The perfect recipe for a refugee-inclusive digital economy? Gathering lessons to support learning to earning
A pilot project in Egypt sought to test assumptions about the ingredients required to make digital livelihoods accessible to refugees. Its results are informing further work.
Creating an inclusive digital economy for refugees will unlock new livelihoods opportunities for displaced communities, enabling them to bypass barriers to offline work and more effectively pursue self-reliance. But making the global digital economy accessible to people forced to flee is far from simple. While connectivity and market-driven digital skills are the bread and butter of any freelancer â whether displaced or otherwise â additional resources and support systems are required to foster an inclusive environment for refugees.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is working to develop this inclusive environment, and to make digital work opportunities available to more refugees, through a wide range of initiatives. One such initiative, in Egypt, aimed to bring together five key ingredients identified as essential for a thriving, refugee-inclusive digital economy. While the project succeeded in many ways â meeting its established targets and building the capacity of around 200 people â it also illuminated additional barriers faced by forcibly displaced people seeking online work.
A closer look at this initiative â part of the PROSPECTS Partnership project on the Promotion, Inclusion and Protection of Refugees in the Gig Economy â can provide actionable insights to drive further work in this area, which the Innovation Service has made a strategic priority.
Recipe testing
Innovation is a process of experimentation. Through trial and error, we gain insights that enhance our understanding of the problem weâre trying to solve and effective solutions. In this case, the problem is simple: Refugees face many barriers to accessing safe, dignified online work. How can we address those barriers?
In Egypt, UNHCR â alongside implementing partner Terre des Hommes (TdH) â aimed to dismantle these barriers systematically, testing what we might think of as a new recipe for an inclusive digital economy composed of five key ingredients:
- Digital risk awareness: Refugees seeking work opportunities online might encounter any number of digital risks. Such risks â which include online scams, frauds, data privacy breaches, cybersecurity threats, and technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TF GBV) â often become the main barrier to refugeesâ participation in the digital economy.
To tackle this issue, UNHCR Egypt partnered with refugee-led organizations to facilitate digital safety and risk awareness trainings and launched online campaigns on social media platforms to raise awareness more widely. Throughout this process, the team in Egypt adopted a flexible and inclusive strategy, recognizing and accommodating the diverse needs and abilities of participants. This is particularly essential when addressing age-related differences in digital literacy. By incorporating diverse learning styles through audio, visual, and kinesthetic elements, the project equipped 127 refugees and 25 Egyptians with digital safety awareness.
- Safe work spaces: Refugee freelancers need a safe and supportive environment where they can work and produce results. From accessible, connected community centers to co-working spaces to safe online platforms (in other words, digital spaces), refugee freelancers need a place where they can collaborate and work without fear of exploitation or harassment.
Noting the lack of digital device ownership among refugee communities and recognizing the importance of safe work spaces, UNHCR Egypt, through its partner TdH, established three accessible coworking spaces in Cairo. These places soon became freelancing hubs, welcoming more than 120 registered users â both refugees and Egyptians â who come to work, take online courses, attend professional meetings, and search for their next jobs in the digital economy.
- Fostering peer-to-peer support: Many refugees prefer to learn from their peers, as highlighted in UNHCRâs co-creation workshops with refugees on digital livelihoods. Fostering a peer-to-peer network and connecting more experienced peers with their entry-level, less tech-savvy counterparts, UNHCR Egypt was able to provide more tailored guidance and support â on everything from employability to networking and digital platform use â to more than 130 refugees and Egyptians on navigating digital opportunities.
- The right digital skill set: In the digital economy, having the right digital skill set â one that is aligned with market demand â is key to securing work and building a competitive profile. UNHCR Egypt had laid the groundwork by facilitating the upskilling of more than 4,000 youths in computer programming, data analysis, and web design through Coursera, including 2,310 refugees and asylum seekers under their PROSPECTS initiative in an effort to address the digital learning-to-earning gap. Learning from prestigious institutions online, according to a self-paced schedule, reduced barriers to entry and ensured participants were equipped to compete in the digital economy. Learnings from this earlier work informed the PROSPECTS project this article focuses on, and the two projects saw crossover participation.
