Event details and recordings available here.

On 24 June 2021, LERRN and the hosted their seventh and final webinar in the LERRN-IDRC webinar series on Forced Displacement. This webinar, drawing on lessons from Bangladesh, Syria, and the West Bank and Gaza, focused on health systems and the COVID-19 response. Panellists Sabina Rashid,  Weeam Hammoudeh, and Muzna Dureid, and co-moderators James Milner and Montasser Kamal examined what the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic reveals about how health systems respond to the needs of the forcibly displaced and how localized actors and approaches can improve access and health outcomes for refugees, IDPs, and other forcibly displaced people.

Sabina Rashid, Dean and Professor at the BRAC School of Public Health, argued that the overly clinical response to COVID-19 in Bangladesh – orchestrated primarily by public authorities— served to further marginalize the country’s refugee community. Like other jurisdictions, the public response to the pandemic involved widespread lockdowns, hospital closures, reduced services, and public health campaigns to promote social distancing, quarantine, and other sanitation measures. While these measures might be appropriate in some contexts or with certain groups, Rashid emphasized that they are not necessarily appropriate for the 800,000 mostly Rohingya refugees in the country. A key issue is the unique socio-linguistic particularities of the refugee community. Many refugees, for example, do not read or speak Bengali, which limits the flow of information about service provision and public health measures. Rashid argued that such oversight could be remedied by utilizing existing refugee networks and channels – including the refugee doctors and medical personnel that many in the community prefer.

Rashid also highlighted how the COVID-19 response ignored the material conditions of refugees. Most refugees in Bangladesh live in crowded camps. Kutupalong, for example, has almost 600,000 residents and is now the world’s largest refugee camp. In this context, measures like social distancing, quarantine, and other sanitation measures make little sense and create an unattainable standard for refugees. Weeam Hammoudeh, Assistant Professor in the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University, highlighted similar issues in the West Bank and Gaza. While only 10-15% of Palestinian refugees in these areas live in camps, many still reside in crowded conditions where social-distancing and other public health measures are difficult to achieve. Hammoudeh also underscored the economic effects of the lockdown. In regions characterized by widespread poverty, the inability to work placed additional pressure on refugee households.

Despite the limitations of the COVID-19 response, panellists were in agreement that the emergency has had some positive impacts on health services, particularly in terms of improving the participation of the displaced and the localization service delivery. Across these unique contexts, lockdowns, closures, and travel restrictions combined to create more space for displaced communities to mobilize and take a greater role in service provision. Muzna Dureid, Liaison Officer with , detailed how the role of her organization in northwest Syria has evolved since the beginning of the pandemic. In a region where public services and infrastructure has been devastated by a decade of conflict, COVID-19 has added another layer of complexity. In response to the pandemic, the White Helmets, a volunteer-based organization well-known for its heroic medical evacuations, have mobilized to support communities and the health sector by collecting and disposing of personal protective equipment (PPE), disinfecting schools, hospitals, and residences, conducting awareness campaigns, providing burial services, and through the production and distribution of oxygen. Since the pandemic began, the White Helmets have strengthened partnerships with donors and other international actors who are eager to maintain connections in the region. And most recently, they have received funding from to increase their production and distribution of PPE, including face shields, surgical gowns, and other disposables to households and medical facilities. In the West Bank and Gaza, Weeam Hammoudeh identified a similar trend. She suggested that COVID-19 seemed to create a spark among Palestinian refugees who have since mobilized to deliver medicines and other essentials to people in need, organize checkpoints, and offer other critical services.

Challenging the overemphasis of concepts such as ‘resilience’ that are used to describe the capabilities of individuals and local systems to adapt to ever-changing global political-economic conditions without thoroughly engaging in the structural factors that induce and sustain these realities, panellists turned to what lessons can be learned to improve access and health outcomes for refugees, IDPs and other forcibly displaced people.

First, panellists stressed that the participation and inclusion of the forcibly displaced must be the starting point. This is not only because these communities have capabilities and knowledge that is critical to designing effective interventions, but also a question of respecting the dignity and autonomy of the displaced.

A second related point, however, is that the diversity of perspectives must be recognized. As Hammoudeh emphasized, in Palestine, there are of course men, women, the elderly, and people with disabilities, but there are also multi-generational refugees, newer refugees, individuals in camps, rural and urban areas, as well as people living in active conflict zones – all of these perspectives are valuable and must be heard.

Third, panellists suggested that donors and other international actors should commit to sustained engagement with displaced communities and their organizations. The White Helmets are just one example of a local/national organization that has been able to evolve in light of growing donor relationships, but as Dureid argued, increased investment can create vibrant networks of grassroots actors who are able to identify and act upon their own priorities. This point echoed arguments made during the December 2020 LERRN-IDRC webinar on refugee leadership.

