Policy brief #2: The right to work in a context of urban displacement

This is an output from a project that was part of the fifth Applied Research Fund (ARF) on mixed migration flows. The ARF is executed by NWO-WOTRO in close collaboration with the Platform. The call aims to strengthen the evidence-base for security and rule of law policies and programming, addressing the root causes, and the dynamics and consequences of mixed migration flows within and from fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Access to work is often far from guaranteed and may be hindered by various factors. This is certainly the case in fragile state contexts with large-scale urban displacement and high levels of informality. This policy brief shows strategies used by urban Internally Displaced People (IDPs) to get access to work and the challenges they face. It is argued that weak social capital is the prime limiting factor of IDPs in being able to claim their right to work. Family ties, place of origin, and ethnicity are decisive factors that influence the access to job opportunities. As much as having a social network can help someone in finding a job, as disadvantageous such close affinity can be at the moment labour relations become tense. For NGOs and policy makers interested in issues around labour and the social integration of displaced in urban contexts, it is worthwhile to note that support to strengthen one’s social capital in the first months of displacement could be a good strategy to empower people and to work towards more durable solutions for the urban displaced. This brief is based on findings from research carried out in the city of Bukavu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).