Entrepreneurship, Jobs, and Growth: The Way Forward for the Forcibly Displaced
The skills, talents, and experience that forcibly displaced people (FDPs) carry with them can be highly valuable economic assets. Among the ranks of the forcibly displaced are people ready to be strong employees or entrepreneurs, from factory floor workers to CEOs. They often bring exceptional drive. And they would rather be self-sufficient and economically empowered than remain jobless and a burden on the communities that host them.
PS4R knowledge, tools, and strategies help build the local private sector in communities that host the forcibly displaced. The approach generates job and entrepreneurship opportunities and also connects forcibly displaced people with needed products and services as well as access to financial services, including investment.
We offer methodologies to identify micro, small, and medium enterprises in communities hosting the forcibly displaced that are either operated by, employ, or service forcibly displaced people and are poised for growth. We then devise strategies to help those companies develop their capabilities to compete and succeed and help local business associations connect them with regional and global business-to-business markets.
Tools for Scale: Support for Development Organizations
In addition to overseeing private sector-building programs ourselves, we create and provide support to others to do the same through sharing of research, tools, knowledge, strategies, and methodologies.
We offer a set of ¡°how to¡¯s,¡± guidelines, and advisory services that can be integrated into development projects. The tools can be applied by businesses that want to benefit from adopting an FDP lens or used by governments that want to increase the role of the private sector in economic integration of forcibly displaced people.
The PS4R approach helps World Bank programs expand their reach and increase their impact. Adding an FDP-related strategy to existing development initiatives can help achieve scale by expanding local economies and their ability to generate jobs.
We also help bring a refugee lens to financial institutions, to make sure forcibly displaced people can get access to finance through market mechanisms. To ensure sustainability, we support governments to strengthen their institutions and encourage the mutual benefits between the forcibly displaced and the private sector through a favorable legal and regulatory environment.
The Result: Economic Opportunity for the Forcibly Displaced
The result is new businesses and life-altering jobs for forcibly displaced people¡ªand for local populations. The PS4R approach makes those communities stronger, improves the business returns, and creates a more peaceful and richer life for all.