Since the establishment of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan in response to the Syria crisis (3RP), social cohesion and social stability have become a growing source of concern across 3RP countries. The main drivers of tensions between host communities and refugees include increased job competition, rising costs of living, and pressure on municipal and local basic service provision.

Against the backdrop of these challenges, social cohesion is integrated into the 3RP strategic directions. The 3RP is uniquely positioned to increase its impact on do-no-harm and social cohesion, given its robust coordination system, its wide network of partners, its strong relations with national governments, and the experience and expertise on social cohesion accumulated over the past decade of interventions.

This guidance note aims to support 3RP partners and countries into strengthening social cohesion as “the management of social tensions within a community so as to prevent conflict and foster opportunities for collaboration between groups.” More specifically, this guidance note focuses on strengthening conflict sensitivity mainstreaming and the do-no-harm approach across the response.