Refuge to Return: Operational Lessons for Serving Mobile Populations in Conflict-Affected Environments (Micro Note)

This paper discusses Refuge to Return (R2R) which is a program of providing microfinance to mobile populations. The program links financial services to refugees in their country of refuge, with those in their country of return, through a transferable credit history methodology.

The paper

• Details the constraints faced by refugees in finding sustainable livelihoods;
• Identifies micro businesses as one income replacement strategy for these populations;
• States that appropriate microfinance services can provide the capital for the displaced to begin and expand micro businesses that will generate income while in refuge, and practical experience on return.

Identifying R2R as a program that offers the refugees quick access to microfinance services, the paper:

• Discusses the working of the program in the context of the conflict and displacement in the Mano River Basin;
• States that the key innovation of R2R has been the long term strategy and the use of linkages both in the areas of refuge and return.

The paper concludes that:

• R2R is an innovative and practical trans-border response to restoring livelihoods of displaced persons within a war-affected region;
• Replication of the program, when based on sound practices and combined with increased coordination, would offer the opportunity to facilitate economic development of the refugees during the initial transition phase, and serve as a long-term tool for reconstruction and development.