Partnership for Evidence Supporting Migrant and Refugee Inclusion in Cities: IIED, WRC, and RI

United Kingdom (UK)United States of America (USA)Global

May 12

Written By Sophie van Haasen

International Institute for Environment and Development, Women’s Refugee Commission, and Refugees International

Start of Project

04/01/2026

End of Project

Ongoing

Overview

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC), and Refugees International (RI) commit to gathering and using evidence to support municipal authorities to further the social, economic, and spatial inclusion of refugees, IDPs and migrants in towns and cities in low- and middle-income countries. We will generate evidence on wellbeing, livelihoods and integration using participatory research methods and drawing from their experiences of designing programmes with migrants and displaced people living in urban areas. We will establish and strengthen channels will local authorities, international donors and funding mechanisms, and migrant- and refugee-led urban civil society to discuss and disseminate findings.

Expected Impact

IIED, WRC and RI have been actively partnering to advance their shared advocacy goals with respect to refugees, IDPs and vulnerable migrants since February 2025. Since forming this informal partnership, we have organised two roundtables in Washington DC (in April and December 2025) and a side event officially linked to the Global Compact on Refugees Progress Review in Geneva in December 2025. All of these events centred on raising awareness of the centrality of urban areas and leadership of local governments in response to refugees and migrants, and the importance of channelling funding and finance to municipal actors to extend services to migrants and displaced people. The event in Geneva provided an opportunity for representatives of Nairobi and Milan city governments to share their experiences of integrating refugees and migrants into service delivery. In addition, we have co-authored and published a policy brief that sets out the core advocacy messages relating to our focus on urban displacement and migration. Through this action, we are committing to maintaining this collaboration and extending the reach of our advocacy, through ongoing engagement with city authorities, and refugee and migrant-led organizations.