessments at the neighbourhood example, as area-based or multi-sectoral urban level, including mapping returns, population, working groups are not necessarily bound needs and access, plus service and by any decision to activate or deactivate infrastructure (and any damage to these). individual clusters or sectors, they can play Findings from the multi-sectoral assessments an important contributory role in the longer- subsequently informed response priorities, term transition to recovery and stabilisation. coordinated by the NES NGO forum in Furthermore, a multi-sectoral, geographically partnership with cluster system sector defined coordination platform can effectively 18 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

support existing city governance structures. the interdependent needs and also the On the other hand, there are often limitations need to strengthen social cohesion, CARE relating to resourcing and sustainability. International Lebanon applied an area-based As these area-based structures are not yet approach to improve the living conditions commonplace, nor part of the established of refugees and host communities, with a humanitarian coordination architecture, it is focus on shelter, WASH and strengthened difficult to secure the financial and human community governance. CARE concentrated resources needed to support them, and as on specific vulnerable neighbourhoods in such they are often time-bound and linked inner Tripoli, including by repairing or to a specific (often short-term) project. upgrading communal infrastructure and Despite this, these platforms do not access to services in whole streets and specific necessarily operate in isolation from buildings, alongside providing individual the current humanitarian coordination household support. The establishment of architecture, and there are examples of the neighbourhood committees to raise awareness sector-/cluster-led mechanism being adapted of protection issues and to understand the to reflect this approach. This occurred in sources of community tension and possible Mogadishu, Somalia, with the establishment ways to resolution served as key initiatives. of a tri-cluster system. In this case, a group Another area-based approach was of 14 partners across shelter, WASH and implemented across a number of cities health sectors implemented 16 projects in a in Afghanistan by UN-Habitat in order location which had been identified as having to address the needs of certain urban the densest concentration of internally communities comprising large numbers displaced persons (IDPs). This coordinated of IDPs and vulnerable host-community initiative aimed to improve the protection populations. This programme, which of residents in the target locations through came to be known locally as the ‘people’s improved settlement planning and the process’, identified common priorities provision of integrated services from multiple across all population groups: returnees, sectors. Once a common understanding demobilised combatants, IDPs and low- and a framework for coordination had been income households across 145 communities. established, the tri-cluster initiative was expanded to include the education and Where to from here? protection concerns of many of the partners. The above examples reflect just some While different agencies apply the of the potential benefits of applying an approach in different ways, these case-studies area-based approach in contexts of urban highlight the importance of establishing displacement. As we enter 2020, however, forums to bring together actors in creating a despite growing interest and evidence of common understanding and common vision. their effectiveness, the application of area- based approaches in these contexts remains Improving social cohesion piecemeal, with examples often the result A number of case-studies further identified of an individual or agency/inter-agency how area-based approaches have been used champion and often remaining within short to try to reduce tensions and inequalities time-bound project-based parameters. and to improve social cohesion. Area-based approaches are not a global Tripoli, a highly vulnerable city in panacea, and may not be applicable in certain Lebanon, hosts an estimated 72,000 refugees circumstances (such as fast-changing contexts in its densely populated urban centre. With or when local and international expertise is insufficient public services and inadequate lacking). However, there is much merit in this sanitation and housing in its poorer approach becoming another available tool in neighbourhoods, Tripoli’s living conditions the toolkit for humanitarian and development pose significant problems for Syrian refugees actors, enabling them to work increasingly and host communities alike. Acknowledging in partnership with city authorities to Cities and towns 19 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

support both displaced and vulnerable resources. Further, a collectively owned host communities in cities and towns. response strategy must monitor and evaluate multi-agency contributions to In summary change rather than purely having individual The approach can complement and co-exist agencies attributing response outcomes to within the current humanitarian architecture, their own, single-agency contributions. used where the cluster system is not activated, James Schell and would be of use both in contexts of [email protected] long-term recovery and/or protracted Urban and Settlements Program Manager, crises or in a developing emergency (by IMPACT Initiatives www.impact-initiatives.org providing a platform to conduct a multi- sector assessment in any context). Mohamed Hilmi [email protected] The approach does not advocate Senior Coordinator and Technical Specialist, for addressing or meeting all the needs Humanitarian Policy and Practice, InterAction of the affected communities. Rather, it www.interaction.org can provide an overall strategy where Seki Hirano [email protected] certain priority needs can be addressed Global Senior Technical Advisor Shelter and and others met at later stages. Settlement, Catholic Relief Services www.crs.org The approach may not be applicable 1. bit.ly/IASC-UrbanGuidanceNote-2018 in certain contexts. Key enabling factors 2. Also known as neighbourhood-, settlement- or place-based include: the presence of local and approaches. international expertise; local authority 3. Sanderson D and Sitko P (2017) Urban area-based approaches in post-disaster contexts: Guidance note for Humanitarian Practitioners, buy-in and engagement; and a relatively IIED https://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10825IIED.pdf stable, non-transient population. 4. Currently housed within the Global Shelter Cluster. A challenge for many organisations 5. Water, sanitation and hygiene applying area-based approaches is to 6. USWG (2019) Area Based Approaches in Urban Settings: contribute towards developing and Compendium of Case Studies bit.ly/USWG-ABA-compendium-2019 implementing a collectively owned, long- 7. A joint initiative of IMPACT Initiatives, ACTED and the UN term strategy that may not neatly fit within Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). their own mandate, expertise or available 8. CCCM (2019) CCCM Case Studies 2016–2019: Chapter 2 bit.ly/CCCM-CS-chapter2-2019 Multi-stakeholder approach to urban displacement in Somalia Mohamed Taruri, Laura Bennison, Shezane Kirubi and Aude Galli Somalia’s cities are struggling to cope with the immediate and longer-term demands posed by their fast-growing populations and the arrival of people fleeing crises in rural areas. A multi- stakeholder, locally led response can help to sustainably address the challenges that arise.

Displacement is shaping Somalia’s urban overall population has doubled in two years. landscape and contributing to the country’s Weak urban systems, however, are unable to rapid urbanisation. Many internally displaced cope with the demands of the ever-growing people (IDPs) have moved from rural areas to population, and both host and displaced the main cities in search of shelter, protection populations risk being excluded from access and humanitarian assistance. For instance, to basic infrastructure and services. in Baidoa – the capital of the southwestern The government in Somalia has faced a Bay region of Somalia – the number of IDP major transition over the recent past, with sites has increased from 70 prior to the 2017 the formation of Federal Member States drought to 435 in 2019.1 The city’s estimated and the associated increase in coordination 20 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

requirements. Prior to this, those coordination supporting government leadership. The mechanisms that existed were mainly related different actors have different interests to the humanitarian architecture. Multiple and objectives but the aim is that, through studies and evaluations have demonstrated undertaking joint analysis exercises2, they the need to invest and support locally led are able to reach a common understanding coordination and planning processes in order and an agreement on where and how to address the impacts of displacement and to to invest. Such collaboration on the help Somali cities cope with these impacts. production and use of evidence is a critical The success of joint planning and success factor in developing a common coordination, however, depends on the narrative and subsequently a coherent capacity of municipalities to lead and to planning approach with authorities, coordinate multiple stakeholders, as opposed while building accountability. to being solely led by the international aid Despite progress made, numerous system. In order to build capacity, and to challenges remain. Achieving durable support local authorities in developing their solutions is dependent on different levels urban strategies and plans, the UN and of government having adequate capacity, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) willingness and resources – difficult in a have worked together to help government context where the State is still developing. establish technical durable solutions Actors need to develop capacity development working groups in Baidoa and Kismayo plans that: are realistic, localised and and a durable solutions unit in Mogadishu. collectively endorsed; span several years Most recently the Federal Government of at the very least; include specific indicators Somalia established a Durable Solutions and milestones for monitoring purposes; Secretariat in October 2019. This is the first and engage with local authorities from the time in Somalia that sustainable coordination design stage of any new programming. forums have been established at district/ municipal levels; in addition, with these Integrated responses through area-based forums supported by multi-year consortia planning funded by DFID, EU and Danida, it is With the majority of people who are encouraging that different donors and actors displaced into urban contexts facing have agreed on the same coordination needs similar challenges to those confronting and structures (rather than each actor/donor the urban poor, traditional sector-based creating their own coordination structure). programmes targeting individuals based These local coordination mechanisms on their displacement ‘status’ are no longer aim to play a significant role in shifting urban appropriate. At the end of 2017, the UN responses – complementing humanitarian and NGOs in Somalia developed a set of clusters with a coordinated multi-stakeholder programing principles in order to make approach which brings together urban the transition to integrated area-based planners, humanitarian agencies, and programming to address the needs of other actors working on building durable both host and displaced communities. solutions, resilience and State capacity, under The Federal Government of Somalia the leadership of local authorities. This endorsed these principles as good practices approach requires investment not only in for use throughout the country.3 local authorities’ capacities but also in the These principles aim to ensure an capacities of humanitarian actors to navigate approach to addressing displacement a development and political environment that is coordinated across humanitarian, while at the same time maintaining a development and peace actors (the ‘triple principled humanitarian response. nexus’). A number of multi-year, multi- The durable solutions working groups sector consortia were created (such as the EU provide a space for discussion and debate, RE–INTEG projects, the DFID Danwadaag essential for identifying synergies and Solutions Consortium and the Danida Cities and towns 21 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

Durable Solutions Programme4), putting by host communities, in part because they the programing principles into practice serve as a useful pool of cheap labour, but and fostering increased collaboration. they are treated as guests with limited An interesting case is that of a rights. This exclusionary discourse is one coordinated approach established by the of the most sensitive issues in Somalia World Bank, RE–INTEG and Danwadaag today, especially as these IDPs are likely to support the Banadir Regional to become permanent residents in cities Administration where communities face dominated by certain clans. A key challenge land-related challenges such as forced is how to foster social cohesion between evictions, increases in the price of land urban displaced and host communities in a (as a result of improved infrastructure politically and ethnically divided context. and services), and municipal-level gaps Participatory, inclusive and transparent in capacity to address such issues. The processes are therefore essential. The World Bank, for example, intends to map following two examples of such processes all IDP settlements in the project’s target have been piloted in specific locations areas, identify any available public land for and then expanded to others, adapted as resettlement, and look into rental subsidy necessary depending on the displaced options. This is the start of an area-based communities’ differing experiences, plan looking at five core dimensions involved vulnerabilities and capacities. in helping cities to function better: spatial Community Action Plans were (urban planning), physical (infrastructure developed for Kismayo and Baidoa using and services), economic (job creation the IOM/UN-Habitat Midnimo (meaning and access to employment), social (social ‘unity’) model, reflecting needs identified cohesion and inclusion) and institutional by displaced and host communities. (capacity and accountability) dimensions. Building on these and other such plans, the An effective area-based approach Danwadaag Solutions Consortium supported depends on complementarity and Kismayo and Baidoa municipalities in coordination with other actors and consolidating these community-level programmes operating within the defined plans into integrated district-level plans. geographical area. Any single programme The Common Social Accountability does not have to address all the needs Platform, developed by Africa’s Voices and vulnerabilities within its area of Foundation and launched in partnership implementation but it is important to be with ReDSS and the Banadir Regional aware of the planning and interventions Administration,5 used radio to build that already exist within the same area dialogue and gather public opinion on in order to identify gaps. Therefore issues related to durable solutions; they did it is essential to link programming this by presenting radio debates driven by with district development plans. citizen input via SMS. Although the first example of this radio platform was confined Participatory and inclusive processes to Mogadishu, it represents a promising The growing number of IDPs in cities also approach to increasing accountability to raises urgent questions of inclusion and displacement-affected communities. Across citizenship rights. Most of the IDPs are the four weeks of the pilot, 3,267 people sent from poor, low-status, southern Somali a total of 14,391 SMS contributions, with agricultural communities, such as the Digil- many participating on multiple occasions. Mirifle and Somali Bantu. Their arrival Among those who participated, 51.2% are in considerable numbers in the already displaced, indicating that the channel is as crowded IDP settlements in urban areas is accessible for displaced groups as it is for changing the demographics of these cities in the host population. The project is currently ways that challenge exclusivist clan claims. being replicated in Baidoa and Bossaso by The IDPs’ presence is generally tolerated the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office. 22 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

Analysis of examples of emerging good Durable solutions programming in urban practice to support inclusive, community-led contexts should also work in complementarity processes at municipal level suggests that: with resilience programming in rural areas A comprehensive mapping of community in order to support both local integration in structures should be conducted at the urban areas and – where the security situation outset of interventions. Interventions allows – voluntary, safe and dignified return and reintegration in rural areas. Reflecting should build on existing groups and plans, this need to improve rural–urban linkages linking community groups and plans has led the Danwadaag Solutions Consortium with other planning processes, including to include a much stronger component on at district and municipal levels (although early solutions planning. Its approach focuses it should be recognised that engaging on areas already affected by high levels of district- and municipal-level officials can displacement (that will inevitably receive be challenging). Any lack of representation more displaced households) while continuing should be addressed, but new groups to address longer-term durable solutions should not be formed unless they bring needs. significant added value. The outcomes from these collaborative, Opportunities to engage displacement- multi-stakeholder responses in Somalia’s cities affected communities in project monitoring show how different actors can work together should be explored. to provide a coordinated and comprehensive Consideration should also be given to the response to the challenges of urban provision of block grants to displacement- displacement through inclusive, community- affected community forums and groups led processes. The next step is to develop to implement their own priorities – multi-stakeholder approaches to measuring allowing them to invest in projects which durable solutions processes and to promoting they themselves have identified. This greater accountability, in order that all would promote civic engagement and stakeholders contribute to collective outcomes. foster increased accountability of local Mohamed Taruri [email protected] government to its constituency. Urban advisor, Baidoa Municipality Social cohesion and inclusion should be key strategic objectives of urban Laura Bennison [email protected] programing. Coordinator, Danwadaag Solutions Consortium (IOM, NRC, Concern, ReDSS) Dual focus: early solutions and long-term Shezane Kirubi [email protected] planning Knowledge management officer There is a constant struggle to work on long-term goals and urban planning to Aude Galli [email protected] address displacement as a development ReDSS Manager challenge, while at the same time Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat (ReDSS) answering massive humanitarian needs. https://regionaldss.org Investing in early solutions and urban 1. Somalia IDP sites, January 2019 preparedness response is key to supporting bit.ly/Somalia-IDPsites-Jan2019 municipalities in tackling both at the same 2. Somalia solutions analyses update 2019 time. For instance, while humanitarian bit.ly/RDSS-solution-analyses-2019 actors focus on rapid response to support 3. Durable Solutions Programming Principles, 2019 bit.ly/REDSS-UN-principles-2019 a city’s capacity to absorb new residents, 4. bit.ly/Somalia-DFID; bit.ly/Somalia-DSP development actors complement this by 5. BRA, ReDSS and AVF (2019) Common Social Accountability bringing in urban planners. The deployment Platform: Results and Findings from Citizen-Led Discussions on of urban planners and social, economic Displacement and Durable Solutions in Mogadishu and governance experts from the onset is bit.ly/CSAP-2019 a critical but often overlooked resource. Cities and towns 23 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities Urban planning in times of displacement: secondary cities in Ukraine and Niger Jeremy Wetterwald and Louise Thaller

Urban displacement can have a major impact on the local ecosystems of secondary towns and cities. In Niger and Ukraine, an area-based approach has proved effective in identifying priority needs and enabling a multi-stakeholder approach.