- English-language proficiency: For many freelancers worldwide, English-language proficiency is the key to accessing global markets and opportunities, and familiarity with industry-specific jargon and cultural nuances plays an important role in their success. UNHCR Egypt identified the value of offering language courses that could help refugees apply for jobs on freelancing platforms, communicate effectively with their potential employers, and integrate into the digital economy.
So, the team leveraged an English for Freelancers course to train 15 refugee youth tutors with the support of certified English teachers. These tutors then led the delivery of this training to more than 100 refugees. More than 1,000 refugees applied when TdH announced the launch of this English course on their social media page, demonstrating the high demand for English courses among aspiring refugee freelancers.
The language-proficiency element of this initiative didnât end with the training. Graduates of the course were invited to take the Duolingo English Test to gain a certification that is formally recognized and accredited by more than 5,000 universities around the world and, increasingly, by digital work platforms like UpWork. Refugees in Egypt took advantage of this online test to prove their English proficiency and add the certification to their online profiles.
Assessing the results â and refining the recipe
Throughout this project, UNHCR Egypt took a holistic approach to addressing the key barriers refugees face when seeking online work. Nevertheless, from a cohort of around 200 hopeful freelancers, just 15% have so far been able to successfully access digitally enabled employment. Even with digital risk awareness, networking opportunities, safe, connected workspaces, newly acquired skills, and English-language proficiency, project participants faced obstacles that frustrated their efforts.
In summary, the post-training experiences of the project participants have illuminated the following lessons:
- Personal documentation remains a significant barrier: In Egypt, refugees encounter significant challenges when trying to register on digital freelancing platforms, primarily due to identification barriers. These platforms require proof of ID for new users, but national policies often prevent refugees from obtaining necessary materials like national IDs, SIM cards, and work permits. UNHCR-issued IDs are insufficient to meet these requirements. This lack of proper identification not only leads to digital exclusion but also exposes refugees to further risks. Many resort to creating profiles under othersâ names or borrowing the ID documents of host community members, which can lead to exploitation. Additionally, many refugees are unaware of their employment rights in Egypt. Understanding these rights and the legal protections available is crucial for refugees to effectively navigate the job market.
- Financial inclusion is key: Receiving payment presents another significant challenge for refugees. The UNHCR-issued ID is not enough to open bank accounts in Egypt, as financial institutions require a valid passport and residency permit under KYC/CDD regulations. This limitation leaves refugees with few options for securely storing and managing their earnings, particularly from online work. While intermediary platforms like Western Union enable refugees and other foreigners in Egypt to receive money from abroad, broader financial inclusion is essential. Policymakers should ensure access to mobile wallets and other digital financial services is made available to refugees, so that they can safely and efficiently receive compensation for their digital work.
- Gaining practical work experience is a final hurdle: For refugees, gaining practical work experience is a critical hurdle in the digital economy. While training programmes provide valuable knowledge, they often fall short in offering the hands-on experience needed to secure online jobs. Practical experience is essential for demonstrating skills to potential employers, who typically require prior work experience. This requirement poses a significant challenge for refugees, who may struggle to prove their capabilities without real-world practice. The lack of opportunities to gain practical experience and internships exacerbates these difficulties, leaving them unprepared to navigate real-world scenarios and adapt their skills effectively. Ultimately, while refugees may acquire new digital skills through online learning, the absence of practical experience prevents them from building a portfolio of work that can be marketed to potential employers, thereby limiting their opportunities for economic self-sufficiency.
Equipped with the learnings from this project and our wider work in this area, UNHCR will continue to work with key partners and stakeholders, and most importantly with refugee communities, to address these barriers and to ensure that displaced freelancers can safely and successfully participate in the digital economy as a pathway to self-reliance.
To read more about our work on the digital economy, check out the Digital Innovation Fund and our PROSPECTS Partnership project, implemented alongside the International Labour Organization with support from the Government of the Netherlands.