Perhaps the most important lesson, however, is that a narrow focus on health (or any single sector) risks the broader systemic issues that impact the well-being of those affected by forced displacement. Even the world’s best health system cannot protect individuals from violence, poverty, or marginalization.

These points underscore the importance of solidarity, participation, and human rights-based approaches in preventing and responding to forced displacement. Points that echo Barbara Harrell-Bond reflections in her foundational book, Imposing Aid (1986), more than three decades ago. Critiquing what the scholar referred to as “discriminatory ideologies,� Harrell-Bond research on the South Sudanese refugee crisis in northern Uganda showed how the attitudes and practices of international humanitarian actors resulted in top-down responses that were not only expensive, ineffective, and wasteful, but also undermined the role and creative energies of host and refugee communities. The scholar challenged the idea that international actors possessed universal knowledge and techniques that applied to every context and advocated for more participatory approaches to aid delivery that relied upon the expertise and knowledge of host and refugee communities. In her view, this was not only a practical way to improve service delivery, but a matter of accountability, solidarity, and human rights.

Bangladesh, Syria, West Bank, and Gaza are much different than the northern Uganda of the 1980s, but as panellists highlighted, COVID-19 revealed the pervasiveness of anti-participatory approaches to forced displacement responses.

The solution might not be straightforward, but as Montasser Kamal, Program Leader for Health Research Partnerships at IDRC, emphasized, “We should resist the urge to run to quick pre-packaged fits-all fixes.� Rather, Kamal concluded, the focus should be on establishing trusted relationships between affected populations and decision-makers, strengthening the role of research in understanding differential needs to support more inclusive and gender-equal responses and recovery, and supporting countries and communities to find their own contextually-informed pathways to solutions.

This report was prepared by Tyler Foley, PhD Student, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University.

The LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement is coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

Event details and recordings available here.

On 9 June 2021, the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and the (IDRC) hosted the sixth of their Webinar Series on Forced Displacement to focus on localized knowledge ecosystems. The goal of the webinar was to showcase early results of their project on Localized Knowledge Ecosystem in East Africa and the Middle East. Drawing on findings from Kenya, Ethiopia, Lebanon, and Jordan, panelists shed light on how localized knowledge ecosystems collaborate to produce, translate, and mobilize knowledge to influence forced displacement policy and practice. The webinar also considered the impact these ecosystems have had in shaping protection and assistance for refugees in camps and urban contexts.

The concept of ‘knowledge ecosystem’ emerges from technology studies and strategic management to refer to networks that form around specific technological, scientific, or societal challenges, or among geographically co-located organizations in complementary fields (Bray, 2007; Järvi et al., 2018). As the concept has not yet been applied to the field of forced migration, LERRN researchers developed a definition of ‘localized knowledge ecosystems’ based on preliminary discussions and research. James Milner, Project Director of LERRN, provided this working definition:

“In the context of forced migration, localized knowledge ecosystems include actors with lived experience, research actors, practitioners who produce and use knowledge on forced migration (including, but not limited to, NGOs/INGOs, research centers, institutes, networks and universities and academics) who coordinate with each other to advance new knowledge production within this system and translate and mobilize this knowledge to influence policy, practice, action and discourses, and narratives to advance the well-being of refugees.�

Panelists were careful to distinguish between ‘local’ and ‘localized’ and knowledge ecosystems. Whereas ‘local’ simply refers to research and knowledge production taking place within a particular jurisdiction, ‘localized’ refers to activities that are driven by local agendas and where local actors had power and decision-making over agendas and resources.

These issues are far from new in the field of refugee and forced migration studies. Over 20 years ago B. S. Chimni (1998) argued that the expansion of refugee studies in the 1980s was intimately tied to the rise of a ‘new approach’ in the global refugee regime. Driven by the interests of Northern researchers and policy makers, this approach entailed a shift away from the politics of rights and state responsibility, toward policies intended to contain refugees in the Global South. Chimni called on scholars to develop a ‘new new approach’ to knowledge creation which would be sensitive to the “distorted international division of intellectual labour� in order to construct more humane and effective policies to improve the lives of those affected by forced displacement. Since Chimni, calls for the decolonization of forced migration studies have grown louder.

