Business and Refugees Challenge Survey

Business Fights Poverty has launched a project looking at how to mobilise more business action to support refugee livelihoods and long-term resilience. We would like to harness the collective experience and intelligence of the Business Fights Poverty network to identify current initiatives, lessons on what is working and isn’t working, and some of the obstacles and enablers of progress.

This survey is part of a Business Fights Poverty Challenge on Business and Refugees supported by Pearson and being done in partnership with UNHCR, Mercy Corps, Business Call to Action, Thomson Reuters Foundation and Innovest Advisory.

Please kindly take this short survey to share your views!

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* 1. What best describes the nature of your work?

I work for a multinational company that has developed our own initiative to support refugee livelihoods and resilience

I work for a multinational company that is actively involved in supporting refugee livelihoods and resilience through core business

I work for a social enterprise supporting refugee livelihoods and resilience

I work for a foundation (corporate or private) supporting refugee livelihoods and resilience

I work for a development finance institution or international donor or UN agency which has investments and/or programmes to support refugee livelihoods and resilience

I work for a network that includes organisations with an interest in business engagement in refugee livelihoods and resilience

I work for an NGO which has programmes supporting refugee livelihoods and resilience

I work for an advisory firm, or as an individual consultant, with clients engaged in supporting refugee livelihoods and resilience

Other (please specify)

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* 2. In which countries does your organization have or support programmes for refugee livelihoods and resilience? (select all that apply)

Jordan

Turkey

Lebanon

Uganda

Kenya

Ethiopia

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Myanmar

Other (please specify)

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* 3. What are the priorities for your organization’s support of refugee livelihoods and resilience? (select all that apply)

Children’s education

Youth and adult training and job readiness skills

Financing/investment for small enterprises

Access to healthcare services

Employment opportunities

Market access

Technology/digital solutions

Refugee rights protection (e.g. working conditions; civil registration)

Other (please specify)

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* 4. In your opinion, what are the most important ways business can help strengthen refugee livelihoods and resilience? (Choose a maximum 3)

Providing or funding education and training for refugees

Employing refugees in own operations or with direct suppliers

Buying from refugee-owned or run businesses

Foreign direct investment in host countries

Advocacy with governments on policies that create economic and educational opportunities for refugees

Enhancing access to technology and communication devices

Strengthening local NGO and government capacity

Developing products/services tailored to local refugee population

Providing charitable donations/philanthropic contributions to NGOs/implementation partners

Other (please specify)

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* 5. What is the greatest obstacle to greater private sector support of refugee livelihoods and resilience (our focus is on low to middle income countries where most refugees currently reside)?

Financial risk (e.g. uncertain/low returns, high upfront investment etc)

Reputational risk (e.g. local government/community tensions, poor transparency; informality, etc)

Legal challenges (e.g. work permits, rights protection, etc)

Lack of knowledge/awareness on how to contribute/support

Complexity of identifying and working with partners

Limited local support/capacity

Lack of internal high-level support

Other (please specify)

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* 6. What are the most important actions/investments the development/aid community can make to enable or mobilise more business support of refugee livelihoods and resilience?

Provide credible data and insights on refugee populations, specific needs/opportunities, and local markets

Pool financial resources (e.g. innovative finance mechanisms)

Lead coordination of activities and actors supporting refugees

Advocate with governments to create favorable policies for refugee employment, education, and access to services

Strengthen access to basic services for refugees (e.g. health, water, sanitation, food, energy)

Build capacity of local NGOs, small businesses, and potential implementation partners

Strengthen refugee knowledge and awareness of their rights and economic opportunities

Support the creation of special economic zones

Other (please specify)

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* 7. Can you give some examples of initiatives that have effectively mobilised business to support refugee livelihoods and resilience in low to middle income countries? If possible, please specify the host country and refugee population

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* 8. What are some specific challenges you or others have had to overcome for these initiatives to succeed (for refugee populations in low to middle income countries)? If possible, please specify the host country and refugee population

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* 9. Do you have any other comments, or can you recommend further contacts, organisations and knowledge resources?

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* 10. What would be the most valuable contribution this work could make to mobilising more business action in support of refugee livelihoods and resilience?

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* 11. If you would be interested in being contacted on the results of this survey or contributing further information or case studies, please provide us with your email address. We respect your privacy, and will never share your details with third parties.