Finding Economic Opportunity in the City

This report looks at International Rescue Committe’s (IRC) experiences in cash assistance and livelihoods programming in Lebanon and Jordan in the context of the Syrian regional response. It explores opportunities and challenges inherent to cash and livelihoods programming, identifying good practices and ways to integrate other relevant sectors in order to produce better outcomes for clients.

One of the primary reasons that refugees are increasingly moving to cities is to find work. Ensuring that urban refugees can access viable economic opportunities is therefore a critical component of any urban humanitarian response strategy. This report underlines the importance of programming that promotes economic wellbeing, with a particular focus on cash assistance,3 livelihoods support programming4 and highlights linkages between the two. It also shines a spotlight on the various opportunities5 and challenges6 that urban areas present for the achievement of long-term economic self-reliance for the most vulnerable city dwellers, while providing insight on how humanitarians may leverage the former and address the latter. 

Online home IRC
http://goo.gl/80We3O