The webinar illustrated how Chimni’s concerns are as relevant as ever. Nasser Yassin, Professor of Policy and Planning at the American University of Beirut, argued that reliance on external donors, IOs, and INGOs drastically impacts the character of knowledge ecosystems in the Lebanese context. It is donors and a handful of large international actors which define the research agenda and set the priorities, and who use their resources to disproportionately support outside researchers and organizations. This not only limits the ability of more localized networks to grow and advance their own priorities, but it can also lead to ‘research waste’ (duplication or irrelevant research) and ‘research fatigue’ (a general malaise or annoyance toward research). There is also a risk that, despite the protracted nature of most contemporary forced displacement crises, external actors will lose interest in a particular country or initiative. While, local actors take long-term view of displacement, with research that continues after international interest in displacement research in a particular context starts to fade. Emphasizing this central role that localized knowledge ecosystem play, Yasin concluded that “we need to nurture such ecosystems that exist in places like Lebanon, Jordan or in East Africa or even in East Asia.�

Panelists also highlighted the multi-scalar operations of dynamic knowledge ecosystems in East Africa and the Middle East. Linda Oucho, Executive Director of the African Migration Development Policy Center in Nairobi, demonstrated that in the case of Kenya and Ethiopia, there are different knowledge ecosystems at the macro, meso, and micro scales (Figure 1). The macro scale refers to the national level, which includes well-resourced actors like the national governments and large international organizations who (to varying degrees) use evidence and research to generate policy. The meso scale refers to the decentralized level that includes local governments, INGOs, and other actors who implement policies and programs, interact with displaced and local communities, and generate information, evidence, and feedback on their activities. Finally, the micro scale refers to smaller organizations at the local level who have limited resources and generally conduct activities in their own interest. It is at this level, among the communities most affected by forced displacement, that we find informal actors and networks that could and should play a greater role in knowledge creation.

Figure 1. Macro, meso, and micro localized knowledge ecosystem in Kenya. (Click to enlarge)

Kiya Gezahegne, Lecturer at Addis Ababa University, highlighted the example of Dagu – a traditional knowing and information sharing system used by the Afar People of Ethiopia. While this system has been used historically to spread news relevant to pastoral livelihoods, it is locally meaningful and holds promise for addressing issues of forced displacement.

Panelists also discussed how national political dynamics can impact the function of knowledge ecosystems. Zein Soufan, Social-Economic Development Specialist in Jordan, argued that while the Jordanian government has done well to influence the country’s refugee response plans and research agenda, there are jurisdictional dynamics which limit the full participation of municipalities. Specifically, the hierarchical nature of political authority leaves most of the country’s municipalities almost completely dependent on the national government for funding and policy guidance. This is not necessarily an insurmountable obstacle, but a factor that shapes the degree to which knowledge can be ‘localized’ to the ground level.

Soufan’s concerns touch on another important structural challenge that localized knowledge ecosystems in Lebanon, Jordan, Kenya, and Ethiopia face in influencing policy. Across the board panelists emphasized the disconnect between knowledge creation (at every scale) and the relatively insular practice of policy making. While Dulo Nyaoro, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at Moi University, highlighted that this can be improved through greater support to grassroots actors and increased collaboration among universities and other networks, which could create greater access to national and global policy making networks. How, when, and why forced migration policy networks interact with knowledge ecosystems was highlighted as a key opportunity for future research. Linda Oucho suggested that it is useful to study how evidence and research is ‘filtered’ as it moves from local, meso, to national scales. Still, as co-moderator Frederico Burone, Regional Director of Latin America and the Caribbean at IDRC, highlighted, the disconnect between research and policy may be the norm in the field of forced migration research that needs to be challenged.

When considering what lessons can be brought to scale, the primary recommendations echoed Chimni’s call for a ‘new new approach.’ Panelists underscored the prevalence of localized knowledge producers, mobilisers and users who are willing to take on greater control of knowledge ecosystems in forced displacement, and would benefit from greater support  to ensure their substantive involvement in national and global policymaking. This will likely require changes in funding models and coordination mechanisms to create space, but also an appetite for different approaches. As Nasser Yassin emphasized, there is a need for more non-traditional research which could include more resources for citizen science, evaluations, pilots, and experimentation. Whether or not these inclusive shifts translate to concrete policy changes at national or global levels is another matter, but they possibly hold the key to the development of a decolonized discipline of forced migration.

This report was prepared by Tyler Foley, PhD Student, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University.

The LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement is coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

Event details and recordings available here.

On 8 April 2021, the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and the (IDRC) hosted the fifth of their webinar series on forced displacement. Drawing on lessons from the Middle East and Southern Africa, co-moderators Roula El-Rifai and James Milner, along with panelists Khalil Gebara, Georges Haddad, Jennifer Kandjii, and Lama Mourad, came together to examine the range of factors that shape relations between refugees and host communities, and to consider solutions to foster social cohesion and mitigate social tensions.

The challenge of refugee-host relations arises at a particular moment in the history of the global refugee regime. The world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. At the same time, countries in the Global South bear the brunt of it, hosting the vast majority (86%) of the world’s refugees in their communities. It is in countries like Lebanon and South Africa, where the intensity and scale of displacement is the greatest, where the consequences are felt the deepest, and the stakes are the highest. Yet the scale of displacement, rising expenditures, and a limited appetite for burden sharing among states constrain the ability of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to secure durable solutions and protection for refugees, resulting in calls for more innovative approaches and collective engagement.

