Longer-term efforts to integrate migrants and refugees into local economies often remain fragmented, as policymakers struggle to cope with the immediate effects of humanitarian crises and large movements of refugees and migrants. One mechanism to achieve this is through the promotion of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship represents an important financial, social and psychological opportunity for many migrants and refugees in the process of building new lives (whether temporarily or permanently) in host societies.
Yet, migrants and refugees face obvious barriers to engaging in economic activity, ranging from their legal status and, regulations preventing them from working and accessing access to basic services, right through to lack of access to start-up financing and formal bank accounts, language and cultural barriers, and destitution.
Building on the Policy Guide on Entrepreneurship for Migrants and Refugees developed by UNCTAD, IOM and UNHCR, the High-level Roundtable on Entrepreneurship for Migrants and Refugees will aim to shed light on the challenges to implementation of entrepreneurship policies for migrants and refugees.
The objective is the provide an overview of the main barriers policy makers face in the implementation phase of such policies and programmes.
Questions to be addressed:
How to insure coherence between migration and refugee policies and entrepreneurship promotion policies?
How to make entrepreneurship promotion policies, programmes and institutions more inclusive?
How can governments and government agencies work effectively with private sector stakeholders to promote entrepreneurial activity by and for migrants and refugees?
How can the international community effectively share lessons learned and good practices in the promotion of migrant entrepreneurship?
Contact
Mr. Philippe Rudaz
