a message from Mark Correnti, Director of Impact Investing at Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship
I am writing to you from Cebu in the Philippines. I was invited to give a talk entitled, Leading the Innovation Challenge to Address the Needs of the Marginalized Through Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing for a business conference sponsored by the University of San Carlos. The trip afforded me air time to finish reading two books by Alexander Betts from the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University entitled Refuge: Rethinking Refugee Policy in a Changing World and Refugee Economies: Forced Displacement and Development. Last month, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship announced a new accelerator cohort, Social Entrepreneurship at the Margins (SEM) focusing on migrants, refugees, and survivors of trafficking. In short, from Betts’s writings and our experiences at Miller Center, a solution set emerges to address the challenges and needs of the most marginalized and vulnerable.
This enterprise-level, bottom-up approach includes:
- incorporating newer development practices to compliment a historically humanitarian-only lens
- shared space for both refugees and citizens of host (haven) countries
- the potential for private investment in special economic zones, and
- the building blocks for all of the above, the social enterprise
Per Betts, “Gradually, UNHCR’s view of the roles of the private sector has become increasingly nuanced. It has started to recognize a range of ways in which business can play a role in humanitarian assistance, including through social enterprise….”
Less than 1% of forcible displaced people (refugees and internally displaced populations) obtain resettlement. While each emergency context is different, the vast majority of refugees don’t remain in camps but migrate to nearby peri-urban slums and forego further international assistance. Of those who do remain in settlements, 50% live there protractedly, as defined as 5 years or more. Most countries either do not allow or heavily restrict refugee employment and freedom of movement. Per UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, “In such [protracted] situations refugees, in particular women and children, become more vulnerable to various forms of exploitation such as trafficking and forced recruitment…which can lead to security and stability problems for the host state….”
Just 10 countries host 60% of the world’s unsettled refugees. Most of these haven countries are in the developing world, lack the necessary resources to support large population influxes, and in many cases, have not signed on to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. $75 billion a year is spent on the 1% that are resettled (or asylum seekers), versus just $15 billion on the unsettled. For every $135 dollars spent on a resettled refugee in Europe, $1 dollar is spent per refugee in the developing world. Resettled refugees also receive the vast majority of media coverage. Therefore, it is imperative that we support social enterprises and restore autonomy and dignity to those so marginalized.
Let’s take a brief look at the Syrian situation. A total of 11 million people are displaced, of which 4 million are refugees. Of these 4 million, less than 3% have been resettled and only 9% live in camps receiving international assistance. The remaining have moved to peri-urban slums seeking informal employment in informal markets to start enterprises. Found within the resettled 3% are half of all Syrians (in-country or refugee) with university degrees and about a quarter of those with secondary education. According to UNHCR, refugee education is a host country’s responsibility. At Miller Center, we have worked with a number of social enterprises whose impact models (energy access, last mile distribution, healthcare, artisanal and education) target individuals living within some of the world’s largest slums.
The benefits of our new accelerator cohort, Social Entrepreneurship at the Margins (SEM), include
- a proven program curriculum honed over 15 years,
- appointed mentors, and
- an investor showcase taking place during SOCAP 2018 in October
All of the above is at no cost to the social entrepreneur. Applications are due by March 16th.
SEM has two primary goals. First and foremost, acceleration of individual enterprises and their respective impacts. This acceleration can be attributed to Miller Center’s theory of change and framework that includes improving an enterprise’s impact model, business model, operations, scalability, and, finally, “justifiable ask” to help acquire the appropriate capital to fuel impact. Second, assisting in the building of an ecosphere at the base of the pyramid for support of social enterprises by bringing together key stakeholders, funders and investors.
Most refugees face displacement due to conflict. But climate change is becoming an ever-increasing factor. It is important that we improve climate resilience within vulnerable populations. In 2017 alone, 1 million Somalians were displaced due to severe draught.
When taking into account restrictions on employment and movement, the quality of living conditions within camps and peri-urban slums, actual money and resources spent on unsettled refugees, and most importantly, security for women and children, a bottom-up enterprise-level approach is required. For those who have considered funding investments within these highly marginalized settings but have yet to identify specific opportunities, we hope this cohort of deserving social enterprises is the beginning of your support.
You can join us in this collaborative effort by sharing this information with social enterprises serving the marginalized and encourage them to take a look at our program. We will keep you updated on our progress.