During the discussion, the panelists emphasized how understanding context is critical to designing appropriate responses to forced displacement. Lama Mourad, Assistant Professor at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, provided a typology of four inter-related factors that influence refugee-host relations: historical, political, economic, and symbolic. She cautioned, however, against broad generalizations, suggesting that individuals within a country, region, community, and household may experience the same situation differently. Lebanon is a case in point. Mourad highlighted how the ‘refugee-host’ binary does not always hold up in Lebanon. The country has a sizeable population of long-settled Palestinian refugees who, since the Syrian crisis, now find themselves as hosts. Likewise, the kinship and social ties that connect Lebanon to Syria are deep, and are coloured by complex histories of trade, labour migration, war, and occupation.

Khalil Gebara, Professor at the Lebanese American University, provided insight into the role political and economic factors play in refugee-host relations. He argued that in Lebanon the response to the Syrian crisis is generally not driven by policy. Whereas Palestinian issues are guided by a special directorate within the government, nothing similar has been created for Syrians. This is particularly problematic because of the nature of the political system, which is marked by deep sectarian-religious divisions and a lack of political accountability. Together, the political situation puts refugees on unstable ground, as key issues like border policies, security, health care, and aid are at constant risk of contestation and change.

But perhaps the most important influence on refugee-host relations is economic. In many jurisdictions the economic impact of migration is a key concern of publics, policymakers, and politicians alike. These concerns are often magnified in the Global South, where economies are regularly defined by fragility, informality, and limited opportunities. Gebara indicated that the current economic crisis in Lebanon will likely have a dramatic effect on the country’s response to the Syrian displacement in the coming years. Banking and currency crises, rising inflation, and increased unemployment are creating a cash crunch for the government and pushing more Lebanese people into the informal labour market. So, not only does the government have less resources to ensure the proper functioning of domestic institutions and services, but Lebanese people find themselves competing with Syrian refugees for work in the informal economy.

Jennifer Kandjii, Research Officer at the LERRN-IDRC Initiative, discussed how these material realities can inform public narratives, that in turn shape the perspectives and experiences of refugees and hosts communities. Around the world, negative discourses that portray refugees as criminals, parasites, job stealers, or queue jumpers serve to undermine refugee rights to presence, protection, dignity, and well-being. Kandjii highlighted that in South Africa, a country with relatively liberal refugee policies, negative discourses – fueled by the public, media, and politicians alike – have contributed to outbreaks of xenophobic violence towards refugees and other migrants.

With these challenges in mind, the panelists also focused their attention on solutions to mitigate tension and foster cohesion between refugee and host communities. While in the last few years the UNHCR and the wider humanitarian community have experimented with ‘whole-of-society’ and ‘area-based approaches’ to respond to the needs of refugees and hosts affected by displacement, Georges Haddad, Programs Manager at Act for Human Rights (ALEF), argued that in Lebanon this results in an “illusion of coordination.� After a decade of intervention, involving hundreds of INGOs, dozens of major donors, numerous working groups, conferences, and other initiatives, poverty among refugees continues to increase and there are still gaps in service delivery. Haddad suggested that a change in approach is required, one that identifies allies and opportunities and scales-up on small successes. Key to this approach is the localization of aid.

Local civil society organizations have roots in the community, capacity, and experience. Despite the lofty rhetoric of donors and international organizations, “local organizations are put on the bench�, and only 5-6% of humanitarian funding in Lebanon goes to local NGOs.

In a similar vein, Gebara and Mourad highlighted the importance of complementarity – interventions that benefit both refugee and host communities. Social cohesion and community well-being relies heavily on healthy domestic institutions and systems to provide public goods and services, and as such they serve as ideal targets for humanitarian funding. Gebara stressed that given the critical situation in Lebanon, humanitarian interventions must support the health care, education, and even banking sectors to prevent total collapse and preserve social order. Mourad emphasized the importance of municipalities. Municipal governments are actors whose policies and actions bear heavily on the lives of refugees and hosts, and who – at least in Lebanon – have begun to play a larger role in aid provision. The challenge here, however, is how to utilize domestic institutions and systems with a history of intolerance towards refugees. To Mourad, there is no simple answer:

“We need to think about how to build an incentive structure that doesn’t privilege those that ratchet up the politics of exclusion.â€�

Furthermore, panelists suggested that humanitarian interventions must take representation and language seriously. “Language and other categories of otherness emerge and are instrumentalized to achieve four objectives: to identify and name, to discriminate and exclude, to scapegoat and blame, and ultimately to expel or push out� Kandjii stated.  “Violence starts with words� she argued, “if not addressed, it grows.� Kandjii warned that when there is a swell in antagonistic language towards refugees, it must be addressed before it escalates. Here, she sees a role for the UNHCR to encourage positive public narratives about refugees. These narratives can be built in part through education and promotional campaigns, but ideally, they should capitalize upon “moments of spontaneous alliances� to build upon and amplify solidarity between refugees and hosts.

