Evolving Models of Urban Refugee Responses

The international assistance community is reassessing approaches to refugee assistance in humanitarian emergencies. This reassessment has two important components. The first is recognition that response models that assume that most refugees live in camps are no longer viable. Instead, it is necessary to create mechanisms and procedures that enable host countries to respond to the needs of refugees living among the urban and rural populations. The second is the related recognition that, because refugees are interspersed with local communities and because local authorities are critical components of any response, emergency humanitarian responses for refugees must be linked to hostcountry development