Complementary Pathways: Key Factors in Future Growth

Complementary pathways have grown in popularity in recent years. These programs—which include humanitarian admission, sponsorship, and education- and employment-based mobility programs for refugees and others in need of protection—promise to better engage receiving communities in welcoming newcomers, promote public support for arriving refugees, and capitalize on available private resources to sustain and expand protection-based pathways.

However, many complementary pathways have yet to achieve the scale needed to more effectively address displacement and mobility pressures. This is, in part, because they can be resource intensive, often require coordination between a range of actors, and may struggle to secure reliable funding—issues that suggest the need for a better ecosystem of support, one that can facilitate these programs’ growth and help them to fulfill their objectives.

This MPI Europe report explores the elements needed to build this supportive ecosystem, drawing on interviews, expert roundtables, and lessons from the three-year Complementary Pathways Network (COMET) Project. The study then offers strategies and recommendations for addressing these challenges and, in doing so, strengthening protection pathways.