Event description:

The Thematic Working Group on Forced Migration of the World Bank’s Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) will organize a Conference and Policy Forum on the Impacts of Refugees and IDPs on Host Communities at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC. on June 1-2, 2017.

Nearly 65 million persons were forcibly displaced worldwide – within and across borders – due to conflict and persecution at the end of 2015. Forced displacement is not only a humanitarian issue, but also has important economic, social, political, and environmental impacts on the places of origin and destination. The development impacts of forced displacement on host communities, however, remain poorly understood. As the number of protracted displacement situations is increasing, it is especially important to understand these impacts to be able to develop evidence-based policy responses.

The conference will present new research on the impacts of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) on their host communities. This includes impacts on labor markets, trade and entrepreneurship, gender, prices, education, public revenue and expenditure, welfare and poverty, crime and national security, social cohesion, and environment.

The conference will be followed by a policy forum targeting policy thinkers, policy makers, and practitioners to discuss policies that can help cope with the challenges and use the potential benefits for host communities.