WB commends GCC & Kuwait for humanitarian contributions

Refugee crisis ‘going from bad to worse’

WASHINGTON, Dec 17, (KUNA): World Bank officials stressed Wednesday that the current refugee crisis stemming from Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia is only going from bad to worse, as conflicts intensify and aid programs see a drop in funding.

While the GCC, and Kuwait in particular, were commended for their humanitarian contributions, the Bank is now calling for investment from around the world that would foster economic growth.

“Refugees typically end up in ‘fiscally distressed’ nations, and that puts a huge strain on public finances,” Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Shanta Devarajan said.

Among the World Bank’s current initiatives to tackle this issue is the establishment of “enterprise zones” in Jordan, where Syrian refugees can be employed and trade incentives with the European Union can be introduced, he explained.

More than half a million Syrians live in Jordanian camps.

But even as the Bank tries to strengthen its collaboration with governments and NGOs in order to rebuild lives and infrastructure, as well as provide financing mechanisms for education and skills training, the fighting has raged on in countries like Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria. More than half of the world’s refugees come from those areas, the Bank’s research shows.

The latest data indicates there are 19 million refugees and 38 million internally displaced people (IDPs) globally, making the total the highest since World War II, Senior Adviser to the World Bank President, Colin Bruce, told reporters.

“There needs to be renewed emphasis” on conflict resolution and prevention, Bruce said. Only a little over 100,000 refugees around the world were able to return home last year, he added.

That plea comes as a joint report is released Wednesday by both the World Bank and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) showing 90 percent of Syrian refugees living in Jordan are - or will be - dangerously impoverished, based on UN assessments that qualify families for cash assistance and food vouchers. More than 4 million Syrians have fled since the uprising began in 2011.

“This cannot only be a humanitarian question,” Senior Economist Paolo Verme told reporters. While solutions require political decisions, “economic inclusion” is also crucial, he said. Short-term fixes like the World Food Program (WFP) vouchers may be “very effective,” but only when funding is consistent - and that has not been the case.

“The current approach to managing refugee crises in the mediumand long-term is not sustainable,” the report affirmed. “Focus must shift beyond social protection for refugees to include economic growth in the areas hosting them, so that refugees and local communities can share in economic progress”.