Although self-reliance has been promoted as a major
assistance strategy for refugees in recent years, there
have been limited attempts to rigorously measure
it. This has practical and academic implications, as
studies on refugee self-reliance use varying
and often imprecise indicators, meaning it is
impossible to compare the success of refugee
self-reliance across contexts and strategies. Instead,
most humanitarian work is measured according to
specific sectoral outputs or outcomes over the course
of a six-month or one-year project cycle. While selfreliance is often highlighted as a priority, few, if
any, agencies are held to this goal, and this is in
large part because self-reliance is not measured.
Noting this gap, RefugePoint and the Women’s
Refugee Commission (WRC) convened a global
Community of Practice of over 15 organisations1 to
collectively engage with this issue.