Social cohesion in displacement: when aid actors should step back

This paper presents our policy analysis of the findings from a two-year research project exploring social cohesion between refugees and host communities and within refugee communities. The research sought to address two fundamental questions: How important is social cohesion in refugee settings? And...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2024
Main Authors: Sturridge, Caitlin, Amanda Gray Meral, Holloway, Kerrie, Levine, Simon
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Displaced persons
Humanitarian aid
Immigration
Refugees
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:This paper presents our policy analysis of the findings from a two-year research project exploring social cohesion between refugees and host communities and within refugee communities. The research sought to address two fundamental questions: How important is social cohesion in refugee settings? And what role should aid actors play in supporting social cohesion? Our conclusions draw on a literature review, data collection in Pakistan and Tanzania, and an expert roundtable. A key question that emerged during the research was: Should social cohesion be a primary goal of aid interventions or a secondary objective of wider practice? In other words, should aid actors seek to orchestrate social relations through specific interventions designed to build social cohesion? Or, should they integrate social considerations across their policy and practice in order to guard against the unintended consequences that all kinds of programming can have on social relations?