At the end of the discussion, the panellists underscored that achieving social cohesion among refugee and host communities is not straightforward but requires collective effort to mitigate tension and build mutual understanding. It seemed equally clear, however, that achieving this stability will require substantial changes to the typical humanitarian approach. The panelists’ calls for more localization, collaboration, and partnership echo what refer to as “stealth humanitarianism�: approaches to aid delivery that require enhanced local literacy and increased engagement with municipal authorities, local actors, and public institutions. This move towards more development-oriented interventions will present challenges to donors and humanitarian actors, but may pay dividends to the individuals, communities, and governments experiencing forced displacement.

This report was prepared by Tyler Foley, PhD Student, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University.

The LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement is coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

Event details and recordings available here.

On February 26, 2021, LERRN hosted a webinar discussing LERRN’s recent analysis of the journal (RSQ) as well as a similar analysis of . Nearly one hundred people from Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East tuned in online to engage in this conversation. Inspired by a blog post by the editor of the journal Migration Studies – entitled – LERRN examined the authorship and content of all the articles published in these two journals in recent years. The webinar began with a presentation of the results by Rachel McNally, LERRN’s Knowledge Mobilization and Translation Officer, Nadeea Rahim a Research Support and Program Officer with LERRN, and Michael Nabugere, one of the co-authors of the RSQ analysis and currently Settlement Commandant at Bidi-Bidi Refugee Settlement in Uganda. Following the presentations, LERRN partner Maha Shuayb, Director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies, and the editors of the two journals, Dagmar Soennecken and David Cantor, commented on the results and offered their own reflections on the issues of knowledge production, access and representation.

While 85% of the world’s refugees are hosted by countries in the Global South, LERRN’s analyses of the two journals found that 89% of articles did not include any authors affiliated with institutions in the Global South.

Although authors based in many different countries were represented in the articles published, authors based in Canada, the UK and the USA wrote the highest numbers of articles. In addition, the focus of the research tended to be on forced migrants located in Europe, Canada, and other countries in the Global North, which host small numbers of forced migrants compared to countries in the Global South. Given this imbalance, Michael Nabugere raised the important question of whether the areas that receive the most attention in academic research on forced migration are the same as the priority areas for the majority of forced migrants around the world. Maha Shuayb explained that

Representation in journals is important because without access to these publications, it is challenging to influence big debates in the field. She suggested that including diverse voices in journals is part of the broader process of decolonizing and localizing knowledge production in forced migration studies and beyond.

The participants emphasized the importance of situating the analysis of journals within broader structures of knowledge production. Maha Shuayb highlighted that what appears in published journals is just a snapshot of the research process. She discussed how barriers for Global South scholars exist all along the research process, including a language barrier, limited access to library resources, a bias toward citing Northern scholars and seeing their work as more legitimate, funding that is only available to scholars based at institutions in the Global North, exclusion from the agenda-setting stage of research projects, processes for research projects that do not consider local contexts, and unequal partnerships that limit Southern researchers to being data collectors. She wondered

“How can young scholars who cannot afford these journal subscription fees be able to connect to this academic debate?�

In this context, Dagmar Soennecken explained the benefits of the open access model that Refuge follows in terms of making the journal accessible to a wide range of readers. David Cantor pointed to the sometimes sensitive political context within which refugee research takes place as well as career incentive structures that lead Northern scholars to prioritize publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

Although academic journals are important because of their central role in the academic literature, knowledge about forced migration comes in many forms. Participants acknowledged that practitioners in humanitarian organizations often do not have the time to read full journal articles, which emphasizes the importance of knowledge translation and mobilization activities to make research results more widely available. Alternative ways of sharing academic research, such as blog posts, are more accessible to non-academic audiences like practitioners and people who have experienced displacement. David Cantor and Michael Nabugere encouraged attendees to consider the critical question

“Who is the audience for our research and for whom is knowledge produced in our field?�

David Cantor reflected that the field needs to think more critically about how the knowledge we are creating is used in practice.

The participants reflected on next steps for the journals and for the field of forced migration studies more broadly. Dagmar Soennecken suggested that “the most important thing is that journals are talking about accessibility and are willing to make these changes.� Refugee Survey Quarterly recently , which includes scholars based in Ethiopia, Lebanon, Ghana, India and Colombia. It also recently published a special issue – – that focuses on a type of displacement that is concentrated in the Global South. In terms of the language barrier for authors who do not speak English as a first language, both editors explained that the journals are able to connect authors with copy-editing and other language-related support. Refuge has recently connected some authors from the Global South with such support to take their valuable research on the impact of COVID-19 on refugees and bring the language up to a level where it is ready for publication. The editors encouraged scholars to reach out to editors to ask questions about the publication process or to ask if their work fits within the focus of the journal.

