As humanitarian system buckles, World Refugee & Migration Council calls for a new approach to prolonged refugee crises

International initiative seeks to build coalitions for coordinated action to help refugees and host countries

OTTAWA, Ontario, Oct. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As humanitarian funding declines, conflicts proliferate and high levels of forced displacement persist, the World Refugee & Migration Council is launching a new international initiative to build a global coalition of donor and hosting governments, multilateral institutions, local authorities and those displaced long-term by conflict. The initiative aims to reshape how the world responds to protracted forced displacement.

With almost 70 percent of the world's refugees displaced for five years or more, often for decades, protracted displacement has become the norm. Strategic Responses to Forced Displacement: An Opportunity for Collective Action will bring countries and institutions together to develop a practical blueprint for responding to displacement crises that now routinely last for decades. The initiative seeks to shift the global response beyond an overstretched emergency-aid model toward coordinated, practical solutions for displaced people and the communities that host them.

“We need to preserve the important and valuable work of life-saving humanitarian assistance,” said Ninette Kelley, Chair of the World Refugee & Migration Council. “But we also need to recognize that emergency assistance alone cannot provide a roadmap for people who remain displaced for years or even decades. Those long-term crises are what we are seeing now more than ever in countries like Bangladesh, Chad, Jordan and Uganda. Without a longer-term strategy, protracted displacement responses will continue to be dominated by short-term interventions, allowing situations to deteriorate and ultimately increasing the human and financial costs.”

Funded by Mindset Social Innovation Foundation, the international initiative will convene leading voices from government, humanitarian and development organizations, international financial institutions, philanthropy, the private sector, research organizations and persons with lived displacement experience to address a defining question: How can the international community respond to forced displacement more sustainably, providing the means for refugees and internally displaced people to rebuild their lives with dignity, while helping host countries and communities become stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient?

This initiative comes as the international humanitarian system faces an unprecedented combination of pressures, including drastic budget cuts. The past year has seen massive cuts in international aid from the United States, long the world’s largest humanitarian donor. Other donors, including Canada, have also reduced funding. The effects of these cuts have been immediate and dire on the ground. Food assistance, nutrition and vaccination programs, shelter, water and sanitation programs, protection services and educational support have all been scaled back or phased out altogether.

Facing these scarce resources, the humanitarian system appropriately prioritizes life-saving interventions. But the WRMC believes this must be accompanied by a longer-term roadmap for protracted displacement, one that identifies pathways to livelihoods, education, skills development, self-reliance and inclusion, while strengthening the capacity of host countries.

The WRMC initiative will focus on approaches that, where political and economic conditions allow, enable displaced people to move beyond long-term dependency. That means creating opportunities to work, access education and health services, develop skills and participate in the economies of their host communities, while ensuring that host countries have the resources and policy support needed to make these approaches successful and sustainable.

“The world must rethink its response to displacement,” said Fen Hampson, President of the World Refugee & Migration Council. “We cannot meet crises that last decades by doing more of the same with fewer resources. We need practical coalitions that uphold the rights and unlock the potential of displaced people, while strengthening the communities and countries that host them. Canada, and our partners around the world, have an important role to play.”

The initiative begins with a rigorous, practitioner-informed analysis leading to recommendations that are fine-tuned through broad consultation. It will culminate in shared inter-governmental commitments for action.

“The aim is to develop approaches that governments and institutions can actually use and that committed partners can collectively support. We need political commitment, donor commitment and a willingness to change the way we handle protracted displacement crises,” said Kelley. “Ten years into a displacement crisis, success should not be measured by whether we are still delivering emergency assistance, but by whether people have opportunities to rebuild their lives, whether they can contribute to their communities, and whether host countries have the support they need to make that possible.”

For more information: https://wrmcouncil.org/publications/strategic-responses-to-forced-displacement-2/

About the World Refugee & Migration Council:

The World Refugee & Migration Council offers bold strategic thinking about how the international community can comprehensively respond to refugees and the forcibly displaced through the principles of international cooperation and responsibility sharing. Council members include leaders, practitioners and innovators from developing and developed countries across the globe. https://wrmcouncil.org/

About Mindset Social Innovation Foundation

Mindset Foundation is committed to advancing human rights and fostering social innovation by supporting research and initiatives that promote transparency, accountability, and ethical governance. For the last 20 years, MSF has focused on complex global problems that conventional funding has failed to solve, including social finance, catalytic capital, impact investment, social impact bonds, and regenerative humanitarian models. Founder Alison Lawton holds numerous board and advisory roles, including with the World Refugee and Migration Council and the Canadian Task Force Against Global Corruption; has worked on repurposing frozen and seized assets to support refugees; Mindset co-launched Canada's first social impact investment fund with Virgin Unite; and the UBC Global Reporting Program. https://www.mindsetfoundation.com

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