Enabling the Economic Inclusion of Refugees: Lessons on Providing Refugees with Timely Access to Labour Markets

The document argues that providing refugees with timely access to work is essential for their long-term economic inclusion and benefits host countries by addressing talent gaps. It examines diverse national approaches: Jordan used the Jordan Compact to waive work permit fees and stimulate trade; Kenya utilized economic modelling to drive the 2022 Refugees Act; Germany implemented the Asylum Procedure Acceleration Act of 2015 to fast-track integration for certain asylum seekers; and Canada and Australia developed skilled migration pilots to adapt traditional economic routes for displaced persons. The paper also highlights public-private partnerships, such as Skillsoft's STEAM programme in Kenya and Randstad's jobs pilot in the Netherlands, as critical for skills development and job matching.

• Delayed access to the labour market negatively impacts refugees' employment prospects, mental health, and skill retention. Research indicates that each additional year of "waiting time" between an asylum application and a legal decision to work reduces the subsequent employment rate by four to five percentage points.
• In Jordan, the 2016 Jordan Compact Agreement provided over $2 billion in grants and preferential EU trade agreements, leading to the waiving of work permit fees and the creation of non-employer specific permits for sectors like agriculture and construction. This contributed to an increase in Syrian labour force participation from 28% in 2014 to 33% in 2018, and a drop in unemployment from approximately 60% to 8% over the same period.
• Kenya used economic modelling to demonstrate that refugee presence increased Turkana's gross regional product by 3.4% and total employment by 2.9%. This evidence supported the 2017 Nairobi Declaration and the subsequent 2022 Refugees Act, which provides refugees with documentation to formalize access to services, bank accounts, and education.
• Germany's Asylum Procedure Acceleration Act of 2015 introduced a cluster approach to fast-track asylum seekers from countries with a high likelihood of approval, granting them immediate access to professional training and integration services. By 2020, at least 50% of these individuals were in work or paid training.
• Canada and Australia have implemented pilots to integrate refugee protection with economic migration. Canada's Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP), launched in 2018, and Australia's Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement Program, launched in 2021, allow refugees with specific skills to access migration routes with flexible requirements for education, work experience, and police checks.
• Public-private partnerships are effectively bridging the skills gap for refugees. For example, Skillsoft and iamtheCODE launched a 12-week blended learning programme in the Kakuma refugee camp in 2022, providing over 6,000 girls with training in four high-demand programming languages.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Enabling the Economic Inclusion of Refugees: Lessons on Providing Refugees with Timely Access to Labour Markets. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Lessons_on_Providing_Refugees_with_Timley_Access_to_Labour_Markets_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Enabling the Economic Inclusion of Refugees: Lessons on Providing Refugees with Timely Access to Labour Markets. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Lessons_on_Providing_Refugees_with_Timley_Access_to_Labour_Markets_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Enabling the Economic Inclusion of Refugees: Lessons on Providing Refugees with Timely Access to Labour Markets |date=September 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Lessons_on_Providing_Refugees_with_Timley_Access_to_Labour_Markets_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2023enabling, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Enabling the Economic Inclusion of Refugees: Lessons on Providing Refugees with Timely Access to Labour Markets}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Lessons_on_Providing_Refugees_with_Timley_Access_to_Labour_Markets_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }