What it is
The World Bank IDA Window for Host Communities and Refugees provides dedicated concessional financing to eligible low-income countries hosting significant refugee populations. It supports medium- to long-term development opportunities for refugees and host communities.
Governance function
The window shifts part of refugee response from humanitarian appeals into development finance. It supports investments in services, livelihoods, institutions, infrastructure, and policy environments that benefit both refugees and host communities.
Who is included
Refugees and host communities in eligible IDA countries may benefit through projects that support services, livelihoods, local development, institutional capacity, or policy reforms.
Who is left out
Refugees in countries outside eligibility criteria, urban refugees not captured in project areas, undocumented populations, IDPs, and non-refugee displaced groups may fall outside unless project design includes them through other channels.
Where continuity breaks
Continuity breaks when refugee inclusion is project-based, when host-state policies restrict access to work or services, when local institutions are underfinanced after project closure, or when national systems do not absorb recurrent costs.
Why it matters
The window is central to fiscal architecture because it recognizes that host countries incur development costs when hosting refugees. The political economy archetype is conditional fiscal absorption: development finance can make inclusion more feasible, but only where host-state policy and project systems align.
Governance coding table
| Political economy archetype | Conditional fiscal absorption |
|---|---|
| Responsibility | Host governments, World Bank teams, IDA governance structures, implementing agencies, local authorities, and partner institutions share responsibility through project preparation and implementation. |
| Eligibility | Eligibility depends on country access to IDA, refugee-hosting context, policy commitments, project criteria, and World Bank operational requirements. |
| Financing | Financing is concessional IDA financing dedicated to refugee-hosting contexts, usually through country operations and project-specific allocations. |
| Data systems | Refugee registration, national statistics, project beneficiary data, service delivery records, local government data, and monitoring frameworks shape implementation. |
| Delivery system | Delivery runs through national ministries, local governments, development projects, service providers, livelihood programmes, and infrastructure investments. |
| Portability | Portability depends on whether project benefits connect refugees to national systems, documentation, labour markets, social protection, and services beyond project areas. |
| Accountability | Accountability includes World Bank project supervision, government implementation responsibilities, grievance mechanisms, results frameworks, and donor/shareholder oversight. |
| Time horizon | Medium- to long-term development financing, though project cycles may still be shorter than displacement duration. |
Sources
Official sources
- World Bank IDA Window for Host Communities and Refugees
- World Bank factsheet: 10 things to know about WHR
- IDA18 Regional Sub-Window for Refugees and Host Communities
Secondary sources
No sources listed yet.