Urban displacement can have a significant new neighbourhoods near existing urban impact on secondary towns and cities. This centres. While this initiative provides much- is especially true in southeastern Niger and needed housing, it remains insufficiently eastern Ukraine, where some small urban supported by investments in essential areas are coping with considerable levels services such as clean water, sanitation, of conflict-induced displacement yet are education, health and access to livelihoods. particularly ill-prepared to meet the needs Furthermore, it remains unclear where to of local and displaced communities. allocate investments in a way that will not The fundamental contextual differences discriminate against either host or displaced between Niger and Ukraine should not communities. overshadow their interesting commonalities In Ukraine, government-controlled in terms of urban displacement. In both cases, areas (GCA) of the disputed provinces of local authorities struggle to respond to the Donetsk and Luhansk host more than 750,000 increased demand for public services, in large internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have part because of a lack of resources allocated fled large urban centres in non-government- by central or regional authorities and because controlled areas (NGCA) of these provinces. of disruptions to the rule of law. External Larger cities in the government-controlled resources in the form of humanitarian area can support this rapid population and development aid programmes aim increase but smaller cities like Severodonetsk to fill this resource gap but this too raises (100,000 residents), Bakhmut (90,000) and significant challenges in both cases. Kurakhove (21,000) cannot. In some instances, regional and local authorities themselves Different contexts, similar challenges have had to relocate their administrative In the predominantly rural Diffa region in centres. For example, the administrations Niger, an estimated 250,000 displaced persons1 of Donetsk and Luhansk had to relocate to have fled villages in the Niger–Nigeria border the cities of Kramatorsk and Severodonetsk zone in search of safety. Many have made respectively, leaving behind documents and their way to secondary towns such as Diffa, valuable assets in addition to losing staff to N’Guigmi, Chétimari and Maïné Soroa. displacement, which had a significant impact These towns, usually home to fewer than on their ability to provide administrative and 50,000 inhabitants each, have a very limited social services. While population growth absorptive capacity and yet are hosting an may generate long-term benefits, the sudden additional 10–20,000 displaced persons. arrival of displaced persons has created This inflow is putting considerable strain on short- and medium-term challenges for already limited basic services. With the Boko small and medium-sized towns, including Haram insurgency in the region showing spikes in rent costs and increased demand for no signs of abating, returns cannot be safely education, health and administrative services. facilitated. Hence, local governments and In parallel, between 400,000 and 640,000 aid agencies are promoting resettlement residents from non-government-controlled solutions for displaced communities and areas continue to commute across the Line opportunities for local integration by building of Contact (LoC), a physical 427-km-long 24 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

barrier that separates the warring parties, absorptive capacities, and clarified the in order to access Ukrainian administrative, challenges relating to supply and demand social and banking services (including for basic services. The assessment revealed provision of pensions and social benefits). that most of the basic services were available Finally, these important changes in service to the residents of the newly developed delivery dynamics in Ukraine are happening neighbourhoods – but not at a sufficient level in parallel to a significant decentralisation to meet their needs. It detailed the scale at reform led by the Ukrainian government which these services require support, either that is proving difficult to implement in in terms of infrastructure, rehabilitation, areas where key cities are no longer under human resources or equipment, if they are to the control of the central authorities. operate effectively. In the city of Chétimari, With each town facing its own challenges, for example, five education facilities, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to ranging from pre-school to secondary responding to urban displacement. What school, are within reach of residents of is needed in each secondary town is reliable the new neighbourhoods but they do not information to inform strategies at the have the capacity to welcome additional local level. students. Service providers called for greater investments in existing structures, Robust analysis and joint planning including training for teaching staff, instead Without significant investment in public of constructing new facilities that would services in these fast-growing towns, there risk segregating displaced children and is a risk that displaced communities will unnecessarily duplicating efforts. The ABA be left stranded if humanitarian assistance also measured each service’s geographical ends without development projects having coverage, and in doing so demonstrated been implemented. Conversely, existing that residents of the new neighbourhoods local development plans, such as Niger’s need to cover, on average, a much greater Plans de Développement Communaux, do distance than other residents to access higher- not fully account for the urban displaced; standard services or those public amenities the voices of thousands of de facto residents with greater capacity to meet demand. risk being ignored in these development In eastern Ukraine, undertaking an ABA schemes. Local and municipal governments assessment in the government-controlled in Niger and Ukraine are well aware of the peripheries of large non-government- benefits of fast-tracking urban development controlled urban centres helped facilitate and service enhancement in areas that are a shared understanding between key increasingly becoming new hotspots of stakeholders of how communities have economic and social activity as a result of organically reorganised after the physical displacement inflows. Such fast-tracking separation created by the conflict. The study requires both a better understanding of focused on mapping basic service networks how to direct assistance where it is most in order to understand the new socio- relevant and the mainstreaming of urban economic geography of a region divided by migration and displacement response a 427-km barrier. This analysis provided the in local development strategies. information needed to identify new urban Support to municipalities in Diffa ‘service provision hubs’ that have organically was initiated by launching an area-based formed in the region as a result of the approach (ABA) in four urban centres where disruption in urban systems created by the resettlement neighbourhoods were being LoC. Large numbers of people had to change built. The ABA assessment identified which jobs and lost access to their usual health- basic services would be accessible to current care providers due to the restrictions on and future residents, explored how access population movement caused by the LoC. On to basic amenities could be enhanced based the other hand, use of other neighbourhood on projections of future needs and current networks such as primary schools and shops Cities and towns 25 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

showed less disruption with most respondents sending their children to school and purchasing food in the same location

as prior to the conflict. Bulakh UNHCR/Tania If displacement in the Diffa region continues at the current pace, and if the number of residents crossing the LoC to access services in government-controlled cities keeps adding to the pressure on administrative, social and banking services in the key destination cities, it is likely that, in both contexts, any lack of investment in expanding existing services will severely Two women approach a checkpoint and a sign warning of landmines in war-torn Donetsk, east limit access and reduce Ukraine. The de facto border has disrupted the lives of people simply going to work, buying food, visiting relatives, checking on homes in the conflict zone and accessing medical services. quality in the future. Evidence and data are strong catalysts implementation of the plans twice a year, for integrated aid programming. Findings and to mobilise external and public funds. from ABA assessments not only enable a Similarly, in Ukraine, by studying shared understanding of priorities but also conflict-related disruptions to basic services provide an analytical framework for all in the peripheries of large cities, the ABA relevant community representatives to look proved a powerful tool for local authorities to beyond mandate-specific interventions and advocate for their priority needs. The benefits develop multi-sectoral plans. The benefits of this approach will be particularly relevant of this process are readily apparent in the in terms of supporting good local governance case of Niger, where the ABA approach practices and accountability, especially enabled a range of actors to explore and in contexts where weakness of multi- unite the visions of populations from a stakeholder relationships might generate variety of backgrounds in order to prioritise continued distrust in local authorities. needs. Most importantly, participatory planning workshops helped identify Conclusion how to foster the integration of the urban These case-studies from both low-income resettlement neighbourhoods into a larger and lower middle-income urban economies urban development vision. This process highlight that urban displacement can have relied on building partnerships with major repercussions on local ecosystems municipalities, who led the planning within secondary towns and cities. In such process and were encouraged, based on instances, local governments need to rely on data-driven evidence, to appoint technical sound knowledge and practical collaborations experts and civil servants to implement with aid actors to find immediate sustainable these plans and determine detailed solutions to displacement, which support investment strategies.2 Local coordination longer-term urban recovery planning. The committees have been formed to monitor the data and evidence resulting from robust 26 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

joint analysis provide a strong basis for local Jeremy Wetterwald authorities to advocate for what citizens (both [email protected] displaced persons and long-term residents) Country Coordinator Ukraine, REACH Initiative and service providers have identified as www.reach-initiative.org priorities within their communities. Such Louise Thaller an approach allows different stakeholders [email protected] with often differing priorities to reconcile Area Based Assessment and Response Planning their perspectives in order to make effective Specialist, IMPACT Initiatives interventions in cities, addressing the www.impact-initiatives.org lack of accountability and community 1. Comprising IDPS, refugees from Nigeria and Chad, and participation in decision making which are returnees. even more pronounced in times of crisis. 2. AGORA (2019) Plans de priorisation des interventions dans 4 sites urbanisés de la région de Diffa, au Niger bit.ly/AGORA-Niger

Applying camp management methods to urban displacement in Afghanistan Anna Hirsch-Holland

Applying key elements of the traditional camp management approach can enhance communication, community participation and coordination in out-of-camp urban contexts.

Camp management, as a standalone use in responding to the needs of sector, was born out of the need to assign displaced people living outside camps.2 responsibility for ensuring a coordinated, Some agencies have begun to pilot cross-sectoral, community-based approach approaches that draw on the skill set of camp at the level of a single camp. However, it is management to respond to the challenges of estimated that a majority of displaced people urban displacement. The Norwegian Refugee now live outside formal camps, with many Council (NRC) was one of the first agencies residing in urban areas – either among the to develop such approaches, including host community or in self-settled collective in Afghanistan where it targeted urban sites within or on the outskirts of cities and neighbourhoods in and around the eastern towns.1 Humanitarian and development cities of Jalalabad, Asadabad and Mihtarlam. actors are grappling with how to adapt to The intervention was prompted primarily the urbanisation challenge in general but by the return in 2016–17 of more than one the shift to out-of-camp urban displacement million Afghan refugees from Pakistan. presents a particular challenge to agencies Many of these returnees had spent their working within the camp management sector. entire lives in Pakistan and as such had little The experience and methods of camp or no knowledge of their native lands, and management, however, have the potential most could not return to their areas of origin to help address some of the core challenges due to insecurity or a dearth of livelihoods of responding to urban out-of-camp opportunities and services. In the absence of displacement. This was a key finding of reception camps, large numbers of families a desk review conducted by the Camp settled in or on the outskirts of towns and Coordination and Camp Management cities in the hope of accessing assistance, (CCCM) Cluster in 2014, which found that jobs and services. Returnees rented rooms CCCM’s community-centred methodologies or stayed with extended family in over- and tools – particularly those pertaining to crowded shelters or installed makeshift communication, community engagement shelters on private land. The displacement and coordination – were of considerable landscape was further complicated by new Cities and towns 27 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

and protracted internal displacement, as relied on the community’s existing but well as by profound under-development unrepresentative male community leaders among host communities which added to to obtain information about needs and to rural-to-urban migration movements. identify and select recipients of assistance; displaced people, particularly women and Similar needs, different context the most vulnerable, are often excluded NRC in Afghanistan decided to apply its from any representation. By contrast, in camp management methods to an urban the formal camp environment the camp out-of-camp setting using an area-based management agency is mandated to approach – that is, focusing on a defined ensure the establishment of and support to geographical urban area in lieu of a camp. mechanisms for representative community The camp management approach addresses governance. Since no single agency formally needs that are just as pertinent in out-of-camp has this mandate in an out-of-camp context, it settings: access to information and feedback can lead to a lack of, or incoherent, approach mechanisms; structures for community to community engagement. This risks participation and self-management; and reinforcing harmful power structures and can coordination between multiple stakeholders undermine attempts to deliver an accountable to ensure efficient and effective service and principled humanitarian response. delivery. In fact, these needs are often even Finally, in terms of coordination, lack more pertinent in the urban environment, of information about the location and needs as illustrated by the Afghanistan example. of the displaced population, particularly NRC found that access to information the most vulnerable, was a significant about humanitarian services was significantly challenge in the context of responses to lacking: 79% of displaced women and Afghan returnees. Displacement tracking was 52% of displaced men could not name limited, since it was based on the intended any humanitarian service provider. This final destinations of returnees which were was the result of a limited presence of recorded at their point of entry but not humanitarian field staff (especially female), consistently followed up. This led to most with offices located far from the areas humanitarian agencies relying on local host in which vulnerable people were living, community elders to locate returnee and and with little visibility or community internally displaced households – a process sensitisation about the agencies working that was undermined by exploitation and in the area. Moreover, displaced persons corruption. Coordination efforts were further faced complex and opaque procedures for hampered by a lack of service mapping accessing humanitarian assistance: 68% were and inadequate local-level coordination unaware of how organisations chose whom among a plethora of stakeholders with to help and 90% did not know how to make a varying mandates and interests. complaint, raise a question or give feedback Although operating in urban about services. By comparison, in most neighbourhoods rather than formal camps, formal camp environments, humanitarian the out-of-camp approach retained its focus agencies have a daily or permanent presence on developing structures and mechanisms in the camps with clearly identifiable staff, to ensure communication with communities, and their offices or community spaces community participation and engagement, are located within or close to the camp. and support to coordination. There were Moreover, assistance packages are generally three inter-linking components: community distributed to the entire camp population, outreach teams, community centres and and thus the inhabitants need not take neighbourhood committees. The community proactive steps to register for assistance. outreach teams collected information on Second, in terms of community needs, disseminated information on services, engagement in out-of-camp contexts, undertook referrals and facilitated localised humanitarian responders typically coordination; they also established, trained 28 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

Most people (88%) coming to the community centres came for information – indicating how significant this need was – and visitors particularly appreciated the centres as a source of information that did not rely on

NRC/Jim Huylebroek NRC/Jim local community leaders (whom they often did not trust) and which allowed them face- to-face access to agencies. The neighbourhood committees were also of value in reaching out to displaced community members, with more people (and particularly more women) aware of them than of the community centres. Moreover, neighbourhood committees – which comprised both displaced and host community members – also provided a way for communities to participate in identifying needs and implementing solutions; more than 50% of them solved one or more of the problems they had identified, including those pertaining to water supply, education, infrastructure and health facilities. In terms of coordination, the approach was able to match eligible vulnerable beneficiaries with available services and protection, and to leverage additional service provision for individuals and communities that might otherwise have been left behind. This was done through local-level coordination meetings involving neighbourhood committees and a range of

Neighbourhood committee members participate in a meeting to local organisations, authorities, informal identify community challenges, organised by NRC in Jalalabad. community leaders and non-governmental Why are their faces pixellated? See www.fmreview.org/photo-policy. organisations. The regular presence of and supported neighbourhood committees community outreach teams in targeted to do the same. The community centres, neighbourhoods as well as at community meanwhile, provided an accessible location centres also provided an entry point for where community members (displaced and community members to access service non-displaced) could access information providers and vice versa. Eighty per cent and referrals, and where coordination and of service providers engaged through community meetings could take place. the project reported that it gave them improved knowledge of humanitarian needs, Outcomes: what worked? and 62% felt it improved their access to Some encouraging results emerged. First, the populations in need, while 40% specifically approach provided an accessible platform mentioned that the engagement helped for information provision. More than 57% them to target assistance more appropriately of neighbourhood residents had come into and to avoid duplication. Moreover, the contact with at least one of the components approach was able to link neighbourhood of the project – whether community committees with proposed development outreach teams, community centres and/or initiatives to ensure displaced community neighbourhood committees – and 82% of these members were included in the planning said their access to information had improved. and implementation of these projects. Cities and towns 29 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

Challenges to be addressed, lessons to be The complex power dynamics between learned and within the different authorities, as Many of the key challenges and lessons well as their occasional interference in learned from implementation of the humanitarian response efforts, made it approach in Afghanistan are applicable difficult to collaborate meaningfully with to other urban out-of-camp contexts. them, and all but impossible to establish a Three of these are highlighted here. structured approach in which their role in First, there was a lack of clarity in (or even ownership of) local coordination the humanitarian architecture with mechanisms would be institutionalised regard to coordination of the out-of-camp and sustainable. Engaging with authorities displacement response; this led to multiple requires humanitarian staff to have agencies operating with overlapping specific expertise and a certain degree responsibilities and unclear mandates, of status or seniority.3 It also requires a and to disjointed humanitarian assistance wider consensus among humanitarian and procedures. This made it extremely development actors over how to coordinate challenging for NRC to provide clear and and collaborate with local and national helpful information to community members, authorities in urban environments. to ensure the recognition and legitimacy of The adaptation of the camp management the neighbourhood committees, and to hold approach to urban out-of-camp contexts duty bearers to account. Such responsibilities is a work in progress, but experience from are much more straightforward to Afghanistan shows that its practical methods implement in a formal camp, where the for enhancing two-way communication, mandate of a camp management agency structured community participation and is clearer and more widely recognised. localised multi-sectoral coordination Second, implementation of the approach could provide the key to addressing in Afghanistan demonstrated that for some of the most pressing challenges area-based approaches to be successful, of displacement in towns and cities. they require a narrow geographical remit, Anna Hirsch-Holland which poses a challenge for scalability. [email protected] Initially, the community centres had Independent humanitarian consultant catchment populations of tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of people. As this This article is based on the author’s experience proved too large for a community-focused working with the Norwegian Refugee Council area-based approach, the mobile outreach (NRC) in Afghanistan, 2017–2019. Nevertheless, and community engagement elements the opinions expressed are the author’s alone, of the approach had to be concentrated and do not necessarily represent those of NRC.4 on smaller neighbourhoods within the 1. Reliable data on the proportion of out-of-camp or urban wider catchment areas. Each community displaced are not currently available. Sources tend to cite a figure of between 60% and 80%. For example, in its 2018 Global Trends centre could then function as a central report, UNHCR cites a figure of 60% but this only represents those hub for coordination within and between whose location is known: bit.ly/UNHCR-Global-Trends-2018 multiple neighbourhoods in the vicinity. Meanwhile, IDMC in its 2019 Global Report on Internal Displacement cites 60% to 80% but notes the lack of strong evidence to support However, the community outreach teams this figure: bit.ly/IDMC-GRID-2019-urban For more information, were stretched across a large number of please contact the author. neighbourhoods and could not ensure a 2. Global CCCM Cluster (2014) Desk Review: Urban Displacement & consistent quality of response. Moreover, Outside of Camp bit.ly/CCCM-DeskReview-2014 3. For more on the competencies of staff working in urban some vulnerable neighbourhoods remained environments see Ely A et al (2019) Urban Competency Framework, unassisted, thereby contributing to Global Alliance for Urban Crises bit.ly/Urban-Competency-2019 inequalities between neighbourhoods. 4. NRC’s out-of-camp project in Afghanistan was funded by the Third, the Afghanistan experience Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IOM and the US Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. illustrated the challenge of engaging with local and national authorities. 30 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 A citywide approach in urban Bangladesh Bipasha Dutta

World Vision applied a citywide approach to reducing the prevalence of child labour and to protecting working children’s rights in four cities in Bangladesh. This approach offers lessons for others involved in urban programming.

