RefugePoint

RefugePoint partners with refugees to provide life-changing solutions and transform global support systems. Since 2005, RefugePoint has facilitated access to resettlement and complementary pathways for over 140,000 refugees and has supported more than 4,600 refugees in Nairobi in achieving self-reliance.

The Problem
In recent years, the world has witnessed the highest level of forced displacement on record. Over 100 million people have been forcibly displaced due to conflict, persecution, and human rights violations—a high watermark in history. More than 35 million of those displaced are refugees who have fled from their homes across an international border seeking safety. The majority are displaced for an average of 10 to 25 years. On average, less than 3% of these people can access a lasting solution annually, such as returning to their country of origin, legally integrating into their country of asylum, or resettling in another country.

Approximately $30 billion goes to emergency humanitarian response annually, but this is not a sustainable solution that enables people to rebuild their lives long-term. The former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, spoke about this challenge, saying that “millions are trapped in dependency on short-term aid that keeps them alive but falls short of ensuring their safety, dignity, and ability to thrive and be self-reliant over the long term.” The costs are vast: refugees have few or no opportunities to use their skills to support themselves. Over decades, this is an incalculable waste of human potential. Additionally, a growing number of refugees risk or lose their lives in the hands of traffickers while attempting to seek safety. Large movements of refugees have triggered political turmoil and can destabilize countries and regions. There is an urgent need to expand solutions for refugees so they can thrive.

The Solution
RefugePoint helps refugees become self-reliant in the country to which they have fled or resettle in a new country if they cannot safely remain in the country to which they have fled. Both these pillars focus on a single outcome: a solution that enables a person to thrive in safety. RefugePoint has a distinct approach: they develop innovative programs, demonstrate that they work, and drive large-scale change by training partners, building coalitions, and influencing policy and practice to reach refugees globally. RefugePoint’s strategy focuses on supporting refugees through two core programmatic areas:

Self-reliance: Helping refugees become self-reliant in the countries to which they flee. RefugePoint has a flagship program, called the Urban Refugee Protection Program, in Nairobi, Kenya, that reaches thousands annually. This program catalyzed RefugePoint’s involvement in the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (RSRI), a global multistakeholder network co-founded by RefugePoint. The RSRI uses self-reliance programming to innovate global refugee response by expanding data and evidence, improving standards of practice for programming, and creating conducive policy environments.

Resettlement: Helping refugees relocate legally and permanently to safe countries where they can rebuild their lives. RefugePoint has also built other pathways to help refugees relocate, including family reunification and labor mobility. Beyond RefugePoint’s referrals into these pathways, they have prioritized the more active engagement of NGOs globally in making resettlement referrals to expand access and reach the refugees most in need of this solution.