Washington, D.C.

Louise Kjaer invited as Strategic Partnership Advisor to the Urban Institute, Washington D.C

While there are high levels of private sector interest in providing solutions to the over 50 million refugees, low levels of actual involvement are the reality due to regulatory, economic and logistical reasons.

The Urban Institute has been commissioned by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) to conduct research into a number of cases of business-humanitarian partnerships, currently unfolding in Africa, Asia and the MENA region, with the aim to respond to the following: Under what circumstances should companies participate in collaborations benefiting refugees? Should business development, technical, or CSR professionals within companies lead such arrangements? What is the medium to short term value proposition for companies to engage with humanitarian partners?

To assist in answering these questions Louise Kjaer has been invited to provide her expertise as Strategic Partnership Advisor.

During fall 2017, the Urban Institute will host a convening in Washington D.C. of business leaders, multilateral agency officials, bilateral donors and thought leaders to reflect on the landscape of such partnerships. The expected outcomes will be to offer concrete recommendations to UNHCR and host government on ways to better harness the private sector’s financial and human/innovation resources, and to support private sector partners’ quest to become more effective collaborators for benefiting refugees.

The Urban Institute is a Washington D.C. based research institution working on social and economic policy topics, including aspects of the global refugee crisis. Read more about the project here: Harnessing the Power of Businesses in Responding to Refugee Crises: A Blueprint for Improved Humanitarian Private Sector Collaboration.