LERRN looks forward to continuing these conversations and our work amplifying the voices of scholars in the Global South.

This report was prepared by Rachel McNally, LERRN Knowledge Mobilization and Translation Officer.

Event details and recordings available here.

Detalles del evento y interpretación en español se pueden encontrar aquí.

Détails de l’événement et interprétation en français sont disponibles ici.

On 21 January 2021, the (LERRN) and the (IDRC) co-hosted the second webinar panel for the North American component of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) virtual conference: , commemorating the 70^th anniversary of the UNHCR. It focused on the role of North American states within the global refugee regime: the international institutions and structures set up to respond to refugee issues around the world. A total of 249 viewers tuned in to the panels from 18 countries, spanning from North and South America to as far as Europe and East Africa. The second panel featured distinguished speakers: the Honourable Ambassador Bob Rae, Mustafa Alio, Jennifer Bond, Elizabeth Ferris, Ana Macouzet and Leah Zamore. It was co-moderated by James Milner, Project Director of LERRN, and Julie Crowley, IDRC’s Regional Director for Central and West Africa.

Each of the panelists reflected on important issues about power relations and political contexts, which significantly impact how the refugee regime is able to respond to refugees. The panelists considered how North American states (Canada, the US, and Mexico) can work with other actors to think about important questions and challenges facing the refugee regime today. Some of these actors include refugee representatives, the private sector, academics, NGOs, and local or regional governments. The panel considered a variety of bold questions: how to promote refugee inclusion and leadership, how to respond to displacement caused by climate change, and how to address gaps in protecting people displaced within their own countries (IDPs). The panelists proposed innovative ideas that link humanitarian assistance, international development, and peacebuilding.

A key recommendation was the need to address the root causes of forced displacement, particularly the political factors that are at the heart of conflict and longstanding refugee crises. The Honourable Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, remarked that “no matter how much money we give to UNHCR, there is no humanitarian solution to the humanitarian crises we see around the world.� Instead, the causes of displacement are political, environmental, and economic. Panelists urged the actors in the regime to have the courage to tackle these underlying crises causing displacement through the UN system and beyond.

Acknowledging that refugee situations are increasingly long-term rather than short-term emergencies, the panel emphasized the need to prioritize refugee voices, experiences, and leadership. Ambassador Bob Rae stressed that “being a refugee and being stateless should not mean you are voiceless or that you are not heard.� The Ambassador argued that humanitarian assistance needs to be paired with opportunities for work and education. Otherwise, “we are treating people as objects, not as subjects.� Mustafa Alio, who made history as the first Refugee Advisor in the Canadian delegation at an international refugee meeting, highlighted that “UNHCR needs to transition from merely consulting with refugees to an equal partnership with refugees in creating solutions.� With dwindling resources for humanitarian assistance due to donor fatigue and a higher number of displaced people, the refugee regime needs to find better ways to use limited resources. Alio argued that an important lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that refugee-led organizations are valuable partners in delivering cost-effective humanitarian assistance. They also provide a unique perspective informed by the experiences of those directly affected by displacement.

In addition to refugee-led organizations, community organizations like sponsorship groups have been important in providing solutions for refugees beyond the actions of governments. Professor Jennifer Bond, who leads the University of Ottawa Refugee Hub and the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative, highlighted the importance of rebuilding public support for refugee protection. Community sponsorship allows citizens to get involved directly with refugee protection and to become advocates for welcoming policies. UNHCR’s attention to public support is crucial to counter negative portrayals of refugees. Indeed, as Julie Crowley pointed out, one of the major issues is “the growing negative and toxic narrative about refugees and the forcibly displaced. A lot needs to be done to counter misinformation and break down the unfounded myths about these vulnerable populations. Again, this should only be done in partnership with refugees and refugee communities.�

On the subject of protection, Professor Beth Ferris drew attention to groups of displaced people who currently do not benefit from refugee status and as a result are outside of the global refugee system. That includes Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and those displaced by environmental and climate-related factors. UNHCR should expand efforts to examine gaps, develop inclusive strategies, and engage development actors so that individuals who do not qualify for refugee status may still be supported. Ana Macouzet, Senior Policy Advisor at Open Society Foundations (OSF), emphasized the importance of promoting regional cooperation between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. She called current approaches to migration management in the region ineffective and inhumane. Working together, these countries can discuss common interests related to migration and strengthen refugee protection across the region.

