Supporting Self-Sufficiency: Considerations for refugees’ transition out of sponsorship and complementary pathways programmes
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Highlights
Refugees transitioning out of volunteer-based sponsorship programmes face mismatched expectations and structural gaps that undermine their long-term self-sufficiency.
- Sponsorship and complementary pathways programmes increasingly engage volunteers to support refugee integration. But insufficient attention to the transition phase undermines long-term self-sufficiency for refugees and programme sustainability.
- Key obstacles include mismatched expectations between refugees and volunteers, paternalistic relationship dynamics that foster dependency, trauma and family separation, and structural shortfalls in housing and jobs.
- In a 2023 evaluation, 82 percent of refugee participants in a hosting program reported challenges securing housing and employment, with fewer than 25 percent finding affordable housing by the end of the six-month program.
- Programmes should set realistic expectations through pre- and post-arrival training, develop early transition plans collaboratively, monitor volunteer-refugee relationships, and connect refugees to mainstream services before program support ends.
A growing number of countries are experimenting with and building out humanitarian protection pathways that involve volunteers from receiving communities in supporting the welcome, settlement, and integration of refugees. These programs, which include different types of sponsorship as well as labor and education complementary pathways, vary considerably in their design. But a common challenge, and one that often receives insufficient attention, is how refugees will transition out of these programs and to independently navigating life in their new community and country.
Getting this right matters for several reasons: A timely, well-structured, and clear transition strategy can facilitate a smooth end to program support, advance refugees’ self-sufficiency and integration, promote volunteer retention and social cohesion, and boost a program’s long-term sustainability.
This MPI Europe issue brief identifies lessons learned to date about how program organizers and volunteers can best support refugees’ transition out of sponsorship and complementary pathways programs and toward longer-term integration. It highlights common obstacles to a smooth transition as well as promising practices, with examples from European, Canadian, and other programs.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Current Practices in Phasing Out Program and Volunteer Support
3 Challenges for a Smooth Transition
A. Misunderstandings about the Transition Period and the End of Program Support
B. Difficulties Managing the Refugee–Volunteer Relationship
C. Structural and Program-Specific Challenges
4 Seven Good Practices for Managing the Transition
5 Conclusion
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