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Unlocking Collaborative Solutions: The Impact of the UNHCR-WFP Joint Hub in Situations of Forced Displacement
Side event on the margins of the Second Regular Session of the Executive Board, Tuesday, 14 November 2023, 13:30 – 14:30
Valerie Guarnieri, Assistant Executive Director Programme at WFP, set the tone with opening remarks, underscoring the Hub’s pivotal role in reshaping humanitarian responses amid extreme funding shortfalls and an increased emphasis on political and development solutions for forced displacement.
Moderated by Marcia Wong from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the event featured speakers including Hanan Malek Hamdan, UNHCR Representative to the Arab Republic of Egypt and the League of Arab States, and Marcus Prior, Deputy Country Director, Uganda, UN World Food Programme.
The discussion illuminated the Hub’s achievements, demonstrating its significant improvements in delivering humanitarian assistance in challenging contexts. Emphasizing collaboration, the Hub emerged as a symbol of UNHCR and WFP working seamlessly together, complementing each other’s efforts, where “magic can happen.” The discussion also emphasized the Hub’s role in enhancing targeting, ensuring aid reaches the most vulnerable populations in line with donor expectations.
Recognizing the growing focus on political and development solutions for forced displacement, the Hub was acknowledged as a pivotal advocate for these approaches. The event aimed to increase awareness of the Hub’s impact, enhance understanding of collaboration in forced displacement, and identify innovative funding approaches and prioritization practices.
In summary, the event successfully showcaased the transformative impact of the UNHCR-WFP Joint Hub in humanitarian response, offering valuable insights into effective collaboration, innovation, and adaptability in addressing the challenges of forced displacement crises.
A Call to Action
The UNHCR-WFP Call to Action (C2A) – Partnership for Refugees’ Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security is a joint initiative launched in 2021 which directs all UNHCR and WFP Country Offices to work together to ensure that humanitarian assistance is available and targeted to those in need. In addition, the C2A identifies and advances concrete actions to expand long-term sustainable food security, nutrition, self-reliance and inclusion opportunities. Mozambique, alongside Jordan, is one of the first countries to pilot the initiative and will be provided with technical support from the Joint UNHCR-WFP Programme Excellence and Targeting Hub.
Born out of the need to respond to growing needs and limited funding, the Call to Action (C2A) builds on the 2016 Joint Strategy – Enhancing Self-Reliance in Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Refugee Situations which aims to support refugees in meeting their essential needs in a sustainable manner and with dignity. The C2A focuses on countries where WFP and UNHCR are operational and interested in joining forces. It builds on the hypothesis that bringing the strengths of both agencies together will lead to efficiencies of scale and maximize opportunities for long-term investments in the wellbeing of refugees and other forcibly displaced people, thus breaking the cycle of aid dependency. In Mozambique today, while refugees mainly depend on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs, a favourable socioeconomic climate and progressive legal and policy framework are encouraging signs that progressive refugee self-reliance and local integration is possible. At the same time, concerns about the sustainability and appropriateness of long term humanitarian assistance has prompted country office teams to jointly invest in a joint targeting approach for needs-based assistance as well as a clear joint plan of engagement with government, member states, development actors, the UN country team and international financial institutions active in Mozambique. At the core of the C2A in Mozambique is a willingness to make sure that refugees enjoy the same level of support and access to services as other displaced populations under a ‘one beneficiary’ approach. The C2A will thus look at directing existing government systems as well as development investments and programs towards refugees in the country.
The Joint UNHCR-WFP Programme Excellence and Targeting Hub (the “Joint Hub”) is providing strategic, programmatic and technical support to Mozambique across a number of joint ventures, including the C2A. The Joint Hub is available to provide support to Regional Bureaus and Country Offices for joint workstreams across a range of thematic areas. These areas include developing multi-year, multi-stakeholder intervention strategies and plans to support refugee food security and socioeconomic inclusion, in accordance with country strategies from both agencies, Government national plans, and strategies from International Financial Institutions and development donors.
In July 2023, the Joint Hub deployed a C2A consultant to initiate technical discussions with WFP and UNHCR country offices in Mozambique. Recommendations are being taken into consideration. For more information about the Joint Hub, the C2A or to request our support, please email us at [email protected].
UNHCR/WFP Joint Post Distribution Monitoring: Profiling analysis to inform targeting and prioritization of assistance to refugees in South Sudan
The UNHCR/WFP Joint Post Distribution Monitoring exercise is informing the development of a needs-based approach to food and non-food assistance for refugees in South Sudan. Primary data was collected from 1,295 refugee households in January 2023, in eight different refugee camps. Data was collected and analysed based on the UNHCR/WFP Joint Analytical Framework (JAF).