Leah Zamore, Director of the Humanitarian Crises program at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC), provided a valuable lesson from history on how the U.S.-funded Marshall Plan helped rebuild Europe after World War II. According to Zamore, “this sort of economic vision that went behind the Marshall Plan� is needed today to assist major refugee-hosting countries. Zamore proposed that North American countries could leverage their participation in international financial institutions to support refugee-hosting countries by offering debt relief or financial stimulus packages.

The speakers agreed that while the COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic, it provides a unique opportunity to learn from North America’s history and reflect on opportunities going forward. Through US funding for UNHCR, resettlement and community sponsorships, participation in the UNHCR’s governance structure, and recognition of gender-based persecution, North America has played a critical role beyond the North American region. The resounding conclusion was that there is no better time than the present to begin casting a vision for refugee protection in the coming years. Following President Joe Biden’s inauguration, there is a new opportunity to incorporate international displacement issues in post-pandemic recovery plans. Recognizing that 85% of the world’s refugees are hosted in the Global South, North America can support and engage with host countries in the Global South as partners. Through bold ideas and creative thinking, UNHCR can seize the opportunity of the current moment to work with governments, civil society actors, and refugees to improve responses to displacement.

This report was prepared by Rawan Youssef, LERRN Social Media & Communications Officer, with assistance from Sohaila Khaliqyar, LERRN Project Communications and Social Media Coordinator, and Rachel McNally, LERRN Knowledge Mobilization and Translation Officer.

These panels and the LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement are coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

To read the report on Panel 1, “Realizing protection and solutions within North America,” click here.

]]> /lerrn/2021/webinar-realizing-protection-and-solutions-within-north-america/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=webinar-realizing-protection-and-solutions-within-north-america Sun, 14 Feb 2021 20:40:58 +0000 /lerrn/?p=3250

Event details and recordings available here.

Detalles del evento y interpretación en español se pueden encontrar aquí.

Détails de l’événement et interprétation en français sont disponibles ici.

On 21 January 2021, the (LERRN) hosted two webinar panels for the North American component of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) virtual conference: commemorating the 70^th anniversary of the UNHCR. The first panel, “Realizing Protection and Solutions Within North America” brought together co-moderators Jennifer Hyndman and Michaela Hynie and presenters Alejandra Macías Delgadillo, Delphine Nakache, and Eskinder Negash to discuss challenges relating to refugee protection in North America and the future role of UNHCR in the region.

North America may not be the first region that comes to mind when thinking about refugees and the UNHCR, but as the panel made clear, it is not for lack of concerns. A key theme of the presentations was what co-moderator Jennifer Hyndman referred to as the region’s “thickening borders� – or the set of new state policies and practices that work to limit asylum seekers’ access to legal protection. Delphine Nakache, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, provided examples of these processes at work in Canada. She argued that while Canada has become a world leader in refugee resettlement, “there is a growing gap in Canada between the treatment of refugees selected overseas versus those claimants who arrive at the Canadian border.�

A key issue is the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), which dictates that refugee claimants entering Canada or the US at an official land port of entry must request protection in the first country in which they arrive. In the past 5 years, the number of claimants at the border has increased, resulting in greater numbers of individuals being sent back to the US. But as Nakache pointed out, the US cannot always be considered ‘safe’. Many unsuccessful claimants in the US face deportation to countries where there is a high risk of persecution, and there is currently no way for the Canadian government to ensure their protection and safety. In addition, many claimants who are returned to the US are put into detention. On these grounds, the Federal Court of Canada ruled in July 2020 that the STCA violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and should therefore be suspended. The Trudeau government, however, filed an appeal, keeping the STCA in force for the time being. Nakache underlined how the pandemic has magnified these safety risks. In December 2020, the Canadian government resumed deportations of unsuccessful refugee claimants, despite their own policies which have closed the borders to non-essential travel.

The scale of Canada’s ‘spontaneous’ arrivals, however, is minor compared to that of Mexico’s. Recent economic, environmental, and political crises in Central America have put Mexico at the centre of one of the world’s major migration corridors. Alejandra Macías Delgadillo, Executive Director of Asylum Access Mexico, described how the Mexican government’s response has been driven by security concerns. The military presence at the southern border has been dramatically increased, and large numbers of arrivals are detained and deported, including families and unaccompanied minors.  In fact, between 2017 and 2019 the Mexican government has deported 87% of claimants who have been detained at the border. Delgadillo highlighted how reversing these policies will not be easy. There is currently a lack of political will in the country, but a desperate need to improve the legislative environment to ensure greater protection for asylum seekers and refugees, particularly the most vulnerable. Additionally, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) – Mexico’s refugee agency – faces significant staffing and resource limitations. As a result, there is a backlog of 80,000 asylum cases.

