Worldwide, there are now 100 million displaced people, often living among host communities on a protracted basis. To respond to this growing and evolving challenge, there is increasing interest in the potential to link humanitarian assistance for displaced people with national social protection systems, or to serve displaced people directly through these systems. Yet the practical knowledge of how social protection can accommodate this inclusion is still only emerging.

Looking in turn at each phase of operational delivery and at the factors influencing successful implementation, this paper presents empirical evidence on delivering social protection and humanitarian assistance to displaced (and host) populations. The paper draws on evidence from country case studies in Cameroon, Colombia and Greece, conducted as part of a wider project funded under the Building the Evidence on Forced Displacement partnership.

Key messages:

• Refugees and internally displaced people face barriers to accessing social protection, further to those already faced by the host population. Barriers may also be exacerbated by gender and other inequalities. Ensuring full accessibility for displaced people can help to improve social protection delivery for all.
• Governments, donors or partners looking to support refugees and internally displaced people through social protection systems should ensure that operational systems are appropriately modified at each phase of delivery before relying on such systems to assist displaced people.
• Successfully adjusting delivery systems for displaced people is facilitated by adequate legal frameworks, political will, financial resources, capacity and coordination. Where any of these factors is lacking, the likelihood of operational adjustments being effectively implemented is reduced.