Refugee policy dialogue and partnerships

The EBRD focuses on building the economic resilience of the countries where it invests and help them tackle global challenges by making their economies more sustainable.

In the face of the refugee crisis that Jordan and Turkey are confronted with, the EBRD and its donor partners have a big role to complement humanitarian relief with operations aimed at delivering immediate as well as long-term effects to alleviate the economic and social pressure in the affected regions.

The influx of refugees has resulted in a significantly increased demand on EBRD activities. These are developed in close coordination with local, national and regional authorities to ensure complementarity with national refugee response programmes and efforts by the international community.

The Bank works in close cooperation and coordination with international donors, including the European Union, the World Bank, other international financial institutions, the United Nations and other stakeholders.

The refugee response has been supported by the European Union, Finland, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Taipei China, the United Kingdom, the United States of America,  the EBRD’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Multi Donor Account (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taipei China and the United Kingdom) and the Global Concessional Financing Facility. Cumulatively they provided €121 million of co-financing grant and an additional €13 million for technical cooperation projects. 

Grant support from donors is vital to continue activities focusing on refugee hosting regions. The EBRD’s projects aim to support host communities and to ease the additional burden on local infrastructure, help refugees provide for their own livelihoods and facilitate their integration into host communities.

Donor support is needed to ensure that cash-strapped municipalities do not take on excessive debt burdens, that basic services remain affordable to the population at large and that small businesses, financial institutions and business-supporting agencies have the resources to reach the refugee population. The EBRD is actively seeking donor support to bridge this gap.

Thanks to a strong presence in Turkey and Jordan, the EBRD has an extensive network of direct relationships with municipalities, financial institutions, local businesses as well as institutions such as chambers of commerce and industry. This places the Bank in an ideal position to deliver projects swiftly and with immediate benefits for the affected communities.

The EBRD has proven its ability to take immediate action on urgent issues in the region time and time again: during the 2007/8 financial crisis, in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings in 2011 and, more recently, in support of reforms and economic stability in Ukraine. The Bank’s response to the refugee crisis in Jordan and Turkey is another example of our ability to respond to changing circumstances quickly and decisively.