It is estimated that some 3.2 million and to sports and other forms of recreation. internally displaced children are involved Children with disabilities were included in child labour in Bangladesh. In most cases, in the non-formal education programme internally displaced families are forced to with care provided according to their needs. take their children out of school and put Meanwhile, young people aged between 15 them to work because they cannot afford and 18 received vocational skills trainings to their children’s education or because they enable them to find decent – non-hazardous need the money to enable the family to – employment. To help children connect survive. Children in Bangladesh can be with job providers, potential employers legally employed from the age of 14; the 2010 were involved, who were at the same time National Child Labour Elimination Policy sensitised on the Convention on the Rights prohibits both under-age employment and the of the Child and on laws pertaining to child employment of children in hazardous work labour. A database was created to help but implementation of this policy remains ensure delivery of appropriate services to limited. Consequently, children are frequently children according to their specific needs. engaged in hazardous work including in the Furthermore, capacity building – clothing industry, transport, shipbreaking, relating to income generation, savings fishing, domestic work, construction, and entrepreneurship – was provided street vending and garbage scavenging for 12,000 families (whose children were Against this backdrop, World Vision engaged in hazardous labour and whose Bangladesh targeted 88,853 internally household income was below US$35 per displaced children (57% girls, 43% boys) in month). Cash support provided to some four cities (Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and particularly vulnerable families was reduced Khulna) from 2016 to 2018. The aim was to gradually when families became engaged take children away from hazardous work and in income-generating activities. Meanwhile, to try to ensure that they can enjoy their basic awareness-raising programmes aimed to rights by applying World Vision’s standard build parents’ awareness of the harmful approach for all urban programming: a effects of child labour. To ensure community ‘citywide’ approach which is rolled out at engagement, World Vision Bangladesh different levels of city administration to ensure supported the formation of community- a sustainable impact. Based on partnerships based organisations (CBOs) that ran savings and collaboration, this approach promotes schemes and provided loans to their members. local community support mechanisms Working with the CBOs also helped ensure and then draws on the knowledge and community participation in monitoring feedback gained from these neighbourhood and reporting of child labour abuses. activities in order to undertake advocacy at district and national policy levels. District level At this level, World Vision Bangladesh Neighbourhood level developed partnerships and collaborations At this level, children, parents and employers with different stakeholders including the were targeted. Children aged 5–14 were private sector, civil society organisations given access to free non-formal education and other district-level institutions in order and competency-based basic education, to discuss issues relating to displaced Cities and towns 31 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

children and to undertake advocacy with One prominent challenge was the mobile authorities such as the city’s education and dynamic nature of urban life. The department. Thanks to a collaborative provision of services to those in need depends effort, child labour protection committees largely on the ability to reach them but (CLPCs) were formed in the four cities. displaced people may not remain for long in In Bangladesh, most of the local ward- one place. Connecting displaced families with level committees (the lowest tier of local the CBOs and encouraging them to join saving government) are not functional as they schemes provided a certain level of security lack resources and autonomy for decision so they did not need to move on as much. making but the CLPCs strengthened their Another notable challenge was the capacity by providing secretarial support preference among the most vulnerable and help with facilitating meetings. Child- internally displaced persons (IDPs) for direct friendly enquiry/reporting desks and a cash support rather than capacity building helpline were established at local police and skills training. Local government stations to ensure children’s rights are not representatives and local religious leaders and violated and to enable reporting of abuses. influential people were consequently engaged to motivate IDPs on the long-term benefits National level of capacity building and skills training. World Vision Bangladesh and other non- Efforts by the CLPCs to address abuse governmental organisations formed an (both of child employment law, and physical alliance to conduct policy advocacy at and sexual abuse of children) were not the national level, holding a number very effective in cases where the abuser of discussions with the Ministry of was an influential person. The committees Education and the Ministry of Women and were consequently re-formed to include Children Affairs. The purpose of these members of law-enforcing agencies, the discussions was to ensure more effective media and prominent persons of local implementation of the National Child society to bring more pressure to bear. Labour Elimination Policy 2010 and the We recommend the following to National Education Policy 2010, and to improve application of this approach: encourage policymakers to introduce policy changes in order to address the needs of Allocating time at the neighbourhood level: displaced children. From these discussions According to the citywide approach, the emerged an action plan relating to these assistance agency (in this case, World Vision points, plus agreement on the potential Bangladesh) should first focus on gathering roles of the different stakeholders. grassroots insights at the neighbourhood level, and then provide technical expertise. Challenges and mitigation Insights from the neighbourhood level As a result of this citywide approach, should be cascaded at district and national approximately 70,000 children either levels through partnerships and advocacy returned to school (if aged below 14) or initiatives in order to generate broader impact. continued to work but in better jobs (those However, initiating interventions at three aged 14 or above). Meanwhile, their families levels (neighbourhood, district and national) benefited from vocational training and simultaneously was somewhat problematic income-generating activities. On average, and limited our effectiveness. We conclude their household income increased by 15%. that more time should be allocated at the However, although these initiatives showed neighbourhood level before carrying forward significant results, several challenges activities at district and national levels. were faced throughout implementation; some of these challenges, and how they Sensitisation around social and were addressed, might be relevant to those institutional development: Collaboration working in other urban programming cases. with city authorities and/or government 32 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

representatives is one of the key aspects addressing the needs of slum-dwellers would of the citywide approach. However, the discourage them from returning to their government representatives of Bangladesh villages; as a consequence, they had limited are, in general, more willing to collaborate interest in addressing slum-dwellers’ needs. on direct development (cash support/ Hence, an advocacy framework and plan infrastructure development and so on) than should have been developed to generate to collaborate on social development (for the interest of the more influential and less example, capacity building and awareness interested stakeholders – and government raising in the community) or institutional representatives should have been engaged development (such as building local from the very beginning of the project design government capacity). There is thus an process. Furthermore, to ensure sustainability urgent need to build awareness among of the approach, a framework for joint government representatives and service- monitoring by the assistance agency and providing agencies of the importance of government bodies should be established. social and institutional development. Bipasha Dutta [email protected] National Coordinator, Strategy, Innovation and Advocacy and follow up: Some local Knowledge Management, World Vision government representatives felt that Bangladesh www.wvi.org/bangladesh

Transformative climate action in cities François Gemenne, Caroline Zickgraf, Anneliese Depoux, Laetitia Pettinotti, Agathe Cavicchioli and Sarah Rosengaertner

A critical, but understudied, issue of concern is how climate change will affect migrant populations living in cities (including refugees and internally displaced people), and how local governance and actions to combat the effects of climate change will address migrants’ vulnerability and support their inclusion in cities.

Cities today are at the forefront of climate demonstrated leadership and concerted change. Although they occupy only 2% of the action. In particular, C40 Cities Climate earth’s land surface, they are home to more Leadership Group (C40), the network of than half the world’s population and represent 96 cities committed to climate action, is about 80% of the world’s energy consumption fostering cooperation and ensuring that and more than 60% of greenhouse gas cities’ voices are represented in international emissions.¹ Due to expanding populations climate diplomacy and policy-making fora. and growing needs, cities’ residents, We argue that migration, including infrastructure and services are highly forced migration, have implications for vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. cities’ responses to climate change – in terms Indeed, many cities are already suffering from both of emissions reduction efforts and climate-related hazards including flooding, resilience building in cities, and specifically coastal erosion, heatwaves and landslides, within urban migrant communities.2 When and many more will have to face these risks considering inclusive climate action in cities, in the future. The recent decision by the distinguishing between forced migrants and Government of Indonesia to relocate the migrants matters little. What matters are, first, country’s capital from low-lying Jakarta to marginalisation (which prevents people’s the island of Borneo is telling in that regard. access to basic services) and, second, climate In recent years, cities have affirmed action (which has the potential to increase their positions as driving forces in the people’s capacity to adapt and to contribute fight against climate change and have to reducing climate change impacts). Cities and towns 33 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities UNHCR/Jim Huylebroek

Dasht-e Tarakhil is an informal settlement on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, mostly populated by Afghans who have returned from Pakistan. UNHCR and its partners are helping returnees gain access to basic services, land and jobs. Vulnerability of forced migrants to urban assets from associated loss and damage. climate change They are also less likely to be able to recover People often move to urban areas that from detrimental impacts on their physical, provide improved income-generating economic and psychosocial wellbeing. opportunities, infrastructure and social Sudden and slow-onset disasters may services but which may be exposed to disproportionately affect marginalised other kinds of risks. South and East Asia migrant communities, particularly when they are particularly vulnerable to large-scale are already living in precarious conditions. displacement because sea-level rise will Limited employment opportunities have a disproportionate effect on their large and livelihood insecurity, weakened or populations living in low-lying urban areas. reduced access to social services, poor Six of Asia’s ten mega-cities, for example, housing conditions, and exposure to crime are located on the coast (Jakarta, Shanghai, and other social conditions contribute Tokyo, Manila, Bangkok and Mumbai). to migrants’ increased vulnerability to In cities and metropolitan areas, the environmental stresses and shocks. When economic, social, political and geographical housing choices and labour opportunities marginalisation of migrants affects their are limited, newcomers often settle in the abilities to cope with slow-onset (for most dangerous areas in terms of climate- example, temperature rise and recurrent related disaster risk – where housing is heatwaves) and sudden shocks (such as cheaper and more readily available but where flooding and storm surges) resulting from living conditions are also comparatively climate change. Urban migrant residents worse. They end up occupying spaces with from lower-income groups bear, and will weak and inadequate infrastructure and continue to bear, the greatest risks from the limited social services, which are exposed impacts of climate change, as they are less to hazards such as flooding and landslides. able than those with greater resources to put Moreover, migrants often live in unsafe in place short-term coping measures, such buildings that do not adhere to building as evacuating family members or protecting codes or regulations (where such codes exist). 34 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

Migrants in these areas then end up suffering With well-managed urban migration and disproportionately when disasters occur – settlement and good integration policies and their risk of displacement increases.3 (economically, socially and civically), cities Adding to the challenges above, language can enhance the capacity of incoming barriers, limited assets, a lack of knowledge populations to cope with and adapt to the of local contexts and previous environmental impacts of climate change. This requires shocks, discrimination, insufficient community improved governance, coordination and participation and representation, and weak communication across all levels and sectors social networks can all alter migrants’ of government, engagement with civil society, perception of environmental risks and and the active participation of all cross- hinder their access to timely, good-quality sections of the urban migrant community. and complete information before, during and after disasters occur.⁴ These factors can The links between forced migration and push migrants to make hazardous choices. climate action: a research agenda For example, a lack of personal experience In cities, forced migrants may have of mudslides may be a contributing factor considerable transformative potential for to why migrants from the northeast of climate action. We have identified a number Brazil erect precarious constructions on of sectors where further research in this area mudslide-prone slopes above favelas in Rio is needed. Without such research, we argue, de Janeiro.5 Their vulnerability to disaster there is a high risk that climate action cannot can also manifest itself in their evacuation be fully inclusive and climate action in cities responses. For migrants with few assets cannot unleash its full potential in terms of and/or living in informal settlements with reducing emissions, building resilience and precarious land rights, the need to stay ensuring that our cities lead the just transition behind to guard houses and belongings can of our societies to a low-carbon and inclusive also reduce their willingness to evacuate or future. It will be important to ensure specific can cause them to return home prematurely consideration of gender, youth and the elderly in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. in relation to the sectors identified below. These constraints can also reduce people’s Transport is a key source of greenhouse abilities and willingness to seek and receive gas emissions, and a key sector where relief in the wake of sudden-onset events. A transformations are possible. In the Global lack of roads and infrastructure can hinder South, forced migrants often settle in informal emergency services from reaching informal settlements that are isolated from major settlements with critical supplies and services. services and/or relatively inaccessible. In When documentation is a prerequisite for emerging economies and industrialised receiving assistance, irregular and forced countries, they often live in neighbourhoods migrants who have lost their documents in the that are insufficiently served by public course of a disaster or previous displacement transport, which affects their ability to face difficulties in accessing relief. Even when access labour markets, job opportunities, this is not the case, for those undocumented the social and health services, and so on. The fear of deportation may outweigh their need city of Paris, for example, is currently for formal support, and be exacerbated when redesigning its public transportation system there is a lack of trust in local officials. When so that it includes the greater suburbs migrants are not taken into account in disaster where most immigrant populations live. risk reduction and preparedness and climate Housing is another key source of action plans, they may be forced to rely on greenhouse gas emissions in cities but informal aid and social networks for support. is also often a source of vulnerability, The inclusion of urban migrants in as migrants’ homes are often more climate change adaptation planning, disaster exposed to natural disasters. Therefore, risk reduction and preparedness and in improving migrants’ housing can be both relief programmes is therefore critical. a mitigation and an adaptation policy. Cities and towns 35 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

Increasingly, cities will seek to congestion pricing in city centres that achieve local food security in order makes it difficult for migrant workers to to reduce dependence on imported get to work? food. It is essential that migrants – who the shared vulnerabilities and often rely on their own food systems opportunities for making common – are integrated into any resilient food cause among forced migrants and other systems that cities seek to develop. vulnerable populations in urban areas: how In both industrialised and developing can we empower and support coalition- countries, access to health services is building and joint advocacy by those often problematic for migrants, especially people who are most affected, coming undocumented migrants. This means together around shared concerns? they are likely to suffer more as a result of the health impacts of climate change, Addressing such issues together will be in addition to the health issues associated essential not only for effective climate with migration. There needs to be more action at the local level but also for collaboration between researchers in the areas migrants’ successful inclusion in cities. of climate change, migration and health. François Gemenne [email protected] Finally, political participation and Director mobilisation lie at the heart of realising the transformational potential of forced Caroline Zickgraf [email protected] migration/migrants. Migrants are often Deputy Director unable to fully exert their political rights, The Hugo Observatory, University of Liège even in countries where non-nationals www.hugo.uliege.be have the right to vote in local elections. Sometimes they lack the documentation that Anneliese Depoux [email protected] would enable them to vote and participate Co-director, Centre Virchow-Villermé, University in collective decisions, or they do not feel Paris Descartes http://virchowvillerme.eu legitimate or safe enough to do so, yet it is Laetitia Pettinotti essential that climate action is participatory [email protected] and designed to include migrants. Senior Research Officer, ODI www.odi.org We know the sectors mentioned above Agathe Cavicchioli [email protected] are critical to meeting cities’ greenhouse Head of City Diplomacy (interim), C40 Cities gas emission targets and for building www.c40.org urban resilience. We suggest that in-depth research is needed to better understand Sarah Rosengaertner how forced migration interacts with [email protected] cities’ action in those sectors. We propose Senior Advisor, Open Society Foundations a threefold research agenda on: www.opensocietyfoundations.org 1. Gemenne F and Rankovic A (2019) Atlas de l’Anthropocène. the impact of forced migration on bit.ly/Atlas-Gemenne-Rankovic-2019 how can critical climate action sectors: 2. This article is based on a study conducted for C40 Cities and researchers best support city planning and the Mayors Migration Council, with the support of the Open preparedness, including with data on what Society Foundations and the Swiss Agency for Development and to expect in terms of forced migration in an Cooperation. 3. De Sherbinin A et al (2012) ‘Migration and risk: net migration in era of accelerating climate crisis? marginal ecosystems and hazardous areas’, Environmental Research the specific vulnerabilities of forced Letters 7(4) https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/045602 migrant populations: how can we support 4. IOM (2015) World Migration Report: Migrants and Cities: New Partnerships to Manage Mobility city climate actions to ensure that they www.iom.int/world-migration-report-2015 neither leave migrants behind nor have 5. Warn E and Adamo S B (2014) ‘The Impact of Climate Change: unintended consequences in terms of Migration and Cities in South America’, Bulletin 63 (2), World Meteorological Organization exacerbating vulnerabilities – such as bit.ly/WMO-cities-south-america-2014 36 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 Women refugees, leisure space and the city Sarah Linn

Research with refugee women in Amman and Beirut shows the importance of access to safe urban leisure space for well-being and integration.

