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International Partnerships
News announcement19 June 2021Directorate-General for International Partnerships

Lives in Dignity: Creating a brighter future for displaced people

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© United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Giles Clarke

The first €12 million of the €24 million seed funding will focus on regions in Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Global Trends in Forced Displacement, in 2020:

  • 82.4 million forcibly displaced people in the world at the end of 2020.
  • 86% of refugees are in developing countries.
  • Many of the world’s displaced people are in countries or territories affected by acute food insecurity and malnutrition.

To mark World Refugee Day, the European Union (EU) has launched the Lives in Dignity Grant Facility. Managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the €24 million facility will identify and scale up innovative development-led approaches to some of the world’s most challenging situations of forced displacement.

While displacement-affected people are often reliant on short-term humanitarian assistance, there is a growing consensus that aid alone cannot effectively and comprehensively respond to the needs of forcibly displaced people. Not least because situations of forced displacement can exist for years, sometimes decades, those displaced are left in a limbo that is economically insecure, psychologically traumatic, and devoid of a planning horizon. Host communities, 86 per cent of whom are in developing countries, are themselves frequently overburdened, under-resourced and overwhelmed by the influx. Drawing on the humanitarian–development–peace nexus approach, the new initiative seeks to promote the resilience of affected populations and more effectively address such displacement situations.

In the first call for proposals, launched today, the Lives in Dignity Grant Facility will provide seed funding to pilot projects in Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. The call seeks out new forms of collaboration between humanitarian, development and peace actors, with an emphasis on the leadership of local and national authorities. The Facility will aim to develop a body of learning that can inform future approaches to forced displacement, and work to better respond to and support some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said: Communities forcibly displaced by conflict and natural disaster need long-term perspectives and hope for the future. With the Lives in Dignity Grant Facility and the whole-of-society response it promotes, the EU aims to establish effective development-oriented approaches to displacement crises and ensure hope and dignity to the people affected by them.”

The Call for Proposals

The current call for proposals focuses on the following countries:

  1. Countries cooperating under the SSAR/Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees to Support Voluntary Repatriation, Sustainable Reintegration and Assistance to Host Countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran).
  2. Countries cooperating under the MIRPS/Regional Comprehensive Protection and Solutions Framework (Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Panama).
  3. Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger) and including Nigeria.

The deadline for proposals is 11.00pm CET, Monday 2 August 2021.

Find out more about the Lives in Dignity Grant Facility and download the call for proposals

Details

Publication date
19 June 2021
Author
Directorate-General for International Partnerships