Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion in The Americas

• Created in 2021 by UNHCR and the UN Global Compact - Brazil Network, the Companies with Refugees Forum promotes access to decent work and income generation for forcibly displaced and stateless persons in Brazil, currently more than 130 companies are part of the Forum.

The 3rd Annual Meeting of the Forum, held in São Paulo on October 31st, brought together around 180 attendees, including representatives from civil society, government, private sector, and refugee communities. During the event, data collected in August 2024 was shared, highlighting that participating companies now employ over 12,000 refugees and migrants. Currently, Brazil formally employs around 200,000 refugees and people in need of international protection. Since joining the initiative, Forum’s companies have seen an average increase of 39% in refugee hires.
Furthermore, over the past three years, the Forum has organized or supported more than 65 events, including workshops, webinars, trainings, and meetings, with two previous annual events drawing over 350 participants.
Additionally, the Forum has produced over fifteen guides, policy notes, and regular bulletins documenting the actions and progress of member companies in fostering inclusive hiring practices.

• Since its inception in 2016, more than 45,000 people have participated and benefited from the Local Integration Program in Mexico. The private sector network facilitating the employment of forcibly displaced people increased to more than 600 companies by the end of 2023. In addition, more than 100,000 people have been supported with on- site integration in 20 cities. The Program helps relocate refugees from Mexico’s southern regions, where most asylum requests are made, to central and northern cities with greater capacity to meet their needs. It offers tailored support for refugees, covering documentation, housing, education, employment, and social integration. Destination cities are chosen based on each person’s specific needs, with the program providing workshops and assistance to ensure a smooth transition into their new communities.
• In Ecuador in 2024, UNHCR recognized 102 companies with the Inclusive Company Seal, an award that, for the third consecutive year, highlights the efforts of the private sector to integrate refugees and migrants. Since its inception in 2022, 187 companies, 12 industries and 15 cities have been awarded. The seal is part of the wider Companies with Refugees initiative, a space for building and developing relationships between the business sector and the refugee population, where companies share best corporate practices that promote inclusion, equality and diversity, and can find all the information and resources - statistics, studies and guidance material - developed to address the needs of companies interested in being more inclusive.

The “Vivir la Inclusión - Living the Inclusion (VLI)” framework, established by UNHCR Costa Rica in 2014 in partnership with public, private, and civil society actors, has become a cornerstone for promoting refugee inclusion in the labor market. Through this initiative, companies contribute by hiring refugees, offering training opportunities, integrating refugees into their value chains, or supporting awareness and information campaigns. The program has seen growing collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, which aims to align the initiative with national labor market priorities. This alignment is facilitated through an agreement with UNHCR that focuses on matching refugee labor integration efforts with market demands.

As part of VLI, UNHCR and its partners created the “VLI Seal”, a recognition awarded to institutions demonstrating exemplary efforts in fostering refugee inclusion. In 2024, 36 institutions have received the seal, bringing the number of awarded institutions since its inception to a total of 188 across 73 organizations, including private companies, public institutions, local governments, NGOs, and academic institutions. These coordinated efforts have contributed to the decrease of unemployment among forcibly displaced people in Costa Rica, dropping from 9% in 2022 to 7.2% in 2023, according to data from the University of Costa Rica (UCR).

• In El Salvador, My First Job programme, a joint UNHCR- Ministry of Labour initiative promoting employability of youth forcibly displaced and at-risk of displacement, is in its third year of implementation. By November 2024, 1563 youth received market orientation and 814 of them have obtained formal contracts with more than 200 companies and were enrolled in the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS), generating more than 3.6M USD in productivity gains for the national economy.