Many studies have stated the results of interventions presented in refugee camps to improve the quality of refugees’ lives and reduce their suffering. However, there has been no formal systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the evidence of the relative effectiveness of these interventions along with sustainability and the current 2030 Agenda. We developed a comprehensive search strategy designed to identify all peer-reviewed articles that presented interventions related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a refugee camp setting. We examined only articles with a specific focus on development goals. We screened the titles and, where necessary, the abstracts of 1108 publications. Seventy-two studies were judged to contain relevant evidence and were reviewed in detail. Data were extracted from these studies and pooled by meta-analysis to provide summary estimates of the effectiveness of existing procedures. Health and education sectors were the most frequently discussed SDGs. Results and recommendations from included studies were categorized into seven sectors: planning, development, and shelters; health and well-being; education; water and sanitation; energy; work and economic growth; and others. In order to improve the quality of life of refugees and internally displaced persons living in camps, more research that addresses both SDGs and camp planning and management is needed. This study is the first review found in the literature to report on sustainability in refugee camps.

Although the refugee phenomenon is not new and refugee camps are rarely temporary, in most cases, the procedures implemented within refugee camps have failed to apply principles of sustainability to ensure refugees’ dignity and improve their quality of life, thereby helping them become independent and self-reliant. This improvement, in turn, may help them return to their homes in the future or may, at least, reduce the high cost and negative coping strategies associated with refugee camps and instead increase refugees’ social integration within the host community. This paper discusses the procedures applied in both the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan and the Dadaab Refugee Complex in Kenya and provides evidence regarding the extent to which they meet the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development without leaving refugees behind. Furthermore, this paper shows how sustainable development goals (SDGs) are interconnected in a refugee camp setting. This study concludes that refugee camps not only failed to align with 2030 agenda but failed to ensure refugees’ basic rights where a more inclusive and sustainable approach is required to improve the refugees’ quality of life and to help them live in dignity and reach self-reliance that can benefit both refugees and their host communities.

With the increasing refugee crisis worldwide, a great promise lies in the 2030 agenda to help ‘leave no one behind.’ This article aims to take stock of implementing the 2030 Agenda in the refugee camps of the Arab Middle East based on empirical data from Syrian refugees and Iraqi IDPs collected using a questionnaire distributed in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. SDGs’ indices were calculated using arithmetic mean and principal component analysis methods. Our study finds that the progress toward achieving the SDGs is diverse in three locations, mainly due to the policy applied in the host country. The respondents in Iraq ranked the best at social and economic sustainability, Jordan ranked the best at environmental sustainability, and Lebanon was the furthest left behind in the three dimensions. SDG7 has a high performance, but accelerating the progress toward achieving the remaining SDGs is essential. Without the substantial efforts of all stakeholders, the 2030 agenda will not be accomplished.

No abstract