Re:Build: Creating sustainable livelihoods solutions
Committed to generate and share evidence for innovative, sustainable livelihood solutions that can be adopted to support refugees and host residents in East Africa and beyond
Re:Build is a five-year project, implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), that aims to generate and share evidence for ‘what works’ to support refugees and host communities in Kampala, Uganda, and Nairobi, Kenya.

The Re:Build program is funded by the IKEA Foundation and is currently under implementation in Kampala and Nairobi. The IRC is the lead partner and has been coordinating a consortium of local and international partners, including CGD, to deliver the program interventions.

The program seeks to deliver livelihood interventions for urban refugees and vulnerable host residents to achieve economic self-reliance and benefit from strengthened urban economic, regulatory, and social environments. It aims to enable change at varying levels, from better access to livelihoods opportunities and inclusive services within communities, to improved refugee-related policies and more targeted and effective service delivery by national, regional, and global actors.

Some of the key features of the program’s approach are flexible funding, adaptive design, and continuous knowledge and evidence generation. In particular, CGD Is implementing a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Kampala testing whether a group business mentorship program can improve microenterprise success and social cohesion.

More information is available on the program’s website: https://rebuild.rescue.org/about/overview


Image credit for social media/web: Adobe Stock

Blogs

  • World Refugee Day
    Last year, we highlighted five areas to watch in the world of refugee policy; they remain just as important today. This year, we’l...
  • Implementing an Adaptive Program to Support Refugees
    Humanitarian crises are increasingly protracted and complex, lacking clear solutions and paths to reach the most-affected individu...
  • Most Refugees Live in Cities, Not Camps
    When most people think about refugees, they think of sprawling camps separated from the rest of society. But in reality, today—Wor...

Publications

  • How Donors Can Better Support Urban Refugees in Kampala and Nairobi
    The majority of refugees worldwide live in urban areas. It is often assumed that these urban-based refugees are self-reliant and n...
  • Designing an RCT on Livelihoods for Refugees and Hosts: Re:Build in Kampala
    Travis Baseler et al.
    As policymakers in protracted refugee situations shift from short-term humanitarian responses to longer-term development support, ...
  • Adaptive Management in Refugee Programming
    and
    Nicol Herbert
    The evidence for how to best support refugee economic self-reliance is limited; even less is known about what is effective for urb...

Contact

Thomas Ginn

Contact: [email protected]

Contact

Thomas Ginn

Contact: [email protected]

Experts

Claire Manley
Claire Manley is a research associate working with senior fellow Michael Clemens and Thomas Ginn on migration and international displacement. She graduated from the University of M...
Harrison Tang
Harrison Tang is a research associate working with Thomas Ginn and Michael Clemens on migration and displacement. He holds a Master's degree in International Affairs from UC San Di...
Helen Dempster
Helen Dempster is a policy fellow and assistant director for the Migration, Displacement, and Humanitarian Policy Program at the Center for Global Development. Prior to joining CGD...
Thomas Ginn
Thomas Ginn is a research fellow at the Center for Global Development, where he studies migration and displacement. His current research focuses on aid for refugees in lower-income...

Experts

  • Claire Manley
    Claire Manley is a research associate working with senior fellow Michael Clemens and Thomas Ginn on migration and international displacement. She graduated from the University of M...
  • Harrison Tang
    Harrison Tang is a research associate working with Thomas Ginn and Michael Clemens on migration and displacement. He holds a Master's degree in International Affairs from UC San Di...
  • Helen Dempster
    Helen Dempster is a policy fellow and assistant director for the Migration, Displacement, and Humanitarian Policy Program at the Center for Global Development. Prior to joining CGD...
  • Thomas Ginn
    Thomas Ginn is a research fellow at the Center for Global Development, where he studies migration and displacement. His current research focuses on aid for refugees in lower-income...

Acknowledgments

CGD would like to acknowledge the generous support and engagement of the IKEA Foundation.