For self-settled refugees who lack access to refugee status also shaped their experiences. resources and are often suffering the effects Women also highlighted their precarity of traumatic experiences, affordable and and lack of money, and the impact this accessible green spaces can be instrumental has on their mobility. Spaces of leisure to their well-being. The use of such spaces such as the Corniche in Beirut or King for relaxation and reflection or for exercise, Hussein Sport City in Amman were too socialising and play can also assist refugees far away – and too expensive – to access. to build stronger links with their host Women from lower socio-economic community and lead to a deeper spatial backgrounds often had little knowledge understanding of the cities in which they live. of their host city beyond their immediate However, typical refugee-receiving neighbourhoods, citing fear and confusion. neighbourhoods in cities of the Majority In particular, those who were illiterate felt World suffer from informal development unable to move beyond the confines of and planning, poor housing stock and their neighbourhoods as they felt ‘blind’ – high population densities. As a result, unable to read signs and road names and accessible public leisure spaces are rare often frightened of approaching others for and often neglected. Such spaces may also assistance. be appropriated by particular groups or Leisure spaces within refugees’ individuals, which can isolate or intimidate immediate neighbourhoods were seen as others, or may be closely monitored by neglected and unsafe. For example, refugee the State. women in East Amman described their My research in 2016–17 focused on Syrian aversion to using a park in close proximity refugees’ gendered experiences of mobility, to their community as it was ‘ugly’, had a security and public space in neighbourhoods poor reputation with regard to personal in the cities of Amman and Beirut.1 These safety and was often characterised as neighbourhoods had been chosen by refugees frequented by groups of ‘loitering’ men. for their perceived affordability and proximity Similarly, women in Beirut felt that some to (informal) work opportunities and, often, local spaces, including a playground because of kinship links. However, women and a park, were breeding grounds for living in these areas typically did not have conflict and tension between refugees and access to public green leisure spaces. This the local community. Many recounted was not only because these cities lacked such playground tensions escalating into verbal spaces but was also the result of a number altercations and threats between parents. of intersecting structural and identity issues While women emphasised that in Syria which combined to create a multitude of they had a varied social life, enjoying the obstacles to women’s access to public spaces sociability of the streets at different times and enjoyment of leisure opportunities. of day, most stated that in their host cities they felt compelled to stay indoors after Obstacles to access sunset, often expressing frustration at being Women highlighted societal and cultural prevented from enjoying the sociability of norms governing their presence and their neighbourhoods in the evening because mobility in public spaces. Vulnerability their family’s anxieties had led to restrictions to verbal, sexual and physical harassment on their mobility. Refugee women living because of both their gender and their in Beirut expressed greater concern than Cities and towns 37 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

women in Amman about being outside their manage to get themselves repeatedly homes at night. This was directly linked to readmitted as they understood how the their lack of refugee status and legitimacy system worked. Thus, NGO offices emerged in Lebanon and the complex security as spaces of leisure for some refugee framework operating in Beirut. These women women, to the exclusion of others. feared having their papers checked (most Many long-term residents of both cities were residing in Beirut with an expired also lament the lack of safe and welcoming legal permit or had been smuggled into public spaces for leisure. Planners should Lebanon) and wished to remain unnoticed. prioritise those areas of the city that are In contrast, although Syrian women living under intense social change, highly resource- in Amman did express some discomfort compromised and suffering environmental and fear while in public spaces, their greater pollution. People need spaces that are green sense of legitimacy and protection led them and accessible, in close proximity to their to experience significantly less restriction on neighbourhoods, well lit and, if required, their personal mobility in their host city. monitored to ensure petty vandalism and sexual harassment are discouraged. Women Impact on women’s well-being emphasised that they do not mind the As a consequence of these challenges, presence of security or authority figures if many women spent their leisure time in it means that neighbourhood frictions are seclusion. If women had kept in check and general extended family ties in order is maintained. their neighbourhoods, or Spatial mapping – to discover the way in which

had built relationships with Sarah Linn neighbours, they tended refugees access various to spend their leisure spaces in the city – can time paying social visits. help planners and NGOs These relationships were consider the ways and vital to women’s well- means by which women being. Those who did not use space, how they feel enjoy these relationships when navigating public described highly immobile, spaces and why they avoid disconnected and isolated certain spaces. Mapping lives; they also expressed has its own social and feeling like ‘strangers’ cultural challenges, and in their host city, which indeed raises wider ethical exacerbated their sense issues with regard to of fear when in public. sharing information about Classes run by refugees’ movements. Playground in Beirut, 2016. religious institutions and However, some NGOs in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Lebanon have used it effectively. An NGO also provided women with opportunities in Beirut successfully mapped the routes to socialise, relax, learn new skills and do that women took when visiting their drop-in activities such as sewing and cookery and centres, which facilitated open discussion offered escape from the confines of the of places/people/checkpoints to avoid and house. However, skill-building classes run so on. The mapping was carried out in by NGOs could be dominated by certain order to actively share information and groups, particularly those from more ensure women felt safe and would continue middle-class backgrounds. Representatives to use the centres. Mapping methods like from NGOs explained that often women this could be further utilised to improve who were educated and bored would understanding of neighbourhoods and dominate cookery or sewing classes and the use of leisure facilities and spaces. 38 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

Planners can work alongside NGOs and and responsibility to ensure the upkeep communities to prioritise the development of spaces despite limited resources. of green public spaces which allow for Sarah Linn [email protected] wider community interaction. Spaces ESRC-funded PhD candidate, Department of can be conceptualised and developed in Urban Studies and Planning, University of partnership with various stakeholders, Sheffieldwww.sheffield.ac.uk/usp including host communities and refugees, 1. This fieldwork was supported in part by the White Rose to enhance a sense of shared ownership Doctoral Training Centre (WRDTC). The path of least resistance? EU cities and locally organised resettlement Tihomir Sabchev and Moritz Baumgärtel The scaling up of locally organised, city-led routes to resettlement could form part of a larger solution to Europe’s current political crisis and deadlock around migration.

Over recent years, local governments have government.2 In Germany, the Seebrücke gradually earned a prominent place in movement comprises more than 100 cities and Europe’s system of migration governance. towns and has been pressuring the federal This increased influence can be attributed to government to allow local authorities to take decades-long processes of decentralisation in refugees directly from the Italian ports. and the devolution of competencies across European countries.1 From providing Locally organised resettlement housing to ensuring access to education and Small-scale resettlement schemes based on labour market integration, many aspects of Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees migrants’ everyday lives are today directly Program have been part of the international dependent on the capacity of municipal migration governance system for some authorities and their public and private sector time now. While many EU countries have partners to effectively fulfil these tasks. pursued ever more restrictive approaches Particularly since the summer of 2015, with respect to international protection, when local governments had to fill many gaps others (most notably Ireland, the UK and in the national provision of refugee reception Germany) have demonstrated an unusual services, there have been clear attempts on affinity towards this kind of bottom-up the part of local government to influence resettlement. The most prominent example, migration policy making beyond their local however, can be found in Italy, where for four mandate. For this purpose, local governments years a project led by the church organisation are increasingly teaming up with like-minded Community of Sant’Egidio has been offering partners in transnational partnerships, the safe passage for displaced people from most prominent examples being transnational camps in the Middle East and Africa through city networks such as Eurocities and its Humanitarian Corridors initiative. The Solidarity Cities. These provide not only new project officially started at the end of 2015 opportunities for policy exchange but also for with the signing of a Memorandum of the political promotion of local government Understanding between Sant’Egidio and a objectives, which are sometimes diametrically number of other faith-based organisations opposed to the priorities of their respective and Italy’s Interior, Foreign Affairs and central governments. Barcelona and Athens, International Cooperation ministries. for instance, proposed a direct relocation of With the support of the UN Refugee refugees between the two cities in March Agency (UNHCR), Sant’Egidio and its 2016, a plan that was vetoed by the Spanish partners identify potential candidates for Cities and towns 39 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

resettlement from refugee camps mainly initiatives and other community-based in Lebanon, Jordan and Ethiopia. After the sponsorship projects have so far not Ministry of Interior screens and approves been challenged politically or legally. the list of candidates, the Italian consulate Two aspects of locally organised in each location issues each person with resettlement seem to contribute decisively a humanitarian visa. The refugees are to lessening the resistance of States. First, then flown to Italy where they lodge their the project design satisfies the security application for international protection. concerns of central governments, as Once there, they are dispersed across national authorities can screen individuals cities (currently more than 90 cities in before authorising their resettlement. 18 different regions) where they receive Second, central governments do not cover reception and integration assistance the costs of the initial reception and the from a large network of local church short- to medium-term integration into associations, civil society, non-governmental local communities. While they still need to organisations (NGOs) and families. The provide access to national social security services offered include accommodation, and health-care systems, they receive all the language classes, job orientation, cultural long-term benefits that derive from refugees’ mediation and legal assistance. permanent settlement and their integration The host organisations are responsible in demographically ageing countries. for the refugees’ integration for at least a year, although in many cases they Cities and the future of refugee continue providing partial support (mainly resettlement accommodation) for a longer period, There are other reasons to believe that cities often until people become self-sufficient. are the logical sites for the development of All the costs associated with the project sustainable refugee resettlement schemes. are covered by Sant’Egidio and the other Firstly, local authorities are in a position to host organisations.3 The project currently assess, easily and accurately, local capacity resettles about 750 refugees per year to host and integrate refugees. They have up- which, although a modest number, is still to-date knowledge on housing availability, more than the number accepted by most health-care services and school places, individual Member States.4 In recognition ethnic and religious communities, and of its contribution to protecting refugees local labour market conditions. Secondly, the project was selected as regional winner many local authorities have gained for Europe in UNHCR’s prestigious Nansen significant experience in managing refugee Award for Refugees in September 2019.5 reception and integration and are willing Smaller but similar initiatives have to continue investing in this field. For recently been established in Belgium and instance, many municipalities in Germany France and – in addition to those bottom-up and the Netherlands now have local offices initiatives that already exist – progressive that work exclusively on immigration and and resourceful cities like Barcelona, Vienna integration governance issues. The knowledge and Hamburg have openly and repeatedly accumulated by these offices and the links declared their willingness to host and they have established with NGOs and support refugees. In our view, the expansion private actors can be mobilised for the locally of these initiatives by local governments organised resettlement initiatives. Thirdly, could represent the path of least resistance local governments have begun to collaborate to more far-reaching reforms of the EU directly with international organisations like migration governance system. Even though UNHCR, the International Organization for previous attempts for establishing city-to- Migration (IOM) and UNICEF. In Greece, city refugee relocation mechanisms have for example, these organisations have been been met with resistance by EU Member assigning members of their staff to work States, the locally organised resettlement within certain municipalities, which has 40 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

contributed enormously to the development EU funds for the resettlement and relocation of local migration governance capacity. of displaced people have over the years been Local governments can capitalise on these allocated to EU governments which have transnational partnerships to give substance then failed to meet their commitments, it is to the recent calls for a wider collaboration not difficult to see the merit of channelling in the field of refugee resettlement.6 some of the funds directly to cities. From the perspective of local Ultimately, city-led resettlement projects governments, there are also good reasons could gradually be expanded both within to promote localised refugee resettlement and across countries, while processes initiatives. European cities have demonstrated can be improved over time in line with their ambition to enhance their role in accumulated evidence and experience. migration governance. They experience Enlarging the scope, size and quality directly the consequences of immigration of resettlement programmes is one of and the related policy challenges but are the key objectives of the Global Compact not given a seat at the table when important on Refugees. At the same time, the gap decisions are being taken. In addition, between resettlement needs and the places many local governments openly oppose made available by States is widening. We the deterrence-based approaches promoted believe that local governments could be by the EU and its Member States. Locally the driving force behind addressing this managed routes to resettlement could place mismatch. Given the rapid urbanisation and cities at the centre of migration governance, the expected increase in climate change- at least from an organisational point of related displacement, it seems wise to view, thus avoiding locally problematic invest in the development of these sorts of outcomes while at the same time offering sustainable solutions to migration-related better protection to displaced people. challenges. If successful, the gradual In practical terms, we suggest a two-step expansion of city-led resettlement practices approach to expanding locally organised could turn into a type of ‘controlled’ resettlement. Initially, self-financed policy reform that, without reinforcing small-scale resettlement projects led by political divides, could bring about a local authorities could be implemented paradigm shift in migration governance. simultaneously in several countries with Tihomir Sabchev [email protected] the authorisation of the respective national PhD Researcher governments. The process could be facilitated by existing transnational migration city Moritz Baumgärtel [email protected] networks. While one can be sceptical about Senior Researcher the potential of local governments to finance Cities of Refuge NWO VICI research project, such initiatives, one should remember that Utrecht University/University College Roosevelt – in the absence of financial support from www.citiesofrefuge.eu central governments – many municipalities 1. Lacroix T and Desille A (Eds) (2017) International Migrations and have invested significantly in the reception Local Governance: A Global Perspective. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. and integration of refugees over recent 2. bit.ly/Barcelona-Athens-refugees years. Moreover, local governments that 3. Humanitarian Corridors (2019) Humanitarian Corridors: have openly expressed their willingness implementation procedures for their extension on a European scale to accept more refugees should be able bit.ly/HumanitarianCorridors-2019 to justify modest additional spending on 4. See p5 bit.ly/Eurostat-EU-asylum-decisions-Apr19 resettlement projects; the cost of the UK 5. bit.ly/Nansen-HumCorridors-2019 community sponsorship scheme, for instance, 6. Swing L (2017) ‘Practical considerations for effective resettlement’,Forced Migration Review issue 54 7 is estimated at £9,000 per resettled family. www.fmreview.org/resettlement/swing At the same time, municipalities should call 7. HM Government (2016) Community Sponsorship: Guidance for for additional EU funding to support their prospective sponsors bit.ly/UKGov-Prospective-Sponsors-2016 p11 initiatives. Given that a significant amount of Cities and towns 41 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities Cities as partners: the case of Kampala Samer Saliba and Innocent Silver

The arrival of large numbers of refugees in western European cities since 2015 has spurred widespread endorsement of the role of these city governments in addressing displacement. Displacement to cities in other countries worldwide, however, also demands attention.

Displacement to cities is not a new for Urban Crises, humanitarian actors phenomenon. Though the international have only just begun to view Kampala’s community is now working with a governing body, the Kampala Capital City number of European cities as partners Authority (KCCA) as a viable partner. in supporting refugees, other cities like The IRC approached KCCA to co-host a Kampala, Amman or Jalalabad have been 2017 multi-stakeholder workshop focusing hosting far more refugees for far longer – on long-term approaches to displacement with fewer resources and without the same within the city. During the workshop, a international backing. To support cities in KCCA representative sarcastically presented creating inclusive communities for the urban a blank slide to reflect the absence of any displaced, the international community mention of refugees in Kampala’s strategic (including humanitarian and development plan. Despite hosting an estimated 100,000 actors, multinational corporations and UN refugees, the KCCA had no plans for how agencies) must approach the ‘Mogadishus’ better to serve them. Though the KCCA of the world in the same way that it is at fault, the humanitarian community approaches the ‘Berlins’: as partners whose also shares the blame. While Kampala voices matter and whose efforts it should has hosted refugees for decades, to the help to strengthen through investment, point where longstanding Somali and technical support and collaboration. Congolese neighbourhoods are now In 2018 the International Rescue welcoming newly arrived South Sudanese Committee (IRC) undertook research in refugees, humanitarian project funding has 23 host cities around the world. Covering historically been concentrated on the refugee cities as diverse as Agadez, New York, settlements just inside Uganda’s borders. Mogadishu, Montréal and Jalalabad, According to Uganda’s Office of the the findings indicate that 19 of the cities Prime Minister, as of September 2017 have prioritised partnerships with the Kampala hosted 98,300 refugees from 25 international community in order to address countries.1 These numbers relate to those their migration challenges. More needs refugees who are registered in Kampala, to be done within such cities to ensure and do not take account of those who are that city governments are supported registered in settlements but nonetheless by partnerships and resources from the spend considerable amounts of time living humanitarian community. Practically in Kampala. (Refugees in Uganda are eligible speaking, this means moving beyond for land and support if they settle in rural simply offering cities a seat at the table in areas but despite this the hope of work draws policy discussions to investing in cities many to live precariously in urban areas.) as equal partners in current responses to The numbers also do not include persons displacement and empowering them to of concern with similar characteristics to plan for future displacement and growth. refugees, including household members of refugee families who have not gone Consider Kampala through the official asylum process. Taking While Kampala, for example, is a member of these numbers into consideration, KCCA international initiatives such as the Mayors estimates that 300,000 of Kampala’s residents Migration Council and the Global Alliance have a refugee background or affiliation. 42 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

At the same time, Kampala is rapidly these fixes need to be developed through urbanising. The city’s night-time population meaningful partnership with KCCA. is currently 1.6 million (swelling to 3.8 The difficulties in establishing meaningful million during working hours) and is partnerships with KCCA are many, and growing annually by nearly 4%. This challenging. They include donor incentives growth is occurring predominantly within to focus on refugee settlement services, Kampala’s low-income and/or informal competing mandates and territorialism areas, where approximately 32% of the city among major international agencies and population lives. A recent report estimates Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister, and that approximately 6% of these residents are the frequently encountered view among refugees, higher than the city-wide average.2 humanitarian practitioners that city All residents of these low-income/informal government partnerships require extra work areas experience insecurity, lack of economic and risk diluting programme quality. But opportunities, and poor sanitation. They are these challenges are far from insurmountable. also more vulnerable to climate-related events, Successful partnerships in other cities show such as flooding or extreme temperatures, positive results, such as that between UNHCR despite climate variability also being, for and the Municipality of Athens where a many, the initial cause of their displacement. collaborative programme has housed over Since its initial engagement with IRC 40,000 refugees in urban housing stock.3 in 2017, KCCA has significantly increased Similar European and American examples its coordination with humanitarian, abound – which we hope can be replicated development and private sector partners not only in Kampala but in all host cities to support the city’s marginalised and where partnership is most needed. displaced residents, regardless of their migration status. The city views itself as Guidance for international actors a ‘Kampala for All’, most notably through Based on their experiences within KCCA and the creation of the Kampala Coordination the international community, the authors Forum for Displacement, Migration and propose the following recommendations for Urban Refugees (the #KampalaForAll the international humanitarian community, forum), modelled on a similar forum created including practitioners and donors:4 in Athens. The forum brings together all refugee-response actors in the city, 1. Partner with city governments in policy including government agencies, UN agencies, and in practice multilateral development actors, national and Require field staff to engage in dialogue international NGOs, and community-level with local municipal authorities to actors, to harmonise responses, prioritise determine if there are any opportunities for interventions, and share information. meaningful collaboration around shared KCCA has very clear ideas on what needs outcome areas. The dialogue should go to be done but until those plans are funded, beyond formal meetings or workshops to a they do not mean much. The current focus level where informal visits to each other’s for donors is, justifiably, where the needs are offices are accepted as a normal way of more immediate – that is, along Uganda’s working together, and capacities are shared border. But the long-term needs are just on an ongoing basis. as serious, and the city cannot operate in Earmark 25% of grant funding related to emergency response mode for decades. Urban urban displacement for city government response calls for a longer, developmental collaboration and/or local capacity approach – one that considers permanent strengthening, in compliance with the fixes, particularly in increasing access to commitments of the Grand Bargain.5 housing, health care, education and livelihood opportunities for refugees and the urban Include city governments as core poor living in informal settlements. And constituents in the implementation of Cities and towns 43 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

international agreements such as the to ensure the inclusion of displaced and Sustainable Development Goals and marginalised residents in municipal the Global Compact on Refugees and services. its associated Comprehensive Refugee Fund area-based approaches focused on Response Framework. addressing the overlaps between urban displacement, geographic marginality, and 2. Use humanitarian interventions to urbanisation. support urban development outcomes Rather than deliver programmes in sector- In order to address urban displacement, specific silos, the humanitarian community the international community must adapt must reconsider humanitarian intervention its practices – and mindset – to allow for as a resource for solving urban challenges collaboration and must unify its support of exacerbated by displacement. This means city leadership, regardless of a city’s location. taking a community- or area-based and multi- Samer Saliba sectoral approach to programming, while [email protected] @samermsaliba also engaging in meaningful partnerships Urban Technical Advisor, International Rescue with other organisations, including non- Committee www.rescue.org traditional humanitarian partners and the private sector, to safeguard the specific Innocent Silver rights of refugees and internally displaced [email protected] @InnocentSilver7 persons. Specific actions include: Project Manager, KCCA www.kcca.go.ug Determine whether the relevant city or 1. Statements made during the September 2017 Urban Practitioner town has a pre-existing master plan or Workshop co-hosted by IRC. 2. AGORA (2018) Understanding the needs of refugees and host documented development goals, and work communities residing in vulnerable neighborhoods of Kampala to align programmatic outcomes with bit.ly/AGORA-Kampala-2018 these. 3. UNHCR (2017) ‘Greek Mayors Seek Future Refugee Accommodation Programme Beyond 2018’ Use technical expertise to help city bit.ly/UNHCR-Greek-housing-Dec2017 governments improve their understanding 4. This article was adapted from IRC’s 2018 report Urban of the needs and preferences of displaced Refuge: How Cities Are Building Inclusive Communities, published residents in relation to the overall with the support of Citi. Note that the report also includes recommendations for city governments and private sector population, specifically through urban stakeholders. bit.ly/IRC-UrbanRefuge-2018 context analysis, technical assistance and 5. The Grand Bargain data sharing, and use this understanding https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/grand-bargain

Invisibility and virality in urban shelter response Jennifer Ward George and David Hodgkin

Humanitarian shelter responses should prioritise flexibility in order to accommodate diverse needs and capacities, particularly in the urban environment.

