From Short-Term Aid to Long-Term Solutions: Social Protection as a Pathway for Refugee Inclusion in the Great Lakes Region - Discussion Note

World Bank

No 209058, The Social Policy and Labor Discussion Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This note emphasizes the urgent need for development strategies beyond short-term aid to address protracted refugee crises in the Great Lakes Region (GLR). Due to major cuts to international aid, the paper advocates for integrating refugees into national social protection systems to enhance resilience, social inclusion, and socioeconomic development, reducing tensions with host communities. In fact, this note proposes a pragmatic pathway for progressive inclusion of refugees into national social protection systems, complementing not substituting humanitarian action in protracted settings. Transitioning to development programs requires legal and policy reforms, alignment with national systems, flexible financing, and regional cooperation. Challenges include increasing refugee vulnerability in regions with weak social protection systems and funding. The note proposes a layered financing model that couples domestic effort with predictable, multi-year concessional resources, disaster-risk financing and contingency mechanisms, and budget tagging to track refugee-related expenditure within government systems. Greater dialogue among governments, regional bodies, and development partners is essential to include refugees in national development plans and adapt social protection systems, considering regional approaches where appropriate. Within this context, regional cooperation should prioritize interoperability and mutual recognition (IDs, data standards, payment platforms) after foundational national reforms are in place. The note urges policies to embed social protection as a long-term solution, advocating new approaches to legal and policy reforms, innovative and flexible financing, regional refugee strategies, and data sharing. Central to this dialogue is the question of affordability. The recommended pathway reinforces government leadership, expands self-reliance and jobs linkages, safeguards data protection, and sequences reforms so that short-term humanitarian support all ow a smooth transition into government-led, fiscally responsible refugees inclusion. Burundi and the DRC exemplify successful refugee inclusion in national social protection systems.

Date: 2026-04-01
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