IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities. Our mission is to leverage the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), based on its Statute of 1950, the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and subsequent resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, is mandated to provide international protection, assistance, and solutions to refugees and other categories of persons such as returnees and internally displaced people. UNHCR's mandate also includes preventing and reducing statelessness. The “Global Compact on Refugees” (GCR), affirmed in 2018 by the United Nations General Assembly, and its annexed “Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework” (CRRF) highlight the need to promote the self-reliance of refugees and the need for interventions that simultaneously benefit both refugees and host populations. The CRRF specifically highlights the role of the private sector in refugee-hosting areas as an effective and sustainable provider of services, the main creator of jobs, and a facilitator of growth.
With approximately 120 million people forcibly displaced worldwide and protracted refugee situations presenting unprecedented development challenges, IFC and UNHCR have established a Joint Initiative aimed at enabling sustainable private sector solutions, including through IFC investment transactions and advisory projects, in forced displacement contexts. This approach will target and benefit both the forcibly displaced and their host communities.
The Joint Initiative’s overarching goals are twofold:
1. To enable inclusive economic opportunities for people affected by forced displacement and their hosts by designing, funding, and piloting innovative, impactful, and scalable private sector solutions. The ambition is to mobilize USD 100 million in private sector projects over the five-year lifecycle of the Joint Initiative, and more importantly, to demonstrate the commercial viability of investing in forced displacement contexts
2. To establish thought leadership on private sector development in forced displacement contexts through a strong knowledge base of operational lessons and promoting knowledge exchange among key stakeholders engaged in this space
Roles and Responsibilities
Contribute decisively to the implementation of the IFC-UNHCR Joint Initiative and lead its ambitious Knowledge Management (KM) program. This will include the following activities:
• Lead the Joint Initiative’s KM program to build the knowledge, learning, and outreach agenda among key external and internal stakeholders
• Develop a KM strategy that will establish the Joint Initiative’s thought leadership in private sector-led solutions in forced displacement contexts
• Ensure successful delivery of high-quality and highly relevant KM, Learning, and Innovation (KMLI) work programs; develop and manage a system to track the delivery and quality of such activities
• Interact with IFC and UNHCR teams, including but not limited to KM colleagues, to identify internal resources, expertise, and initiatives, and to capture relevant lessons learned and good practices on private sector solutions in forced displacement
• Develop, deliver, and facilitate successful knowledge exchange activities jointly with internal and/or external clients or stakeholders
• Mainstream the concept of private sector engagement in forced displacement contexts by promoting the visibility of the Joint Initiative and participating in internal and external KM events, as well as utilizing media channels, including social media. This includes identifying and leveraging the most impactful KM platforms and channels
• Ensure KM activities are embedded across key activities of Joint Initiatives and that best practices are incorporated into project design and implementation
• Operate with a significant degree of autonomy, under the overall guidance of the Joint Initiative Manager
• Contribute, when required, to specific Joint Initiative program management tasks