It is clear to many, though not all, within the reframed as ‘flexibility’. Adaptability is a shelter sector that a one-size-fits-all solution concept that can be retrospectively applied to shelter needs is unlikely to be the most to an initially inflexible programme design, appropriate option for most households. In whereas flexibility must be introduced a recent review of 144 shelter case-studies, from the start of a shelter project. one of the strengths most frequently At a fundamental level, flexibility is identified was the adaptability of solutions needed because individual households have and response.1 However, we suggest that different demographics and different needs. this concept of ‘adaptability’ should be They come from varied local contexts, have 44 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

experienced different specific impacts, and By demonstrating flexibility, a good shelter have diverse coping mechanisms, skills, programme will achieve the same diversity as capacities and resources. This diversity is found in the metropolitan environment and, commonly greater in urban settings, where over time, it should be impossible to see that there is an increased range of income levels, specific shelter programming has taken place. housing types and livelihood activities than Shelter projects that are highly visible in rural settings. This underlying diversity of tend to stamp a single repetitive pattern need and capacity highlights the requirement upon the community. No matter how well for humanitarian agencies to develop much designed, they impose the view and vision more flexible shelter solutions when working of one designer or design. By promoting in an urban response. However, to measure a universal design, such programmes the flexibility of design and response we universally fail to address the diverse needs identify two fundamental but hitherto of individual households and become, by neglected aspects: in the flexibility of shelter default, universally inappropriate. Agencies assistance programmes – invisibility; and often chose this high visibility for perceived in the flexibility of response – virality. ease and speed of construction, or because they falsely perceive equity to mean Invisibility identical, rather than equitably addressing Consider first a successful suburban differing needs. While traditionally many development in a non-emergency context. programme managers and donors may Successful housing developments blend judge the success of a programme by its into the community, matching the needs visibility, we suggest that the reverse of the block of surrounding streets, the may be a better measure of success. If a budget, the household, the regulations and shelter programme is visible, instead of the climate. A community that has evolved adapting the shelter programme to meet the naturally generally includes a broad range of community’s needs the affected community housing options. Some people may choose has been forced to adapt themselves to fit to live with extended family or friends; the shelter programme. The true visibility some may rent a room or apartment. Others of a successful shelter programme should may choose to buy, or to build, or to lease, lie in the creation of healthier, safer, more or opt to live somewhere free of charge rapidly recovered diverse communities, with or without consent. Some may work rather than in ‘instagrammable’ imagery from home, and require more space; others of identical shelters all in a row. need more ventilation, light or outdoor space to accommodate pets or children or Virality to take account of allergies. This diversity In the context of large-scale disasters, a creates a holistic community where the shelter project run by a non-governmental footprint of any one developer or designer organisation (NGO) will have a very small does not dominate the overall landscape; impact relative to the scale of the disaster. rather, the urban landscape becomes The increasing scale and rate of disasters, dominated by the common cultural norms and waning donor appetite to fund shelter, and varied solutions of individual families. mean that NGOs are only able to provide The community emerges and grows over a diminishing proportion of the affected time and eventually it could be considered community with shelter assistance. Thus, the that these housing projects have become majority of post-disaster shelter provision, ‘invisible’ within the urban landscape, with particularly in towns and cities, is undertaken it no longer being obvious that any one by the affected community and neighbouring project was built separately from the rest communities themselves. As such, disasters of the community’s housing. At the same can be considered a social problem rather time, however, the identity and needs of than just a physical problem. Hazardous the individual households are more visible. events, whether natural or anthropogenic, Cities and towns 45 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities David Sanderson David

The city of Tacloban in the Philippines, after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. only become a disaster if the community and are easily replicated can empower is insufficiently prepared to mitigate or communities to help themselves, ensuring a overcome the hazard, or to respond to its better overall humanitarian outcome for more effects. Successfully addressing the root of the affected population, and leading to a causes of post-disaster housing damage such greater reduction in future risk. One measure as inadequacy to withstand that disaster of success in this landscape of diminishing requires a social approach rather than the aid, therefore, could be the ‘virality’ of the usual technical approach. The social approach assistance provided – that is, its tendency to addresses the underlying issues, such as be reproduced. Examining to what extent why housing was built in a disaster-prone the core ideas of the programme ‘went viral’ area, or why the quality of construction was may provide a better measure of success than inadequate for the risks they were likely how well a particular programme housed to face. Solutions need to be culturally a particular family. One might assess, for appropriate, affordable and environmentally example, whether the retrofitting of a house sustainable and to ensure an ongoing was done in a way that was so culturally and commitment to risk reduction. Although environmentally appropriate, affordable, finding such solutions may require more and convincing in its safety improvement investment in social analysis, appropriate that the neighbours copied it, thus giving programmes will spread and self-propagate, the programme far greater reach. while culturally inappropriate, unaffordable, unsustainable or unrealistic solutions Flexible shelter strategies in Palu and will only occur while funding remains. Tacloban To be more effective in this landscape In recent years, flexibility has been written of diminishing aid, agencies should focus into the Recovery Shelter Guidelines for on influencing and improving the shelter several projects across urban areas of outcome for all rather than provide perfect Southeast Asia, including Tacloban in the shelters for a few. Rather than focusing Philippines and Palu on the Indonesian on engineering perfect high-level housing island of Sulawesi. In the shelter standards interventions for a limited number of families, documents for both responses, agencies were agencies need to focus on smaller, less provided with diverse options for addressing intrusive interventions that better address the shelter needs. The Recovery Shelter underlying social problems that brought about Guidelines for the Philippines response to the disaster. Simple solutions that resonate Typhoon Haiyan promotes a rights-based 46 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

approach, specifying the right of households difference between the two and then, using to “access housing options that best suit their this information, advising communities on needs and desires”.2 Both documents also what they can do themselves. Following provide guidance on minimum performance Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, a small group standards as well as applicability of different of engineers and architects visited a village options to zones vulnerable to different and looked at which buildings remained types of hazard. One of the aims of this standing and which did not. They were approach was to encourage agencies to offer unable to assist the community directly but a variety of solutions to address differing during the visit their translator informed the needs. These included: temporary shelter, community of what findings emerged from sharing of accommodation, rental support, the building assessments. Six months later, bunkhouses, repairs and retrofit, core houses another visit to the same village found that (designed to be used as permanent housing the community had been completely rebuilt in the future), and permanent housing and all of the problems previously discussed guidelines. The guidelines also included ways had been addressed. The village had of assisting decision making about shelter achieved this without agency assistance by solutions which, crucially, took account of pooling money and resources and following this need for flexibility from the start. the advice of the team who had visited. Unfortunately, in reality most agencies Meanwhile, however, there were shelter tended to revert to business as usual in these programmes nearby that had barely started. two responses, choosing the option they Invisibility can also be constrained by were most comfortable with, which was global agendas and by the alignment of usually the pre-designed type referred to as a shelter programmes with donor requirements, T-shelter. A notable exception to this case was pre-set architectural/engineering notions of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). In Tacloban, what is correct, mandates of implementing CRS successfully developed a ‘shopping list’ organisations, and responders’ other of shelter typologies that fitted the standards priorities. Although global reviews continue provided and, in the more recent Palu to talk about self-recovery and owner-driven response, ensured flexibility by providing approaches, the sector continues to focus cash grants and technical assistance to on designing highly visible products rather address community shelter needs through than low-visibility processes. The way the a range of diverse options. However, the system is currently set up means that shelter lack of uptake in flexibility elsewhere projects are often initially designed within indicates that, beyond the development of certain boundaries established by each improved guidance, there is a need for a more agency’s disaster management team. Within significant shift in mindset among the sector. this operating space are a shelter manager and a team of architects and engineers, Overcoming constraints who then define a further set of boundaries The flexibility of shelter assistance based on their preconceived notions of the programmes is often constrained by physical problem they are facing. Commonly, the ambition to engineer perfect shelter it is only after all these boundaries have solutions and by misconceptions of equity, been established that the community is which can limit the number of households asked to participate. Instead, we suggest assisted. A shift to a minimal intervention that these boxed-in spaces for operating paradigm focusing on less visible and more should be removed, and that more detailed viral, minimalist inputs has the potential sociological and anthropological analysis to assist more people and have longer- of the underlying problems that have led to lasting impact. Simple interventions can housing failure should be undertaken. Direct make a huge difference – such as sending assistance, where provided, should be highly in teams to assess what fell down and why, flexible, leveraging each household’s capacities clearly photographing and documenting the and addressing their individual needs. Cities and towns 47 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

Assistance budgets should be discussed that the largest number of affected people directly with affected families, allowing can live in safety, comfort and dignity with them to define what they want or need in the ability to make an individual journey to the context of shelter. Within urban settings self-recovery and safer permanent housing. this is even more important, particularly Jennifer Ward George [email protected] where building new shelters may not even be Department of Engineering, University of possible. Whether it be a house repair, house Cambridge www.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/jwg39 rental, living with family or a temporary shelter in the backyard, each household David Hodgkin [email protected] should determine what they want to do. Shelter Technical Specialist; Managing Director, At the core of this proposition is Humanitarian Benchmark Consulting rethinking the job description of the shelter www.humanitarianbenchmark.com project manager. Rather than an architect 1. George J (2018) Shelter Projects in Displacement: What Factors or engineer being responsible for designing Affect Success?, University of Cambridge a perfect physical shelter, in their place 2. Hodgkin D, Dodds R, and Dewast C (2013) ‘Recovery Shelter Guidelines’, Humanitarian Shelter Working Group should be a team of individuals with diverse bit.ly/Haiyan-Recovery-Shelter-Guidelines-2013 backgrounds who are focused on ensuring

Improving information and communication to boost inclusion and self-reliance for urban refugees Laura Buffoni and Gail Hopkins

Evidence from a refugee community-led assessment in Nairobi shows that communication and information flows must be improved to build sustainable resilience and self-reliance among urban refugees.

Access to basic services and to livelihoods, a country such as Kenya with general high and the inclusion of refugees in the social unemployment and economic challenges and economic fabric of receiving countries, relating to poverty, inequality, weak are key to enabling refugees to be productive, infrastructure and access to services and resilient members of society. In large refugee- social protection. Furthermore, refugees’ hosting cities like Nairobi there may be access to services is particularly problematic innovative approaches for supporting the in the urban area where public services most marginalised urban displaced people, are stretched, and because considerable including for example through technical investments in basic services have been ‘hubs’, government investment in mobile focused on areas in and around camps, where money technology and online working. Such the majority of refugees in Kenya live. measures are intended to address urban Urban contexts therefore present poverty and youth unemployment more challenges that are different from those broadly and are open, in theory, to displaced found in rural or camp contexts – and far people but in practice refugees’ inclusion greater attention needs to be paid to how in urban contexts can remain limited to to bridge the gap between urban refugees’ the informal sector. The supposition that expectations and reality. Effective two-way access to services and resources is easy communication between urban refugees because everything is ‘local’, and that job and those who support them can improve opportunities abound in the city, is often participation, give refugees agency and incorrect. Facilitating refugees’ access to the improve their well-being, and help them formal labour market presents challenges in to cope with the challenges of the urban 48 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

environment. The more that is known about Respondents indicated that they lacked refugee needs, the more effective and targeted information on available local services, practical steps towards inclusion can be. including how to access food, medical A major obstacle to urban refugees’ self- care, training, education and employment, reliance is that information and refugees and where to obtain help after an attack or do not easily ‘find’ each other. Refugees harassment. The reasons for this include can become isolated and ‘lost’ in the urban literacy challenges, and posters being in the environment, partly because they relocate wrong languages or not displayed in places frequently, making contact difficult to that they frequent. maintain, and partly because they join Respondents did not properly understand impoverished, forgotten local communities the role of the Refugee Affairs Secretariat at the city’s margins. This causes barriers (RAS), with many unaware that RAS, not to inclusion and creates a ‘hard-to-reach’ UNHCR, now handles refugee assistance. population. A community-led assessment Improved sensitisation using different of information and communication needs communication channels could usefully piloted by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) convey how services are divided between in Eastleigh, Nairobi between January the two and thereby increase use of the and April 2019 and co-designed with a RAS office, although additional challenges small group of urban refugees makes clear linked to travel costs and uncertainty about that multiple challenges still need to be security and gaining access would also overcome to assist refugees in understanding need to be addressed. the service environment available to Respondents asked for local, centralised them. Work also remains to be done to information points giving details of which assist aid organisations to fill key gaps in providers offer which services, and where communication and information provision. they do so. In the absence of other reliable The Eastleigh assessment information providers, community leaders are the most trusted source of information. Globally, little evidence exists on the specific impact of urban refugees on the environment NGOs train community counsellors from to which they have moved and of which they the local community who undertake house try to become a part, or on refugees’ own visits and reach the most vulnerable urban perceptions of inclusion and social cohesion. refugees because, sharing a language, The assessment carried out in Eastleigh, a they are more readily accepted by the high-density suburb in which refugees of refugees. Refugees interviewed, however, many nationalities join Somali migrants and suggested case management for protection Kenyan Somalis, aimed to better understand and assistance could be better facilitated by challenges that had already been identified formalising refugee case workers through around a lack of feedback mechanisms and paid employment and certification. the inadequacy of information campaigns This counselling system could facilitate among refugee communities. Refugee information and feedback flows between respondents highlighted a number of points communities, RAS, NGOs and UNHCR. which indicate that communication is key to Refugees’ communication preferences addressing inclusion and social cohesion: were for face-to-face meetings, telephone (by calling or WhatsApp) or SMS, in their Respondents interviewed felt that they languages. However, the assessment also had few or no mechanisms through which showed the potential for exploitation in to provide feedback to UNHCR and face-to-face communication, where conmen partners. They wanted information to flow and other middle men demand payment in both directions, replicating the two-way for information, services and feedback on dialogue that is more readily and routinely case files. This was frequently cited as the sustained in camps. Cities and towns 49 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

only means by which vulnerable refugees by community feedback and have a could access the information they needed. comprehensive understanding of where Refugees are not often able or permitted they can direct complaints and concerns. to use social centres or local resources This would improve transparency, designed for Kenyans. Refugees felt accountability and ‘buy-in’. excluded and saw this as a barrier to self- Information gaps could be addressed reliance. through innovative communication Specific needs highlighted by the methods such as: soliciting community respondents included medical services, feedback on channel effectiveness; access to UNHCR, resettlement and monitoring how information is being employment. cascaded; working with mobile network operators and local media; and by The assessment was valuable in identifying promoting inclusion through radio groups, a local information ecosystem that gives musicians and social events. agency to refugees and refugee community leaders. Nonetheless, refugees’ role could Effective communication is key to achieving be even greater. Opportunities exist the social inclusion of refugees – a critical for changes that would have a positive aspiration of the Global Compact on impact on agency and self-reliance: Refugees. Discerning the difference between Improving access to existing social centres unevidenced impressions of what refugees would reduce the need for refugee-specific need and what refugees themselves say they centres and provide opportunities to need is complex but necessary, especially in build bridges, improve resilience through the urban context. Better information flow strengthening community relations, and can help refugees engage in the civic life of support social cohesion. their community, create cohesion and bring them a wider support network in order to The trusted refugee leader network could underpin resilience and support self-reliance. be further developed, as it is clear that refugee engagement is facilitated by a Laura Buffoni [email protected] strong framework of local information Senior Global Livelihoods Officer, UNHCR Division ecosystems. Refugee leader networks of Resilience and Solutions, Nairobi could be further formalised by setting up www.unhcr.org structured communication mechanisms such as regular office hours, reliable Gail Hopkins [email protected] phone/internet connectivity, and training Independent consultant – integration, resilience, on how to make referrals (as part of the economies professionalisation of the refugee case- The views expressed here are the authors’ own workers), so that leaders are not burdened and do not necessarily represent those of UNHCR.

The Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement (JDC) is a new collaboration between the World Bank and UNHCR to improve the generation and dissemination of evidence in forced displacement settings in order to inform programmatic and policy decision-making. bit.ly/WB-JointDataCenter In January 2020, the JDC hosted a Research Conference on Forced Displacement which brought together researchers and practitioners to discuss the role of data gathering, management and analysis in improving and scaling evidence affecting programming for displaced people. The conference report and recordings of all sessions are available at bit.ly/JDC-ConfRep-2020. The conference was organised in partnership with the World Bank’s Development Economics Research Group, Brown University and Harvard University. Selected papers will be featured in a special issue of the Journal of Development Economics. 50 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 Pakistan’s urban refugees: steps towards self-reliance Muhammad Abbas Khan

Although Afghan refugees in Pakistan enjoy considerable freedom of movement and access to livelihoods, the absence of a national legal framework for refugee management creates challenges for urban refugees and local authorities alike.

Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber economy and has suffered greatly as a Pakhtunkhwa hosts more than 50% of the result of the refugee repatriation that has country’s 2.7 million Afghan refugees, 32% taken place over a period of time, which of whom currently reside inside refugee has reduced carpet production by 5%. camps. The remaining 68% live outside Despite this contribution to the urban the camps, mostly in and around major economy, it was only recently that the urban centres, primarily because of the Government of Pakistan allowed Afghan need to access livelihood activities.1 refugees with a valid Proof of Registration (PoR) card2 to open a commercial bank Economic access and contribution account. Previously, Afghans used Almost all urban refugees in Pakistan are Pakistani citizens as proxies to register involved in some sort of livelihood activity. their businesses and conduct financial The majority are engaged in the transport transactions. Some even used illegal banking business but cannot obtain driving licences, channels for money transfers and some used local goldsmiths as banks where they would deposit their earnings. This new authorisation is a milestone in many ways: not only will it boost Afghan businesses but also, more importantly, it will put an end to their vulnerability to potential

UNHCR/Asif Shahzad exploitation by those acting as proxies. Urban refugees in Pakistan are wrongly perceived as criminals and as a burden on the economy. Such claims are unsubstantiated: from 2014 to September 2016, of the more than 10,000 cases that appeared in court in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, just 134 involved Afghan refugees.3 A German-funded study4 is currently underway to determine how much Pakistan has spent on its protracted hospitality towards Afghan refugees, Afghan refugee woman engaged in carpet weaving. which will also highlight the contributions which leaves them vulnerable to extortion refugees have made to Pakistan’s economy. by city transport authorities. Gemstones trading is primarily run by Afghan Education challenges traders based in the city of Peshawar, and Since 90% of Afghan refugee households constitutes a considerable part of Pakistan’s moved to Pakistan between 1979 and 1985, the export activity, generating US$27.5 million majority of the registered refugee children over the last five years. Similarly, Afghan and youth are second- or third-generation refugees also run more than 70% of the Afghans and have been born in Pakistan. renowned carpet weaving industry in Today, nearly half the urban refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This industry has Pakistan are children, and early childhood also contributed significantly to Pakistan’s development, basic education and skill Cities and towns 51 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

development are therefore top priorities. However, with a staggering 22 million Pakistani children out of school, it is a

challenge for Pakistan to UNHCR/Jason Tanner accommodate refugees.5 The situation is even worse in the case of higher education. While the Government of Pakistan is generously offering thousands of scholarships to Afghan nationals who are living in Afghanistan, it offers just 14 scholarships to Jewellery produced by an Afghan refugee who established a successful mineral and gem business Afghan refugees living from his home in Peshawar. in Pakistan. Afghan refugee applicants a situation is undesirable for both the can otherwise only be admitted if they refugees and the host communities. surrender their PoR card and replace it with In order to tackle the tensions that an Afghan passport. The intention is to exist around urban refugee hosting, the encourage Afghan refugees to give up their Government of Pakistan, with UNHCR, has POR card and obtain an Afghan passport initiated a unique development programme – but surrendering the refugee card means – the Refugee-Affected and Hosting Areas losing other rights, and as a result students programme (RAHA). RAHA was launched in abandon their dreams of higher education. 2009 to undertake interventions in refugee- The higher education scholarship hosting communities across different sectors programme DAFI, run by the UN Refugee such as health, education, skills development, Agency (UNHCR), plays an important role water and sanitation, environment and social in addressing this challenge, granting fully- protection. $220 million has so far been spent, funded university scholarships to refugee benefiting more than 12 million people, of undergraduates. With the support of different whom 85% are Pakistani citizens and 15% are donors and in partnership with Pakistan’s Afghan refugees.6 It is little wonder that the National Vocational and Technical Education RAHA programme has created a lot of good Commission, UNHCR is also extending an will for the refugees living in urban areas. existing programme of technical training The Commissionerate for Afghan in various skills to thousands of young Refugees, the agency responsible for refugee refugees across the country. Such steps affairs in Pakistan, has, again with UNHCR, are crucial for helping refugees to become recently developed a Refugee Management self-reliant and contribute to the economy Portal to help practitioners, donors and although, given the sheer numbers of policymakers make evidence-based decisions. young refugees, much more is needed. It will also provide a digital platform for all urban refugees, connecting them with Addressing tensions different service providers, including those Urban refugees in Pakistan face a number offering job placements and internships. of challenges, including friction between Moreover, a Refugee Youth Policy is currently host and refugee communities (because of being devised jointly by the Commissionerate competition over limited resources) and and UNHCR which will focus on the social, ‘hosting fatigue’, a common phenomenon economic and political empowerment of in cases of protracted displacement. Such refugee youth living in urban centres. 52 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

Afghans are hardworking and citizenship to Afghan refugees may still be a enterprising, making excellent entrepreneurs; long way off, efforts should be made to enable indeed, there are many success stories among refugees to live comfortable, dignified lives. Afghan businessmen. Given the right support, Muhammad Abbas Khan [email protected] most Afghans would be able to contribute Commissioner, Commissionerate for Afghan positively during their stay in Pakistan. Refugees, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The recent decision by the Government of 1. UNHCR Pakistan (2017) Mapping of Education Facilities and Pakistan to allow Afghan refugees to open Refugee Enrolment in Main Refugee Hosting Areas and Refugee Villages bank accounts is a positive step towards in Pakistan, p7 their financial inclusion and protection, but https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/62554 more such steps are needed to ensure urban 2. Issued by the Government of Pakistan, this document provides proof of identity, temporary legal stay and freedom of movement refugees have access to some of the very basic for 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan. services like health, education, trade and 3. Khan I (2017) ‘KP prosecution data gives lie to claims against business. The current refugee management Afghan refugees’, Dawn, 15 January framework needs to be reviewed, and www.dawn.com/news/1308486 Pakistan should consider adopting a 4. bit.ly/FAFO-Afghan-refugees-Pakistan national refugee law, which would enable 5. Ailaan A (2018) Five Years of Education Reforms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2013–2015. Wins, Losses and challenges for 2018–2023, the different authorities to more effectively p6 bit.ly/Education-Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa-2018 manage urban refugees. While granting 6. https://unhcrpk.org/raha/

Contested public authority in marginal urban areas: challenges for humanitarians Dolf J H te Lintelo, Hart Ford, Tim Liptrot, Wissam Mansour and Aline Rahbany

In urban contexts where multiple governance actors compete for authority, a clearer approach is needed on whether and how to engage these various actors in order to reach the most vulnerable host and refugee populations.

When Syrians fleeing civil war began to authorities have not operated here, or have seek refuge in Jordan and Lebanon in 2011, had only limited presence. Globally, analyses initial relief efforts by the international show that in the absence of active municipal humanitarian community focused governance – and particularly in marginal on supporting national governments. conflict-affected or post-conflict urban settings However, in recognition of the vital role that – other mediators emerge in the poorest urban municipalities play in providing support areas. These actors include traditional leaders, and services, over the last five years there tribal networks, influential individuals, has been a strong shift in the international criminal gangs, labour brokers, militias, community towards supporting them, as faith-based groups and local committees. part of a broader localisation agenda. Our research,1 which included The search for low-cost multi-occupancy consultations with the Global Alliance housing has driven large numbers of Syrians for Urban Crises and with humanitarian into informal urban settlements where and development actors in Lebanon and the most vulnerable host communities, Jordan, suggests that the localisation agenda economic migrants and refugee populations currently fails to take proper account of live. Such neighbourhoods, which include such influential local governance actors. official Palestinian camps and unofficial Ignoring their critical role in the de facto ‘gatherings’, have urbanised yet have typically governance of the most marginalised urban been subject to historic neglect: municipal areas impedes humanitarians’ ability Cities and towns 53 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

to broker support for highly vulnerable the condition of informal settlements. After populations living in these areas. Israeli bombardments in 2006, the Hezbollah resistance movement and political party led Shifting focus onto municipalities a successful ‘build back better’ campaign in Donors are increasingly directing support Ghobeiry municipality in Beirut. Elsewhere, towards urban municipalities and mayors in Sour, one of Lebanon’s larger cities, the in order to strengthen local capacity. In municipality has institutionalised practices Jordan, the 2015 Decentralisation Act has that enable Lebanese residents – but not given municipal authorities new mandates stateless Palestinian inhabitants – to and powers. This has led to competition circumvent the usual requirement for for authority between national Members building licenses to improve housing of Parliament and municipal actors and infrastructure in informal areas. But as provided new ways for tribal networks non-State actors step into the vacuum left to exert influence over State workings. by municipalities’ lack of engagement Simultaneously, as aid resources shift towards in marginalised areas in Lebanon, it supporting municipalities, local community- is unclear whether and through what based organisations now face much tougher mechanisms they can be held accountable. competition for funding and survival. In Lebanon, the expanded mandates of Programming in low-income urban settings municipal authorities have not been matched in Jordan and Lebanon by adequate financial and administrative The humanitarian principles of humanity, capacity, and decisions and actors at neutrality, impartiality and independence governorate or central levels can thwart in theory provide for international actors municipalities’ abilities to act; this can to work with all actors at the city or create space for non-State actors to step in. neighbourhood level, including State and Typically, non-citizens, including non-State, formal and informal actors. migrants, stateless people and refugees, are However, humanitarian interventions can not politically represented in municipalities. compromise the principles of neutrality and Furthermore, urban municipalities neither impartiality if/when they inadvertently or politically represent nor are accountable intentionally support or deny the legitimacy to large proportions of Lebanese residents, of local actors who seek to exercise authority. who are registered to vote in their native Municipalities often insist that villages. This disenfranchisement endures, humanitarian actors seek permission given long terms in office (six years) and to access hard-to-reach communities. the fact that parties’ control over municipal Interventions, therefore, can be viewed as councils typically lasts over multiple terms. being approved by – or even extending – Similarly, in Jordan, some tribes (such as the municipality’s authority. Municipal in the city of Ma’an) pre-select candidates endorsement, however, is not always enough for municipal elections from among their to enable humanitarian and development members, in turn preventing non-members programming. In environments where from standing for office. This is detrimental access to health, education, water and other to wider representation and accountability. services is not a question of rights but often Whereas the Jordanian State has been bestowed by patronage, non-State authorities supporting the upgrading of informal urban also seek to broker aid for vulnerable settlements for many years, many Lebanese populations to legitimate their claim to municipalities refrain from servicing authority. In Lebanon, non-State actors (as informal areas for fear of legitimising their well as central government authorities) are existence and of violating the law that forbids known to stop interventions – despite prior municipalities from providing services to municipal endorsement – for security and such neighbourhoods. Yet in some areas other reasons. Populations may distrust governing actors have found ways to improve absent municipal authorities, while non- 54 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

State actors that provide important security, and authority, and may be used as a means welfare and conflict resolution services may of legitimising authority. With this in mind, be seen as having significant legitimacy. we identify five key recommendations for Donors also play a significant role designing and implementing humanitarian in shaping the ability to operate in areas and development interventions in controlled by urban non-State actors. They complex, low-income urban areas: may, for example, deem tribal authorities Establish strong context analysis for to be insufficiently inclusive of women, effective programme design. This needs refugees and other less-represented groups. to be done at local area or neighbourhood Interventions often focus on separating level and include stakeholder mapping, municipal governance from tribal influence. analysis and simultaneous equal Donors provide incentives and assistance to engagement with State and non-State municipal actors to help them develop sources actors to build productive relationships of legitimacy that are not linked to or depend ahead of programmatic interventions. on tribal identity, including their performance Critically, analysis should not overstate and how they conduct consultations and the division between formal and informal elections. They also support new, non- actors. tribal organisations, whose sustainability and local legitimacy remain unproven. Communicate with communities to build In Lebanon, Hezbollah holds elected meaningful consensus on programme State offices (from municipal council to objectives before a programme starts. parliament) and governs large swathes of This is time-consuming and resource- impoverished urban areas. Yet it is considered intensive yet critical. The order in which a terrorist organisation, and proscribed, stakeholders are engaged is also important by several Western countries including and can close doors later if one makes a the US, UK, Canada and the Netherlands. misstep early on. This proscription severely constrains Foster greater dialogue between humanitarian programming and challenges implementing partners and donors. This humanitarian principles. The party itself is necessary in order to understand how to also scrutinises and permits – or not – sensitively deal with multiple competing prospective aid programmes to take place. authorities, and to learn from experience. Implementing partners face the dilemma Donors could offer more practical guidance of navigating diverse donor restrictions on the on how to operate with non-State public one hand, and respecting the democratically authorities that are deemed to exclude elected office of mayors, municipal certain groups, and provide greater clarity councillors, parliamentarians and ministerial on ‘red lines’ in the case of proscription offices on the other. Ignoring some political policies. Moreover, aid agencies should parties who govern specific urban areas, while be encouraged to give feedback to donors supporting others, may make it impossible about operational realities in trying to to develop municipal capacities without also reach complex, high-need areas. unjustifiably punishing people living in these Place greater emphasis on the role of the areas, who may or may not be supportive UN Humanitarian Coordinator. Doing so of the party in control. Aid distribution could assist with negotiating access with may also disrupt a fragile balance of power local public authorities, in line with the between political parties and thereby Lebanon Crisis Response Plan or other undermine efforts to maintain stability. response frameworks. This should aim to ensure that ‘hard-to-reach areas’ are still Creating wider, more principled receiving a wide array of support. engagement with non-State urban actors Support primary data collection. There Humanitarian actions in urban contexts is an acute need to fill gaps in existing inevitably encounter local struggles for power Cities and towns 55 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

literature by conducting substantial Wissam Mansour [email protected] primary data collection. This would help CEO and Founder, Occlude www.occlude.info to generate deeper knowledge of the Assistant Professor, Azm University, Lebanon impact of humanitarian and development Aline Rahbany [email protected] interventions on the legitimacy of State and Technical Director for Urban Programming, World non-State actors governing low-income Vision International www.wvi.org/urban informal urban settings. 1. This article is an outcome of the Public Authorities and Dolf J H te Lintelo [email protected] Legitimacy Making (PALM) project. It was commissioned and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Research Fellow and Co-Leader of the Cities through WOTRO Science for Global Development of the Cluster, Institute of Development Studies Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-WOTRO). It was developed in collaboration with the Knowledge Platform www.ids.ac.uk Security & Rule of Law (KPSRL) as part of the Ministry’s agenda to invest in knowledge and to contribute to more evidence-based Hart Ford [email protected] policymaking. Views expressed and information contained in this Country Director, ACTED www.acted.org article are the responsibility of the authors. The authors thank Frances Girling, James Schell and Eric Kramakk at IMPACT Tim Liptrot [email protected] Initiatives for their valuable contributions to this article. Independent researcher

Places of refuge and risk: lessons from San Pedro Sula Yolanda Zapata

The outcome of interventions in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, provides lessons for working in high-risk urban neighbourhoods and communities.

