ILO Shares Lessons from PROSPECTS to Advance Support for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities

The following extracts are cited from the ILO News article ILO shares lessons from PROSPECTS to advance support for forcibly displaced persons and host communities (ILO News, 9 July 2025).

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched a landmark report "Responding to forced displacement: Lessons from the ILO’s engagement in the PROSPECTS programme" to strengthen support for forcibly displaced persons and host communities. 

The new report distills key learnings from five years of implementation of the Partnership for improving prospects for forcibly displaced persons and host communities (PROSPECTS) programme across Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Sudan, and Uganda.

Key findings at a glance

The report underscores that strengthening inclusive national systems—rather than setting up parallel services—can create shared benefits for both host and refugee populations. Among its key insights:

• Trust-building and awareness-raising are foundational to effective engagement.
• Holistic programming that integrates skills development, enterprise support, and employment services can create more coherent and impactful results.
• A balance between short-term impact and long-term systems change is critical.
• Interventions must be tailored to local labour markets and grounded in rigorous context analysis.
• Promoting social dialogue and social cohesion is essential, though further evidence on refugee participation is needed.
• Supporting transitions to formal employment requires tackling legal and policy barriers and providing incentives.
• Sustainability depends on embedding services into national frameworks and strengthening local capacities.

About PROSPECTS

PROSPECTS is a global initiative that aims to improve the access of host communities and forcibly displaced people to education, social protection, decent work, and critical infrastructure.

Spearheaded by the Government of the Netherlands, PROSPECTS brings together the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank to transform the way governments and stakeholders — including the private sector — respond to forced displacement.

For more information, read the full article: ILO shares lessons from PROSPECTS to advance support for forcibly displaced persons and host communities (ILO News, 9 July 2025).