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20 Years of Systems Change
RefugePoint was founded in 2005 in response to critical and chronic gaps plaguing the international response to refugees.
While addressing the urgent needs of individuals and families has always been a priority, the greater goal is to fix the systemic failures that cause refugees to ‘fall through the cracks’ in the first place, leaving them without the services and solutions they need.
In other words, RefugePoint has had “systems change” in its sights from the very start, to make solutions for refugees more widely and equitably available. To that end, it deploys its unique blend of staff expertise, private funding, influence with decision-makers, programmatic innovations, convening power, and support for peer organizations and the sector at large to tackle some of the most salient systemic problems it has identified in its 20-year history.
A recent externally-led evaluation that RefugePoint commissioned and participated in last year found that over the past two decades, RefugePoint has achieved considerable success in contributing to systems change. The evaluation found that the levers of change RefugePoint has used most often and effectively are:
The evaluation further found that most of RefugePoint’s systems change impact came through collaboration, playing the role of a lead contributor or primary actor among a group of partners in launching and/or propelling the effort.
The table below summarizes the specific gaps and problems that RefugePoint has identified and the impact the agency had in its response. Evaluation briefs linked provide more detail on each example. All of these systems change accomplishments add up to more equitable access to solutions for refugees. While recent political shifts severely challenge these systems, RefugePoint will continue to use its unique assets to nimbly respond to new realities and needs, always with a view toward improving the systems and policies that affect refugees.
Please reach out to the RefugePoint MEL team with any questions or comments at MEL@refugepoint.org.
Systemic Problems Identified |
RefugePoint’s Impacts |
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Too few refugees had access to permanent resettlement opportunities. Lack of referral capacity left slots unfilled and vulnerable groups unreached. |
RefugePoint has expanded equitable access to resettlement globally by normalizing a role for NGOs in referring refugees, both independently and through deployments to UNHCR. RefugePoint has organized, trained and supported other NGOs, opening doors for them to join this effort. (See volumes 1, 2, and 3) |
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Unaccompanied refugee minors require a time-consuming ‘Best Interest Determination’ in order to access resettlement. Capacity was lacking, leaving vulnerable children without solutions. |
RefugePoint has expanded global capacity for conducting Best Interest Determinations, enabling many more vulnerable minors to be resettled and normalizing a role for NGOs in this process. (See volume 4) |
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Refugees in host countries were often provided with the minimal means of survival but without the support to realize their potential and improve their lives. |
RefugePoint developed a unique, holistic approach to facilitating the self-reliance of refugees that is changing mindsets in the sector. (See volume 5) RefugePoint used the learning from its programs to build and influence a global movement to advance refugee self-reliance, the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative. (See volume 6) |
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Refugees are often the subjects of top-down approaches and are excluded from the decisions that affect their lives. |
RefugePoint has invested in shifting power dynamics and strengthening the participation of refugees and the role of Refugee-Led Organizations globally. (See volume 7) |
| Refugees are typically excluded from the social safety nets of their host countries, often leaving them without access to basic health care. |
RefugePoint secured the inclusion of refugees in Kenya’s National Health Insurance Fund—a breakthrough that is now held as a best practice in the field. (See volume 8) |
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