Promises and challenges of Ethiopia’s refugee policy reform

Refugees in Ethiopia have limited access to education and employment – a new policy aims to change that.

Ethiopia’s implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework is central to expanding refugees’ socio-economic opportunities. This is a major policy change. For decades, the country’s policy required most refugees to live in camps with limited access to education and employment. Host communities and the government stand to benefit from the policy shift. But this will not be without its challenges.

About the author

Tsion Tadesse Abebe is a senior researcher in the ISS Migration Programme. Her research focuses on international and regional migration and forced displacement policy and the dynamics of intra- African migration. Tsion has an MA degree in gender and peacebuilding from the UN-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) and a certificate in international labour migration: economics, politics and ethics from the University of Oxford, UK.

Picture: UNHCR/Diana Diaz