Financial services offer vital tools to forcibly displaced persons (FDPs). When designed appropriately and backed by robust national policies and regulation, help FDPs to safely store money, send or receive money transfers, and build up a transaction history that helps to access services such as credit and insurance when needed. Yet, large gaps in access to appropriate financial services remain for FDPs. The UN Global Compact on Refugees calls for support to ease access to affordable financial products and services for host and refugee communities.

The IRC along with a coalition of actors (including BMZ/GIZ, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Netherlands and Norway, DFID, UNHCR, AFI, Better than Cash Alliance and the ILO) is supporting the implementation of a Roadmap to the Sustainable and Responsible Financial Inclusion of FDPs, which offers a set of key policy recommendations for each relevant stakeholder group: governments, the private sector, humanitarian and development agencies, research organisations, and the standard-setting bodies (SSBs). The Roadmap illustrates a vision for a way forward, and encourage stakeholders to take action to implement the Roadmap's recommendations. IRC will support the dissemination of the Roadmap's recommendations at different high-level events, including the Global Refugee Forum taking place next week.

Available documents & links