Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) have announced a joint five-year, $10 million grant from the IKEA Foundation in support of research on the effects of livelihood programs for refugee and displaced populations and their host communities.

The grant will establish a first-of-it-kind research fund dedicated to displaced people’s workforce participation. Part of the Displaced Livelihoods Initiative, the fund will help IPA and JPAL generate data to inform and encourage policy makers and practitioners as they design and build evidence-based policies and programs that enable displaced people to rebuild their lives, create sustainable livelihoods, and achieve self-reliance.

“Most population movements today concern forced displacements involving people seeking refuge abroad due to regional conflict and war,” said Sule Alan, JPAL academic lead and professor of economics at the European University Institute. “Forced displacements are humanitarian tragedies that strip people of their fundamental right to lead a dignified life. This grant will enable us to design scientifically informed programs aimed at supporting these vulnerable populations, providing them with the assistance they need to rebuild their lives.”

“There are few rigorous impact evaluations of livelihoods programs for displaced populations and hosts,” said International Rescue Committee chief innovation officer Jeannie Annan, who serves as IPA's academic lead. “This grant will enable us to support dozens of evaluations of promising programs, conducted by partnerships of researchers and implementing organizations, building the evidence base on how to best support these communities.”

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