Measuring self-reliance is challenging as it cuts across sectors and agencies. It attempts to gauge the total impact on a household of
various inputs, regardless of their source. And it attempts to do so longitudinally,
measuring change from the baseline assessment to the achievement of self-reliance, and beyond to ensure sustainability. A group of fifteen agencies formed a community of practice in 2016 to tackle these challenges. A global mapping exercise of self-reliance measurement tools turned up excellent tools for targeting assistance to
refugees in need, including the Vulnerability Assessment Framework created by UN agencies and the World Bank for Syrian refugees in Jordan. It also turned up excellent tools
for measuring integration among refugees accepted permanently for resettlement or local integration (e.g. UNHCR’s Integration Index
for Colombian refugees in Ecuador) and in situations of reintegration following repatriation (e.g. the Multi-Dimensional Integration
Index used in Afghanistan). The mapping failed to uncover examples of self-reliance indices in contexts where refugees lack permanent
residency, other than those created by RefugePoint and Women’s Refugee Commission, the joint convenors of the community. Also lacking were attempts at universalising measurements begun as a localised effort. Broad recognition emerged from the community, however, of the need for such universal measurements in today’s refugee context.