Right now, nearly 70 million people are fleeing violence and conflict. Millions more are displaced by climate change and disasters. Not since the aftermath of World War II have we seen as many people fleeing their homes in search of safety, and the numbers continue to increase.
I wanted to understand why that is and see how the private sector can play a role in solving the displacement crisis. To do so, I met with Mr. Jan Egeland, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Mr. Egeland is a lifelong humanitarian with multiple accolades to his name, and he runs what is known as one of the most effective refugee relief organizations in the world. Although he is often on the road, either in Geneva for high-level discussions or visiting one of the NRC’s many national programs, I was able to sit down with Mr. Egeland at the NRC’s Head Office in Oslo. Over the course of two very interesting hours, we talked about everything from negotiating access to conflict areas to the massive untapped potential of the millions of displaced youths in the world today. Below are some of the highlights from our conversation.
Jan Egeland visiting a displacement site in Tanganyika. Photo: NRC/Alex McBride
The NRC
The NRC is an independent humanitarian organization focused on helping displaced people in emergency situations across the world. Founded in 1946, it helped 8.5 million displaced people in 2018 with services such as protection, food, shelter, water, sanitation, education, and livelihood programs. It relies on the efforts of more than 14,000 humanitarians (many of whom are refugees themselves) across 31 countries, several of which are in the world’s most dangerous and unstable areas. The NRC currently collaborates with several Norwegian and international companies and foundations (e.g., Equinor, BCG, Microsoft, Kluge, and the Grieg Foundation) and is actively looking to extend such collaboration to more actors from the private sector to reach even more displaced people.
Hein Zayar (7), Hein Wai Sei (5) & Jue Thazin (6) from the remote village of Wa Zum Village, Myanmar attending class in a brand new school built with help from NRC. Photo: NRC/Ingrid Prestetun
Mr. Jan Egeland
Jan Egeland has been Secretary General of the NRC since 2013. In 1976, at the age of 19, he traveled to Colombia to volunteer as a humanitarian aid worker. Now, more than forty years later, he has dedicated his entire adult life to working for people affected by injustice, war, and conflict. Over the course of those forty years, he has served as the special advisor to the UN mediation efforts in Syria, UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Europe Director of Human Rights Watch, executive director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, and the UN Secretary General’s special adviser to Colombia. From 1990 to 1997, he was State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he co-organized and co-initiated the Norwegian channel that led to the Oslo Agreement between Israel and the PLO (1993), as well as peace agreements in Guatemala (1996) and elsewhere. He has received a number of international awards, and in 2006 Time Magazine named Egeland one of the “100 people who shape our world.”
Jan Egeland meeting Marianna, a displaced mother, and two of her children in Mwaka displacement site. Photo: NRC/Alex McBride
The NRC’s moral and ethical position
The NRC’s humanitarian principles are identical to those articulated by the founder of the Red Cross, Henri Dunant:
Independence. The NRC is ready to serve any person in true need, irrespective of international relations, making it independent of all governments.
Impartiality. The NRC is solely driven by human need and is in no way motivated by other factors, such as political considerations, ethnicity, or religion.
Neutrality. The NRC is not “for” nor “against” any particular political regime.
Humanity. The NRC is solely focused on meeting human needs.
The NRC’s mission and its ability to work in hard-to-reach areas
The NRC’s mandate is to protect the rights of displaced and vulnerable people during a crisis. It does so by providing emergency assistance, contributing to durable solutions and preventing further displacement. Today, such services are needed more than ever. From the war in Syria and the massive new displacement from Myanmar to the violence in Central America and Boko Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria, crises today produce millions of displaced people who are living in dire conditions. These crises are often in conflict areas with little to no access for international organizations. Here, civilians are often left to their own devices and are desperately fighting for their survival.
As a lifelong humanitarian, Mr. Egeland has worried for many years about the lack of access to civilians caught in the crossfire. With the increasing number of complex and dangerous conflicts seen around the world today, the NRC has decided to focus on gaining access to areas that are cut off from the rest of the world. Today, the NRC’s focus is paying off, and the organization reaches displaced people in areas where few other organizations are present (e.g., the Afghan countryside, Somalia, Eritrea, and on both sides of the conflict in Syria). Much of the success can be attributed to Mr. Egeland’s and the NRC’s strong reputations as principled humanitarians, a reputation which has proven to be essential when the NRC is negotiating access with local and national governments, civilians, and even armed groups.
Building for the future – the need to think ahead
It is said that protracted crises are the new normal today. Not only are they responsible for forcing millions of people to flee and end up in displacement; crises now last for many years if not decades. When working in these contexts, it is imperative that organizations shift their focus from short-term emergency relief to durable solutions. For the NRC, this shift means providing displaced people with the opportunity to rebuild their lives through education and livelihood programs. A life in limbo is not only devastating to people who have been displaced, but it is also costly to our societies. As Mr. Egeland puts it, “There are millions of extremely capable displaced people out there that can and want to contribute to society; they just need to be provided the opportunity to do so. By investing in them and their capacity, everyone will benefit from it.” He further explains, “The severe lack of opportunities for the displaced population is a major cause of disruption in the world today. By changing the way we think of refugees—from a problem to a solution—giving them a chance to contribute to their local and national economies, we give them their lives back, and we help stabilize whole countries and regions. Ultimately, this effort will contribute to creating a safer and more predictable world with stable economies, a cause both NRC and the private sector should be and are interested in.”
