Building Social Capital Among Forcibly Displaced Children

About this event

Forced displacement disrupts the development of social capital among millions of children worldwide. These children face substantial barriers to forming social networks and engaging in cooperative behaviors due to frequent relocations, cutting social ties, and unstable environments. These challenges are especially severe in low- or middle-income countries, where resources and infrastructure are insufficient to meet the needs of displaced children. In partnership with BRAC, we implemented a cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a structured play-based intervention on the social capital development of Rohingya refugee children aged 3-5 in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Using lab-in-the-field experiments and rich objective and subjective data, we find that the intervention was effective in developing the social capital of refugee children – measured through friendship formation – while also improving their cognitive and motor skills. Social interactions within play centers or developing social skills do not explain these results, instead formation of trust and altruism toward peers and reduction in externalizing behavioral problems explain our findings. Our findings offer important insights into how early interventions can mitigate the negative effects of displacement and present scalable policy solutions to strengthen social capital during childhood in resource-constrained settings.