November 2024
Many policies addressing migrant and refugee needs struggle with implementation due to several systemic challenges. These include insufficient financial resources, which limit the scalability of interventions; fragmented coordination among governments, donors, and NGOs, leading to overlapping efforts and inefficiencies; and a lack of mechanisms to ensure measurable accountability. As a result, these policies often fail to deliver meaningful or sustainable impact for displaced populations, who remain underserved despite substantial investments.
How Can RBF Support?
Results-Based Financing (RBF) offers a novel approach by linking funding to the achievement of specific outcomes rather than mere activities. This approach incentivizes implementing organizations to focus on impact, foster innovation, and optimize resources. RBF addresses key implementation barriers by driving the collection of accurate, real-time data, which helps fill critical information gaps and supports evidence-based policy design. By tying funding to clear outcomes, it incentivizes more effective policy development and encourages innovative solutions. Additionally, RBF’s flexibility allows successful interventions to be scaled up, ensuring broader impact and sustainability in migrant response programs.
Colombia has emerged as a leader in applying RBF to its migrant response strategies. For instance, Colombia introduced Social Impact Bonds as part of its strategy to enhance access to essential services for migrants. These bonds focus on outcomes such as employment integration, healthcare accessibility, and improved living conditions. Some other RBF programs have also prioritized scalable healthcare and employment services, addressing the core needs of Venezuelan migrants. RBF has not only ensured greater accountability but also created opportunities for private sector involvement and innovation in service delivery, making interventions more sustainable and impactful.
Recommendations
To harness the full potential of RBF in migrant policies:
1. Enhance Stakeholder Coordination: Governments, donors, and implementing organizations need to establish shared outcomes and clear roles to minimize inefficiencies. Collaboration platforms, such as multi-agency task forces, can streamline resources and expertise.
2. Build Adaptive Capacities: Investments in robust monitoring systems and feedback loops are essential for adjusting interventions in real-time and improving results.
3. Promote Knowledge Sharing: Colombia’s success offers valuable lessons for other migrant-hosting nations. Sharing these insights through cross-border collaborations can inspire broader adoption of RBF.
For more insights on how governments, donors, and implementing organizations can improve the cost-effectiveness of interventions to be scaled up, ensuring broader impact and sustainability in migrant response programs, read the full free article authored by Sebastian Chaskel, Mateo Zárate Cáceres, Gabriela Vargas Tobón, Nicolás Hernández Muñoz, and Ana María Pérez Patiño, and published on the 74th Forced Migration Review issue here
The articles in this FMR 74 ‘Financing Displacement Response’ issue discuss sources of displacement response financing, and how the interests of these funding sources impact refugees and displaced people.
Download full magazine here
Sebastian Chaskel
Associate Partner, Instiglio, Colombia
sebastian.chaskel@instiglio.org
Gabriela Vargas
Associate, Instiglio, Colombia
gabriela.vargas@instiglio.org
Mateo Zárate
MPA Candidate at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, US
mateo.zarate@columbia.edu
Ana María Pérez
MPA Candidate at the School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, US
ap1647@princeton.edu
Nicolás Hernández Muñoz
Associate, Instiglio, Colombia
nicolas.hernandez@instiglio.org
The authors would like to thank their colleagues, as well as public servants and practitioners across Colombia who work to support the social and economic integration of migrants into Colombian society.
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