The full report is available here.
Mission d’évaluation conjointe (JAM) PAM-UNHCR auprès des populations réfugiées, déplacées internes et hôtes au Niger
This report aims to provide a better understanding of the situation, profiles and needs (including food security and nutrition) of refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host populations.
The full report is available here.
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To access previous issues of the newsletter, please see below:
- September 2020 Newsletter
- February 2021 Newsletter
- August 2021 Newsletter
- November 2021 Newsletter
- May 2022 Newsletter
Learning from UNHCR/WFP Joint Needs Assessments June 2023
Topics covered include: preparing for an assessment, timeline, roles and responsibilities, technical considerations for data collection and analysis, as well as validating and disseminating results.
The full report is available here.
Support to UNHCR and WFP country operations in Uganda
Uganda hosts approximately 1.5 million refugees, originating from South Sudan (57%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (32%), Somalia (4%) Burundi (3%) and the rest from Eritrea, Rwanda and other countries. Refugees have been welcomed, registered, allocated land and provided with legal documents.
In December 2020, UNHCR and WFP country offices jointly requested support from the Joint Hub to assist them in (1) revising the socio-economic and protection vulnerability frameworks, in order to facilitate needs-based prioritisation; and (2) operationalising the shift to a needs-based prioritisation approach for the delivery of food assistance.
In response, the Joint Hub has provided various forms of support to the operations in Uganda, from early 2021 onwards. Support has included the deployment of a staff member as Joint Hub Country Coordinator for six months in 2022, four in-country missions and ongoing remote technical support.
The Joint Hub has contributed to building the capacity of staff in country operations throughout the process so that monitoring, analysis and implementation of the targeting approach, as well as future assessments, continue to be conducted jointly.
The full report is available here.
Support to UNHCR and WFP country operations in Rwanda
The Government of Rwanda has a progressive refugee protection framework where refugees have freedom of movement and the right to work. The government has also promoted the financial inclusion of refugees through their National Financial Inclusion Strategy.
For many years, UNHCR and WFP have provided assistance for food and basic needs to all refugees living in camps in Rwanda. Both agencies, as well as the Government, have come to recognize that although there are still high levels of vulnerability, not all refugees in Rwanda are equally vulnerable and in need of long-term humanitarian assistance. Severe funding shortfalls for WFP food assistance – with 60% food ration cuts implemented in February and March 2021 – also contributed to an accelerated timeline for prioritised assistance.
Since May 2021, a needs-based and protection-sensitive approach is in place, identifying and supporting the most vulnerable refugee households with humanitarian assistance, while less vulnerable refugees with higher capacities no longer receive basic assistance.
The full report is available here.
Support to UNHCR and WFP country operations in Mauritania
UNHCR and WFP began working on joint targeting in 2018, partly due to reducing budgets, with the aim of shifting to a needs-based approach for the delivery of basic needs assistance (food and non-food, both cash and in-kind). As a result of this targeting exercise, the ration size for food assistance was adjusted according to vulnerability, with refugees who were considered less vulnerable receiving half rations, while the most vulnerable continued to receive full rations.
The full report is available here.
UNHCR-WFP collaboration in Rwanda: Moving to needs based assistance for Refugees
For many years, UNHCR and WFP assistance for food and basic needs in Rwanda had been provided to all refugees living in camps. Both agencies recognized that while there are still high levels of vulnerability, not all refugees in Rwanda are equally vulnerable and in need of long-term humanitarian assistance.
Since May 2021 UNHCR and WFP moved to a needs-based targeting approach for the provision of cash for food assistance to refugees in camps, with support from the UNHCR-WFP Joint Hub with the following objectives:
- Identify and support the most vulnerable refugee households in need of humanitarian assistance and less vulnerable refugees with higher capacities who would benefit from livelihoods support, while
- Ensuring the greatest protection outcomes through strong community participation, communications with refugee communities, and risk analysis to inform the approach.
UNHCR-WFP staff reflect on progress so far…
In the above video, Ndèye Aissatou M. Ndiaye, UNHCR Representative, Edith Heines, WFP Country Director, Inka Himanen, WFP Head of Programme, and Zahra Mirghani, UNHCR Senior Protection Officer, reflect on the progress made so far.
For more information on UNHCR and WFP move to a needs-based targeting approach in Rwanda, you can read a four-page summary here.