The actions of gangs and organised crime 40% of the country’s internally displaced linked to international drug trafficking, in people (IDPs), with the city itself hosting addtion to the harsh response of State security 21.5%.2 Data reveal the intra-urban nature forces, have driven the surge in violence in of forced displacement, showing that 81% of Honduras and San Pedro Sula’s identification San Pedro Sula’s IDPs had been displaced a few years ago as the most violent city in the from elsewhere in the city. Although world (because of its high rate of homicides). displacement affects many communities Just over half of the population of Honduras and neighbourhoods, most places to which is concentrated in urban areas, including people are displaced are those where gangs San Pedro Sula whose metropolitan area has exercise social and territorial control and/ a population of approximately 2.5 million or have some level of influence. Although people. In 2015, it was estimated that gang in this context displacement is not as visible members were present in more than 50 because individuals or families may be neighbourhoods in San Pedro Sula, mainly forced to take precautionary measures those that are poorest and most marginalised.1 and abandon their homes in silence, and Today, in addition to the two main gangs few look to the authorities for protection, (the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18), the evidence shows that these neighbourhoods influence of other local gangs and organised are generally in the most marginalised or criminal groups is also evident. For example, lower-middle class areas of the city and in Rivera Hernández, a marginalised area are characterised by limited access to basic of the city with an estimated population of rights and public services, and by high 120,000, invisible borders divide the territory levels of violence, including homicide.3 into streets and neighbourhoods that are The city offers a certain anonymity controlled by more than six groups. and the possibility to maintain family and Between 2004 and 2014, the metropolitan personal networks and access services area of San​​ Pedro Sula hosted more than and employment. Seeking protection in 56 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

neighbourhoods affected by many types of and mechanisms for carrying out risk analysis violence (including restrictions on mobility, and ensuring safe access; designing and using extortion, forced involvement of children and participatory methodologies for consultation youth in criminal organisations, homicides processes; and implementing community and sexual violence) may seem contradictory programmes and initiatives that are grounded but it is the reality faced by families and in protection principles. The field office has individuals here and in other cities. These also supported the municipal authorities in communities are at the same time places of the design of a mechanism to identify, assist refuge and places and refer IDPs and/ of risk. In them, or those at risk collective action, of displacement social cohesion within the and community framework of organisation existing municipal are fractured by programmes and UNHCR/Daniel Dreifuss violence, mistrust services. A number and widespread of lessons have fear. Although been learned from certain groups these activities: (such as business owners, transport Time is a workers, teachers, necessary women, children investment: It and young people, takes time to and people study the context from the LGBTI of a community, community) face develop higher risks,4 most relationships residents in these of trust and neighbourhoods understanding, risk experiencing identify risks and some degree of develop protection violence and This young Honduran woman witnessed the homicide of one of her plans. In contexts displacement. colleagues. As a result of the event, she was shot four times and lost her leg. of urban violence, the time required can be doubled or even UNHCR’s work in San Pedro Sula tripled by the security risks associated The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) opened with the presence of organised criminal an office in this city at the end of 2016. Since groups, the invisible nature of displacement then, as part of work to support Honduras and the normalisation of violence. Having in the commitments it has made through the knowledge of the context makes it possible to MIRPS process (the regional application of understand both how the forms of violence the Global Compact on Refugees), UNHCR that can cause displacement intersect, and has been providing technical assistance to the visible and invisible impacts they have municipal authorities and communities for on neighbourhood and community life. the development of displacement prevention and protection mechanisms. This assistance Access is best achieved through investments includes working with municipal authorities that benefit the entire community: to design methodologies and strategies that Strategies of access and the preservation of promote rapprochement and dialogue with humanitarian space in these neighbourhoods high-risk communities and neighbourhoods. are context-dependent. However, actions This has included jointly developing protocols aimed at strengthening the provision of basic Cities and towns 57 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

services for all members of the neighbourhood displacement. This support can strengthen or area, and that privilege community the provision of basic services and contribute development, facilitate access to these gradually to the protection environment spaces because they are usually perceived by consolidating community networks as interventions that do not challenge the through which people in high-risk situations control of gangs. These actions include the or who have particular vulnerabilities improvement of or provision of increased can be identified and protected. access to: health and education, community infrastructure, recreation and sports, and Links with municipal authorities around vocational and technical training. For social development should be strengthened: example, an intervention jointly implemented Ensuring community interventions are by UNHCR and the municipal authorities integrated into local institutional processes to promote the inclusion and protection of and structures can help ensure greater youth in a high-risk area through cultural sustainability. UNHCR and its implementing and artistic workshops has both strengthened partner began working with communities access to this area and improved the to design community protection plans. As authorities’ understanding of the challenges these progressed, the benefits of linking some and risks faced by the young people. of the specific actions and strategies (such as livelihoods promotion, youth training, Alliances with neutral actors need childcare spaces, community awareness strengthening: Mapping and working with campaigns, community leadership and community actors who are not perceived as women’s empowerment) with work being actively contesting the criminal structures carried out by the municipal authorities and gangs – such as religious leaders, leaders became clear. Aligning the activities both of community development structures and promoted institutional presence and social programme volunteers – is key to community accompaniment in these high- establishing and preserving access. In some risk areas and emphasised the responsibility communities these privileged actors enter of municipal authorities for tackling into dialogue with members of gangs and key problems. Ultimately, some of these reach agreements to facilitate access and the initiatives were formally integrated into the implementation of programmes that benefit municipality’s annual operational plan. the entire community. (However, routine risk analysis is essential to promptly identify Dialogue between the humanitarian and any changes in the dynamics of violence and development worlds is indispensable: social and territorial control in these areas.) Where the displaced and host communities share both protection risks and limited access Local networks and existing community to services, it is critical to use area-based capacities must be supported: Because of approaches that allow the design of responses limited institutional presence, insufficient that consider the specific spatial context, the equipment and services (because of rapid needs of the population, and coordination growth and lack of planning), and distrust with other local actors, including private and difficulties around safe access, certain sector actors. A balance needs to be found services in these neighbourhoods tend to between: a) supporting local actors involved be provided by community structures and in the provision of services, b) implementing civil society organisations. It is important responses that are focused on protecting to support these services – which include the most vulnerable, and c) addressing church medical clinics, support programmes structural problems associated with the for educational and youth community challenges of urbanisation – including centres, nurseries and women’s networks – inequality and socioeconomic inclusion, and offer training to make them available and stigmatisation or discrimination on to displaced persons or those at risk of grounds of place of origin, age or gender. 58 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

In 2018, San Pedro Sula launched an protection environment in these areas – and ambitious 25-year Municipal Development may well also help to prevent displacement. Master Plan. By improving urban planning, Yolanda Zapata [email protected] infrastructure, public transportation and Head of Field Office, UNHCR, San Pedro Sula, mobility systems, use of technology and Honduras www.acnur.org/honduras so on, the ultimate goal is for San Pedro 1. InSight Crime (2015) ‘Maras y pandillas en Honduras’ Sula to become a ‘smart city’. This planned www.insightcrime.org/images/PDFs/2015/MarasHonduras.pdf development offers an opportunity for 2. Comisión Interinstitucional para la Protección de las Personas humanitarian actors to work towards and Desplazadas por la Violencia (2015) ‘Caracterización del advocate for greater inclusion of typically desplazamiento interno en Honduras’ bit.ly/CIPPD-Honduras-2015 excluded geographical areas and sectors of 3. Comisionado Nacional de los Derechos Humanos Honduras the population. Investing in social, spatial (2018) Informe Annual 2018 bit.ly/CONADEH-Informe-Anual-2018 and economic inclusion will help develop 4. UNHCR (2016) Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International the city and strengthen the community Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Honduras www.refworld.org/pdfid/579767434.pdf A call to action: mobilising local resources in Ethiopia for urban IDPs Evan Easton-Calabria, Delina Abadi and Gezahegn Gebremedhin Several lessons can be drawn from the successful multi-level response – by both local government and the local community – to the arrival of large numbers of IDPs in Adama, Ethiopia.

In 2018, about 1,340 registered households many local non-governmental organisations as well as many unregistered internally (NGOs) and individuals participated in displaced persons (IDPs) fled ethnic conflict supporting and settling the IDPs. This in the Somali region of Ethiopia to seek safety may be a unique instance of an entirely in Adama, the capital of the Oromia region, Ethiopian, collective and largely local approximately 100km southeast of Addis effort to operate successfully at this scale Ababa. The IDPs, who were mainly ethnic and within such a short period of time. Oromo, arrived in Adama over the course of several months. The sudden and huge influx A call to action of IDPs put immense pressure on the city’s Many IDPs initially settled in kebele capacity to provide the necessary support. compounds and a privately-owned While most of the focus on internal school compound, as they had nowhere displacement in Ethiopia remains on the else to go. They were first aided by local Somali region (which hosts the majority of passers-by who gave them in-kind support the country’s approximately three million such as food, blankets, mattresses and IDPs), significant lessons can be learned from clothes, as well as cash. Although the Adama’s response. In the absence of large- kebele officials allowed them to stay in the scale international assistance, a little-known compounds, the IDPs lacked shelter and campaign to address the needs of IDPs led to had limited access to toilets and kitchens. a multi-level response from federal, regional Quickly, the city administration and and – in particular – local urban actors. regional government called society to Ultimately, under the auspices of the city action through social media and TV outlets, administration, all 28 sectoral government emphasising the need to build housing bureaus, hundreds of private sector actors, and advertising an emergency fund that 18 kebeles (neighbourhood districts), 243 had been established. Different strategies Idirs (community-based associations) and for spreading the call for support, such Cities and towns 59 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

as through providing a daily report about only one month of their training period

the IDPs and publicising private investors’ because the IDPs mounted illegal strike RSC support, were used. Media footage was also action in the manufacturing compound shared, ranging from showing how people twice within a week, leading to considerable were living in kebeles to showing IDPs and financial loss for the company. local community members celebrating Muslim holidays together. One Ethiopian Local NGO response journalist described how the regional TV NGOs offered IDPs basic necessities and station OBN was “the voice of these people”. especially targeted women, mothers and children. Donations included mattresses, Local private sector response nappies, clothing, baby milk and kitchen The local private sector, from hotels to supplies. Some of these items were manufacturing companies, played a significant purchased based on a list provided by role in the response and, in particular, the local government while others were contributed significantly to the construction donated as needed to individuals. of houses for each of the registered IDP Over six months, one local NGO helped households. Most private sector actors 200 households and a further 100 women responded to the call for assistance that had through a contribution worth about 251,000 been issued through the media, although birr (about $7,800). A health-focused NGO some were personally approached by the provided free health care to IDPs for three Mayor of Adama. According to interview to four months during the crisis period, and respondents from different government another took in 12 abandoned children, of sectoral bureaus and IDP representatives,1 whom eight are currently in the adoption these private sector actors needed little process and four in foster care. However, convincing to help as they themselves had some NGOs we interviewed mentioned the witnessed the displacement crisis first-hand. lack of registration and identity documents These private companies donated cash, of some of the IDPs as a challenge, as they basic necessities such as food and blankets, did not know who had received access and steel roofs, cement, iron bars and sand to free health care and if the abandoned for the construction of houses. Some even children had actually been displaced. As the sponsored the building of multiple houses. number of those in need rose, many NGOs One private car assembly firm, for example, decided to help anyone claiming to be an built 64 houses worth about 3.5 million birr IDP. One NGO, Noble Action, explained (about US$109,000), and another built 100 their rationale: “The aim of this organisation houses. Some of these companies complained is to help people. We could not just ignore that their donation was not tax deductible the crisis. This is what we stand for.” and wanted more transparency from the government about the money collected for Community response the support of IDPs; however, it seems that Local individuals played a huge role in they benefited from the resulting media supporting IDPs when they first arrived in coverage, and thus used their donations as the city. Besides donating cash, clothing and a marketing strategy. Ultimately, resulting other material support, individuals gathered competition for free media coverage in in different kebele compounds for several exchange for donations played a huge days to cook hot meals for the IDPs. Some role in successfully mobilising funds. existing Idirs also stepped in to offer support. Most private companies did not offer These informal institutions are widespread in employment opportunities to the IDPs; those Ethiopia and offer important social protection, we interviewed cited skills and cultural but are generally only established between gaps as reasons for not doing so. In one trusted neighbours, families or friends. One case, a manufacturing company hired 125 conducted a range of community organising IDPs; however, their employment lasted and fundraising and collected clothing 60 Cities and towns FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

donations from their community and schools. it is clear that it was at the local level in Idirs and Equb (informal rotating savings and Adama – through action taken by city and credit associations) formed by IDPs themselves neighbourhood government, the private sector, continue to meet regularly and support community associations, local NGOs, and each other when there are marriages and individuals – that the response was strongest. deaths. One Idir, for example, holds a coffee The response also offers some lessons. ceremony every Sunday which has created Firstly, while quick mobilisation can be a support system for IDP women to talk successful for addressing some long-term about their challenges and meet other IDPs. needs such as housing, as well as emergency needs like the immediate availability of food, Lessons and insights it appears to be more difficult to facilitate other Successful communication about the appeal needs such as employment, which require for support came from ‘cascading’ a single ongoing relationships and the availability of message through federal, regional and certain skills. It is possible, however, that a local government. Social media was an communication approach like that used in the important tool in spreading the message to Adama response could be used to spread the different actors and communicating with word about particular skill sets in a displaced potential donors, including in the Ethiopian population to a local or regional audience. diaspora. As well as television coverage, Secondly, formalising individual and business posts on Facebook, YouTube and Telegram donations, particularly those above a certain groups popularised the call for support. amount, by making them tax-deductible may This widespread targeting gave many of our increase some actors’ willingness to donate. informants a feeling of positive obligation; Finally, registering all IDPs upon arrival once a critical mass was reached, offering in cities can facilitate the assistance that is support became a kind of actionable norm, offered to them by providing better knowledge even for those not directly called upon. The of how many IDPs have returned and the focus on both in-kind and cash donations demographics and needs of those who remain. meant that actors could contribute in various Evan Easton-Calabria ways, involving contributors with and without [email protected] funds, both groups and individuals, and those Senior Research Officer, Refugee Studies Centre, motivated by both altruism and self-interest. University of Oxford www.rsc.ox.ac.uk Over $1 million was raised in the span of just a few months, without international Delina Abadi [email protected] assistance. Many IDPs ultimately voluntarily Gezahegn Gebremedhin returned with the help of the local [email protected] government, but the multi-level response led to the construction of 2,000 houses in Research consultants based in Addis Ababa which 1,340 registered IDP households and 1. This research forms part of the RSC project ‘Responses to Crisis about 500 IDP minors have settled. Although Migration in Ethiopia and Uganda: Researching the role of local actors in secondary cities’, funded by Cities Alliance/UNOPS and the call to action was promoted regionally, led by Evan Easton-Calabria.

Collaborate with FMR to boost your funding bid FMR has been included on a number of occasions in successful programmatic and research funding bids (including to the European Research Council, European Union, Research Council of Norway and Wellcome Trust), to the mutual benefit of all parties. Funders want to see how your findings and learning will be disseminated to the widest possible audience, including to policymakers. And they want evidence of impact. This is where FMR can help. Consider including an issue of FMR or an FMR mini-feature in your proposal (and budget) to enhance the dissemination and impact of your project outcomes. We can provide tailored information and budgets, plus evidence of outreach and impact. To discuss options, contact the Editors at [email protected]. General articles 61 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities Effective civil society engagement with governments on issues around detention Grant Mitchell

With immigration detention expanding globally, civil society has responded with a range of advocacy strategies to address rights and protection concerns.

The surge in the use of immigration Benefits of engagement detention following the 9/11 attacks in Notwithstanding the challenges involved, the US has failed to dissipate, and it all participants agreed there were is increasingly the norm for States to benefits to engagement.3 The importance detain people on security grounds. With of creating a space to draw attention to detention conditions often failing to meet issues arising and to explore new ideas international human rights standards, was highlighted. For civil society, this concerns over the rights and protection included the imperative of keeping of people in detention have prompted governments accountable while working a diverse range of responses from civil to address systemic issues of concern. society, including political protests, public Government officials listed a range of campaigning and strategic litigation. benefits to them from such engagement, In a number of contexts, creative including hearing about emerging issues and advocacy approaches have led to policy policy options of which the government was reform, including through engaging not aware. While motivations for engagement governments on new community- differed (such as responding to public based governance models. Drawing criticism, tackling operational challenges and on fieldwork in 16 countries between following legislative requirements), some 2016 and 2018, this article explores the officials had experienced improvements in modalities and tactics employed by civil services and policy responses as a result of society to constructively engage with engagement. They cited in particular the governments to prohibit, prevent or limit growing public pressure to avoid detaining the use of immigration detention.1 vulnerable people and their previous lack of Direct engagement with the State on knowledge of community-based alternatives. policy alternatives raises a range of ethical, Government officials in Malaysia, Mexico logistical and ideological dilemmas for and Zambia cited the need for good practice civil society.2 Lack of transparency in guidance (as they have a wide range of engagement processes and concern over responsibilities and may lack the in-depth the need to maintain independence, for knowledge needed), while the Taiwanese example, create a reluctance among some government stated the need for NGOs to civil society groups to engage with the share their expertise. Lack of knowledge of State. More broadly, reputational risks the complexities of specific groups affected – including perceptions of collusion or by immigration detention led a number of compromise – were noted as concerns that States to seek NGO guidance, including required continual navigation. Civil society the UK on understanding the barriers representatives in the US, for example, and difficulties affecting people’s ability raised concerns that they may inadvertently to comply with removal requirements. be co-opted to help the government “achieve A number of States had created regular nefarious intent as opposed to a common forums involving civil society. While some shared objective”. This highlighted the groups – such as in South Africa – viewed need for continual assessment of the risks these meetings as tokenistic, others (including of engagement against likely impact. both the government and NGOs in Taiwan) 62 General articles FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020 UNHCR/V Tan UNHCR/V Tan

