The refugee crisis is global, yet most of it is invisible: while the bulk of the humanitarian assistance focuses on refugee camps, the majority of refugees actually live in urban settings, with little or no support. The existing system of humanitarian aid suffers from a status quo that exacerbates refugees’ inequality and dependency. It’s time to catalyze change, to enable refugees to become active agents of their own lives.
Focusing primarily on the challenges faced by refugees in the labor force, this think tank will enable and encourage participants to engage in out of the box thinking on how cities can adapt to the massive presence of refugees. Among those displaced is a vast untapped talent and knowledge. How can we best tap into refugees' skills and match those with appropriate job opportunities wherever they may be? Human capital flight, or brain drain, refers to the emigration of highly skilled or well-educated individuals for better pay or conditions, causing their places of origin to lose those skills and expertise. How can we include refugees in talent migration strategies that currently benefit some economic migrants but not refugees?