Six years ago, Mr. Egeland asked his team why they were only reaching 280,000 children with their education program. Why not reach one million? Shortly afterward, the NRC set a strategic goal of reaching one million children with its education program. Today, true to its can-do approach and efficient manner, the NRC reached its goal. Building on this success, Mr. Egeland now wants to complete the cycle and provide vocational training and job opportunities to the millions of displaced youths who are left behind with little hope. He believes that developing strong links with the private sector is key.
Source: NRC
Impact investment and young people’s potential
According to Mr. Egeland, “The lack of opportunities for millions of displaced youth is, in many places, a looming disaster. The enormity of the situation calls for an immediate reaction from both the private and humanitarian sector.”
In many humanitarian aid and development programs, supporting children is the main priority. Therefore, young adults are often left behind. Because they are not prioritized, many young people are likely to end up permanently unemployed and feeling hopeless. Considering the many ongoing conflicts and crises, the youth challenge is a massive problem we face today. Mr. Egeland gives us an example: “If you’re a young person who has been fighting for an armed group, earning the respect of your peers, earning money, and giving you a sense of purpose, what do you do when peace time comes and there are no opportunities? We need to give people a real chance to become productive members of their communities.”
Jan Egeland meeting families in west Mosul. Photo: NRC/Alan Ayoubi
However, because governmental donors are more willing to fund so-called “life-saving” relief or traditional development projects, funding start-up projects for rootless youths in conflict areas has proven to be difficult. Assistance from private-sector partners not only helps fund this service gap but brings in a wealth of knowledge and expertise on how to help develop human capacity and businesses.
Mr. Egeland’s way of thinking is in line with significant international agreements such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Compact for Migration. Both of these agreements urge the international community to adapt a more holistic approach to solve the many complex crises the world faces today. Not one to be afraid of setting ambitious goals, Mr. Egeland invites private-sector partners to help: “Let’s sit down, discuss, find a common goal and work together. Imagine reaching one million displaced young people from Colombia to Myanmar with livelihood programs, providing them with hope and a sense of purpose. Such a feat would set an impressive precedent for what can be achieved when businesses and humanitarian organizations come together.”
Tent distribution for drought displaced families in Badghis, Afghanistan. Photo: NRC/Enayatullah Azad
Innovation in the humanitarian sector
New technologies, digital transformation, and innovation are crucial for humanitarian organizations to increase their efficiency and improve support for hard-to-reach communities. The NRC has a strategic aim to become a leader in using data and technology for humanitarian services and is developing partnerships to build in-house skills and infrastructure. For example, the NRC and Microsoft now have a deep partnership that includes grants for software such as Office 365, funding for technology education specialists, and access to experts in artificial intelligence to support development of humanitarian-focused chatbots.
Corruption
Fighting the scourge of corruption, the NRC has implemented a rigorous system of control and documentation. This methodology involves physical checks, monitoring, internal and external auditing, evaluations, and verifying in real time that various items (e.g., tents) are actually being used. Most inventory items are also bar-coded. Moreover, the extensive internal revision is documented and analyzed in annual reports. These reports show minimal corruption in the NRC’s programs, and when evidence of wrongdoing is found, it is dealt with swiftly. Thanks to such practices, the NRC is highly regarded by Transparency International (a global coalition working against corruption).
The NRC’s independence
Despite the links that can be made between the NRC’s name and the Norwegian government, the NRC is solely a nongovernmental organization. In contrast to other organizations, it has no political or religious affiliation. In 1946, the NRC’s original name was Europahjelpen, reflecting its focus on supporting European war refugees, a massive challenge during the years after World War II. The NRC’s focus has now shifted toward addressing the global refugee issue, a change that took place in the 1950-60s.
Scandinavian style
Being based in a Scandinavian country is an asset for the NRC, because none of the Scandinavian countries have any significant colonial pasts. A Scandinavian way of managing also seems to be regarded as generally positive, with its informal and nonhierarchical perspectives.
Identification documents
Possessing valid identification documents would typically be a key determinant for people to move around freely and access education, work, and government services. The NRC has emphasized making, through legal aid, such valid identification documentation available. Indeed, the NRC considers enhancing a person’s mobility a particularly valid way of ameliorating the dysfunctionality of being a refugee.
Conclusion
The NRC’s status as one of the leading refugee organizations seems to be closely linked to the leadership’s direction and the positive and principled drive that Mr. Egeland and his colleagues provide. The NRC’s values are indeed consistent with its top management’s values, which seem to be a key to its success.
Mr. Egeland provided me a better understanding of the displacement crisis we face today and the many ways the private sector can contribute. Clearly, donations are always needed, but today, impact investing is also necessary for the creation of private-sector jobs for displaced youths in conflict areas. A more holistic approach is indeed necessary in the displacement crises, and here, the private sector not only has the financial means to contribute but also the know-how.
As Mr. Egeland succinctly puts it, “We are facing a global crisis, and for the people who are displaced, the means and expertise of the private sector is needed more than ever.”
NRC staff accompany children in Tanzania's Mtendeli refugee camp as they head towards a shelter distribution site. Photo: NRC/Ingrid Prestetun
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