UNHCR and community development: a weak link in the chain of refugee protection?

This paper seeks to evaluate UNHCR's community based approach in refugee protection and the programming. The paper also looks to define social capital and its impact; explore the relevance of social capital to protection of persons of concern to UNHCR; and finally reflect on the challenge of implementing projects that demonstrably increase the level of social capital. It concludes that the community-based approach can yield more efficient programmes. It can be a right in and of itself. However, unless UNHCR continues to develop its understanding of this approach, there is a risk that it becomes an ideological statement.