Asylum seekers in detention, 2013. described constructive mutual engagement they are often very nervous about sharing which assisted policy development. information with non-government identities.” Meanwhile, the Swedish government Civil society noted the lack of political will acknowledged the expertise of and need for to engage as being a persistent obstacle, with partnership with civil society in its work some States refusing to engage or undertaking on asylum policy, and both the Swedish only ‘selective’ engagement with a limited and Japanese governments developed number of known civil society actors. memorandums of understanding with civil Some considered engagement to have been society as part of their reform efforts. perfunctory, with governments dismissing their advice without consideration or Barriers to engagement explanation. More broadly, civil society cited Civil society and government identified the difficulty of having rational discussions barriers that both hinder engagement and on policy issues given the defensive affect the outcomes of such engagement. position adopted by some governments. These included fundamentally differing Governments in turn commented that positions, approaches and language some advocates used obstructive, adversarial used, such as the ideological and rights- approaches which were counterproductive. based discourse used by some in civil Officials noted unrealistic expectations of society in contrast to the instrumentalist engagement, with ‘shopping lists’ of concerns and symbolic rhetoric of government. tabled with no solutions suggested, and Both government and civil society individual cases raised rather than systemic indicated that their assumptions affected issues addressed. Some officials criticised civil their engagement, including each party’s society for refusing to explore incremental perception of the other as monolithic change and for their lack of sophistication rather than comprising diverse individuals in developing engagement strategies and opinions. A general mistrust on both that distinguished between targeting sides was a barrier to engagement, with legislative reform through the judiciary and some governments viewing civil society parliament, and improving implementation as presenting a potential risk of divulging within current legislation and policy. sensitive information. As noted by a US NGO, “The government needs to feel a certain level Models of effective engagement of either comfort or pressure in order to sit Despite these disparities, 80% of respondents down at the table with civil society because stated that engagement had been either General articles 63 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

‘effective’ or ‘very effective’ in contributing Meanwhile, all civil society interviewees to policy change. These outcomes included had usefully focused on the effectiveness legislative amendments, policy reform and the of community-based alternatives in terms introduction of new programmatic models. of cost saving, compliance and upholding This included legislative reform to limit the rights when engaging with government. use of immigration detention in Malta, Taiwan Highlighting the benefits of engagement and Turkey, the prohibition of the detention and establishing shared goals and working of minors in Ecuador, and the exploration and relationships were core components of implementation of alternatives to immigration effective engagement. This was noted detention in Thailand, Zambia, Mexico in the development of regular forums and the UK. As a result, creative, effective with clear terms of reference, such as engagement models were identified across the inter-agency working group on child all regions, a summary of which is below. detention in Malaysia. An NGO working In developing engagement strategies, in Asia stressed, “You’ve got to establish a civil society indicated three detention- relationship first … before you can move related problems to address: to harder or more complex issues or even put direct proposals on the table.” The political problem: navigating the Pragmatic approaches to engagement political dynamics at play, including were also effective, including presenting government motivations in detaining practical implementation options and people and in engaging with civil society, modulating human rights language to and mapping levels of authority related to ensure understanding. Balancing critique the power to detain, release or undertake with constructive options for improvement, reform. such as sharing good practices and The public problem: assessing public solutions, contributed to policy change as, discourse and sentiment related to the use for example, in the move by Belgium and of detention, and developing coordinated Japan to end child detention. A further advocacy strategies with key civil society tactic utilised was to propose the testing of actors. Collaborative, two-track approaches new community-based alternatives, such were effective in certain contexts, with as case management.4 A number of States some groups focused on raising public agreed to pilot these initiatives, including awareness and increasing political in Israel for torture survivors and in Mexico pressure, and others directly engaging the for asylum-seeker children. A Mexican State on solutions. NGO stated, “The first thing is to define the The technical problem: considering a problem in a way that allows you to find a range of policy options to present to the solution. That helps gains legitimacy and State and determining which proposals are trust from the government because they see applicable within current law and policy, you are trying to help them find a solution, and which require legislative change and as opposed to trying to expose them.” differing strategies. Lastly, communication strategies for how to frame issues played a key role. Many civil Engagement strategies were further society groups highlighted the importance strengthened by using a range of tactics. of using language which both reduced Developing civil society’s expertise in defensiveness and also sought to achieve policy areas proved effective in increasing a convergence of interest. An NGO in Asia their access to decision-makers and in stated the importance of “using the kind strengthening the impact of engagement on of language which puts them at ease and policy development. Indeed, all government makes them feel that they can engage with participants indicated that they solicited input you in this conversation … without their from civil society representatives deemed to every word being judged or scrutinised or be experts in the relevant areas of concern. that they are going to be put on the spot.” 64 General articles FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

Engagement challenges and opportunities are critical if damaging detention legislation, While engagement strategies have policy and practice are to be reformed. worked in certain contexts, not all tactics These initiatives should be coordinated as employed were effective, and some were part of collaborative long-term advocacy counterproductive. Highly critical or strategies that target both public and political adversarial approaches often led to a spheres, utilising creative, pragmatic and stalemate or termination of engagement. solutions-based approaches to uphold the In Israel and Malaysia, for example, rights of refugees, asylum seekers, stateless officials were unresponsive to international persons and undocumented migrants. As examples that they deemed incompatible noted by a Mexican NGO, “Government with their own national context. In North engagement is one strategy for change. Macedonia, attempts to diffuse defensiveness Ultimately, advocacy is to change people’s backfired when officials stated that reform minds in society, not just government.” was not necessary since its national Grant Mitchell [email protected] detention practices had been compared PhD candidate, Swinburne University favourably with those in neighbouring www.swinburne.edu.au/research/urban- countries. It was also noted that while transitions/ engagement led to a range of commitments 1. Data was collected in: Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, to reform, not all were implemented. Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Further, engagement appeared less Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK, US and Zambia. effective and sustainable in periods of 2. Civil society in this research refers to non-state actors who work to influence policy, processes and practice, including political change characterised by an non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based increase in conservative policies or during organisations (CBOs), human rights organisations, faith-based periods of increasing arrivals of irregular groups, think-tanks, academics, advocacy groups and welfare providers. migrants. In these contexts, engagement 3. 22 participants were interviewed, including 12 civil society appeared to be more effective when representatives, seven government officials and three Human connected to social movements, as in Rights Commission and UN representatives. Participant observation occurred in tripartite and government meetings in 10 the reversal in 2019 – following national countries. and international outcry – of the policy 4. Sampson R C, Chew V, Mitchell G and Bowring L (2015) There separating families at the US border. Are Alternatives: A Handbook for Preventing Unnecessary Detention Ultimately, greater focus on and support (revised edition), International Detention Coalition, Melbourne. for government engagement by civil society bit.ly/IDC-Alternatives-2015

The spirit of Cartagena? Applying the extended refugee definition to Venezuelans in Latin America Cécile Blouin, Isabel Berganza and Luisa Feline Freier

Despite the widespread incorporation of the expanded ‘Cartagena definition’ of refugee into their national asylum frameworks, States in Latin America must do more to apply this definition – and resulting protection – to displaced Venezuelans.

Venezuela’s political, economic and that the number of displaced Venezuelans humanitarian crisis has led to one of globally may reach over 8 million in 2020.1 the largest contemporary situations of In early 2020, Colombia officially hosted displacement. Latin America and the 1.63 million, Peru 864,000, Ecuador 385,000 Caribbean hosts around 3.7 million of the and Chile 372,000 Venezuelans. Globally, more than 4.5 million people who have left just under 770,000 had applied for asylum.2 the country since 2015, and it is estimated The highest numbers of applications have General articles 65 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

been received by Peru (with 395,000 pending concept of a refugee to be recommended for applications in early January 2020) and Brazil use in the region is one which, in addition to (130,000 pending applications at the end of containing the elements of the 1951 Convention November 2019), with other countries in and the 1967 Protocol, includes among refugees the region receiving far fewer requests.3 In persons who have fled their country because comparison with the scale of the Venezuelan their lives, safety or freedom have been displacement, the overall number of asylum threatened by generalised violence, foreign applications is relatively low. This can be aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation partly explained by the special residence of human rights or other circumstances which programmes offered to Venezuelans by have seriously disturbed public order”.5 several countries, principally by Colombia, The Cartagena Declaration is a non- where 640,000 Venezuelans had regularised binding regional instrument that does not their presence by the end of October 2019. eliminate or replace the traditional definition Other factors contributing to the relatively of refugee status; rather, it complements it low numbers of asylum applications are that by extending protection to persons based on many Venezuelans are not familiar with additional grounds linked to their country or the regional definition of refugee or do not region of origin. This definition starts from a want to limit their freedom of movement – a collective vision that analyses the situation of potential consequence of obtaining asylum the country of origin, unlike the traditional seeker status – in order to be able to visit definition, which is focused on the case-by- relatives in Venezuela. Nevertheless, asylum case analysis of individual persecution. applications by Venezuelans have steadily Although the Declaration is not binding, increased, almost tripling globally each most countries in Latin America (with the year since 2015. Refugee recognition rates, exceptions of Cuba, Panama, the Dominican on the other hand, remain extremely low: Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela) between 2014 and 2018, Peru granted only 629 have incorporated both the traditional applications and rejected 739, leaving 227,325 definition of the 1951 Convention as well requests pending at the end of 2018.4 Over the as the extended Cartagena Declaration same period Mexico accepted 4,415 of 10,845 definition (either in its entirety or with applications, Colombia just 79 and Brazil only some modifications) into their asylum 22. One sign of hope, however, is that Brazil frameworks. Such incorporation implies that accepted over 37,000 Venezuelan applications States have turned this ‘soft law’ definition between December 2019 and January 2020, into a binding concept. This led UNHCR to applying the Cartagena definition. describe Latin America as the new world In light of the steady increase in leader in refugee protection, even surpassing Venezuelan asylum applications in Latin Europe as a model of human rights-based America – which have reached significant refugee legislation (albeit before the onset numbers in some countries such as Peru and of the Venezuelan displacement crisis).6 Brazil – but the generally low recognition In a May 2019 guidance note, UNHCR rates by States in the region, it is important emphasised that the extended definition to analyse whether the extended definition should be applied to the majority of of the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees Venezuelan asylum seekers.7 It could be (the Cartagena Declaration) applies to argued that interpretations of “generalised the displacement of Venezuelans. The violence”, “massive violation of human rights” Venezuelan crisis thus represents one of the and “disturbance to public order” vary and first crucial tests of the application of the thus hinder the recognition of applications expanded refugee definition in the region. within the framework of Cartagena. At the same time, the UN and other organisations Cartagena and national regulations have explicitly denounced situations of The Cartagena Declaration was adopted in threats to public order, general violence and 1984 and States noted that: “the definition or violations of human rights in Venezuela. 66 General articles FMR 63 www.fmreview.org/cities February 2020

For example, a July 2018 report by the Office attract many more Venezuelans, putting of the UN High Commissioner for Human more pressure on public services, which Rights argued that in Venezuela there have are already overburdened, further been violations of the right to health and propelling xenophobia9 and potentially access to justice, food, freedom of opinion empowering extremist political forces. and expression, as well as arbitrary detention, Given these domestic concerns, a joint torture, disappearances and violation of the decision by Latin American States to apply freedom of peaceful assembly.8 Between 2013 the Cartagena definition to Venezuelans on a and 2019, the Organization of American States prima facie basis would significantly strengthen (OAS) and the Inter-American Commission refugee protection in the region. If countries on Human Rights issued more than 60 continue to resist applying the definition, they communications on the political, social and risk undermining not only their domestic humanitarian situation of Venezuela, several legislation but also the spirit of Cartagena and of which point to serious human rights decades of progress in terms of protection. violations. In the same vein, the States in Cécile Blouin [email protected] the region have themselves denounced the Researcher, Institute of Democracy and Human situation in Venezuela, for example through Rights; Professor, Department of Law, Pontificia the declarations of the Lima Group. Despite Universidad Católica del Perú these political pronouncements, with the http://idehpucp.pucp.edu.pe exception of Mexico and Brazil, none have

chosen to apply the extended definition to Isabel Berganza [email protected] applicants of Venezuelan nationality. In Academic Vice Rector, Universidad Antonio Ruiz November 2019 Colombia announced that de Montoya, Peru www.uarm.edu.pe such an application was being considered, but in January 2020 implemented new Luisa Feline Freier [email protected] migratory regularisation measures instead. Researcher and Professor, Academic Department of Social and Political Sciences, Universidad del Factors at play Pacífico, Lima, Peruwww.up.edu.pe We suggest three reasons are at play in this 1. OAS press release, 28 June 2019 bit.ly/OEA-280619 contradiction between denouncement of 2. Plataforma de Coordinación para Refugiados y Migrantes de human rights violations in Venezuela and Venezuela https://r4v.info/es/situations/platform the lack of refugee recognition according 3. UNHCR Operational Portal Refugee Situations: Venezuela Situation https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/vensit to Cartagena. First, there is widespread 4. http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/asylum_seekers lack of experience and technical capacity. 5. bit.ly/Cartagena-Declaration The main host countries of Venezuelan 6. Freier L F (2015) ‘A liberal paradigm shift? A Critical Appraisal of migrants and asylum seekers have little or Recent Trends in Latin American asylum legislation’ in Gauci J-P, no experience in receiving migrants and Giuffré M and Tsourdi E (Eds)Exploring the Boundaries of Refugee refugees. Although they have benevolent laws Law: Current Protection Challenges. Brill–Nijhoff on asylum and migration, they had never had 7. bitly/UNHCR-Guidance-Note-Venez to apply them to a large number of people. 8. ACNUDH (2018) ‘Violaciones de los derechos humanos en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela: una espiral descendente que Secondly, applying the Cartagena no parece tener fin’ https://goo.gl/JRgKZr Declaration definition of refugee would 9. Freier L F and Parent N ‘A Turning Tide?

Venezuelan Displacement and Migration Issue 56 mean recognising a large number of people October 2017 Governance in Peru’, MPC Blog, 11 December 2019 as refugees, especially in the Peruvian case, Latin America bit.ly/Freier-Parent-2019 and the Caribbean and giving them unlimited access to social building on a tradition of protection protection including health care. The potential fiscal cost of this application in countries For more on responses to displacement

plus articles on: the CRRF, urban refugee integration, a development approach to displacement, new guidelines for assessing in Latin America, see the October 2017 SOGIE claims, and the Rohingya crisis with largely informal labour markets and FMR56_English_2017.indd 1 . th ANNIVERSARY 30 EDITION already precarious welfare systems is high. FMR issue on ‘Latin America and the 03/10/2017 Tuesday, 3 October 11:36 Thirdly, and relating to the previous Caribbean: building on a tradition of protection’. www.fmreview.org/latinamerica-caribbean point, is the fear that ‘pull factors’ will News from the Refugee Studies Centre 67 FMR 63 February 2020 www.fmreview.org/cities

www.rethinkingrefuge.org The RSC launched its Rethinking Refuge platform in 2019 to provide a space for research-based discussion on a number of themes relevant to refugee policy, practice and studies. While many of the short articles published to date contribute to debates on necessary reforms of the international refugee regime, others shed light on understudied theories and topics, and offer a rethinking of how the discipline of refugee studies can contribute to issues of contemporary displacement. Although we generally only solicit articles, if you feel your research would be a good fit please familiarise yourself with the platform and the style of articles published, and then contact Evan Easton-Calabria, editor of Rethinking Refuge, at [email protected]. International Summer School in Forced Migration 5–17 July 2020, Oxford The Summer School offers an intensive, interdisciplinary and participative approach to the study of forced migration. It enables people working with refugees and other forced migrants to reflect critically on the forces and institutions that dominate the world of the displaced. The course combines the very best of Oxford University’s academic excellence with a stimulating and participatory method of critical learning and reflection. Closing date for applications: 30th April. Details at www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/study/international-summer-school Visiting Fellowships at the RSC Visiting Fellowships at the RSC are open to PhD (DPhil) students, post-doctoral scholars and professional academics researching aspects of forced migration. Each Fellow is assigned an academic contact and is expected to undertake a specific programme of self-directed study or research. For more details, plus testimonials from previous Fellows, please visit www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/study/visiting-fellowships.

For details of RSC research projects, forthcoming events, publications and podcasts please visit www.rsc.ox.ac.uk.

Research in Brief series This series presents concise summaries of research in an accessible format. Recent themes include: Avoiding refugee status and alternatives to asylum • Exploring assumptions behind ‘voluntary’ returns from North Africa • Venezuelan survival migration as a development opportunity • Uganda’s self-reliance model • Resettled Syrian refugees in Oxford • Refugee energy • Refugees as providers of protection and assistance • Decriminalising ‘humanitarian smuggling’ Series online at www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/publications

FMR International Advisors Advisors serve in an individual capacity and do not necessarily represent their institutions. Lina Abirafeh Matthew Gibney Khalid Koser Marcel van Maastrigt Lebanese American University Refugee Studies Centre GCERF UNHCR Nina M Birkeland Rachel Hastie Erin Mooney Marcia Vera Espinoza Norwegian Refugee Council Oxfam UN Protection Capacity/ProCap Queen Mary University of London Jeff Crisp Lucy W Kiama Kathrine Starup Richard Williams Independent consultant HIAS Kenya Danish Refugee Council Independent consultant Bangladesh is now hosting over one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Many of their settlements are becoming city-like in structure. Mohammad Rakibul Hasan (InterAction photo contest) CC BY-NC 4.0 license CC BY-NC contest) photo Mohammad Rakibul Hasan (InterAction

FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY www.fmreview.org/cities