There is one country in North America, however, that may soon see dramatic changes in a positive direction. “The United States is back in business� claimed Eskinder Negash, President and CEO of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Negash highlighted how President Biden has signalled his intention to overhaul the country’s immigration system and repair the moral reputation of the US on the global stage. During his campaign, President Biden announced his administration would admit 125,000 refugees per year, a number that would once again make the US the world leader in refugee resettlement. On the day of his inauguration, he rescinded the controversial ‘Muslim ban’. Larger changes are evident in President Biden’s proposed immigration bill, which would offer pathways to citizenship for the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, extend legal protections for families and unaccompanied minors, and provide additional resources to relevant federal departments, including $4 billion for an inter-agency plan to address the underlying causes of migration in Central America. While Negash recognized it will take time to repair the damage done by the previous administration, he was optimistic that these changes will soon have a positive global impact.

Panelists also offered insights into what role the UNHCR might play in North America in the coming years. In terms of country specific activities, this role will depend on context. As emphasized by Nakache, we do not have a good idea of what happens to refugee claimants sent back to the US from Canada, and Canada’s practices at the border are not without fault. Here, the UNHCR could play a key role in terms of monitoring and advocacy. The same goes for the US, where the detention of families and unaccompanied minors has been in practice for several years. In Mexico, there may be room for a more hands-on approach. While advocacy is still critical, Mexico’s refugee agency COMAR requires more financial and human resources to cope with the growing number of asylum applications and refugees continue to face considerable barriers to integration.

But North America also has common concerns. The biggest issue facing the region is displacement from Central America. Individuals travelling this route face considerably health and security risks, and the scale of movement places strain on the immigration system of Mexico and to a lesser extent the US. Delgadillo stressed that a regional approach, guided by human rights principles, is critical. Considering a potential windfall of resources in the US for activities in Central America, the UNHCR could play a key role in bringing players together to develop, implement, and monitor a regional approach that increases the health and safety of migrants. Here, the UNHCR can also play a key role sharing information, lessons, and best practices between policy-makers and advocates of the region. As stated by Negash, the UNHCR has done incredible work in North America and worldwide over the past 70 years, but they may require new tools, ideas, and strategies to address the challenges of the future.

This report was prepared by Tyler Foley, PhD Student, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University, with assistance from  Rachel McNally, LERRN Knowledge Mobilization and Translation Officer.

These panels and the LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement are coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

To read the report on Panel 2, “North America within the global refugee regime,” click here.

Event details and recordings available here.

The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and the (IDRC) hosted their third joint webinar on 15 December 2020. Focused on refugee leadership, the webinar discussed the importance of refugee participation and refugee-led organizations as service-delivery providers in humanitarian settings during and beyond COVID-19. The webinar attracted over 104 participants from 14 countries, viewing from the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Europe, South and North America.

Anchored on an article recently published in Forced Migration Review, entitled “, the webinar drew on the perspectives of refugee leaders, Pascal Zigashane from Action pour le Progrès and Diala Ayman from the , and from and from with opening and closing comments from from the IDRC. The webinar was co-moderated by Mustafa Alio and James Milner.

The discussion highlighted the critical role refugee-led organizations play as first responders during emergencies like COVID-19. When international actors have faced mobility constraints due to the pandemic, Refugee-led Organizations (RLOs) have been on the frontlines serving their communities. These accomplishments are exemplified by Action pour le Progrès and the Molham Team. Action pour le Progrès provided food, face masks, and sanitizer to refugees in Kakuma Camp and facilitated capacity building training for community residents on healthcare and physiotherapy. Similarly, the Molham Team delivered food assistance to over 39,000 forcibly displaced persons during Ramadan and repairing the homes of 130 Syrian refugee families following the Beirut blast. In 2020, Diala Ayman said, “the Molham team managed to collect 9 million dollars,” providing “life-saving services to thousands of refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan.” Beyond these two examples, the seven RLO recipients of the also demonstrate the valuable contributions of RLOs.

Yet, despite the capacity and contributions that RLOs offer in protection and assistance before and during the pandemic, they face significant recognition and funding challenges. Access to funding remains a considerable challenge as RLOs, James Milner acknowledges, are caught in a “catch-22” where they need to demonstrate experience to qualify for funding, but they need funding to gain experience. Even when RLOs demonstrate significant capacity and expertise, Pascal Zigashane asserts, they remain excluded from many funding mechanisms and have limited access to decision-making processes. Notwithstanding the valuable work of Refugee-led Organizations, they are also not always recognized or known outside of their communities.

Panelists agreed that refugee participation and refugee-led organizations are essential and beneficial for refugee protection and assistance. Stella Ogunlade affirmed that UNHCR’s “work would improve with the active participation of RLOs.” Similarly, Kathryn Toure, acknowledging IDRC’s commitment to the LERRN partnership and recognizing the imbalance between the dominance of forced migration research in the Global North while “most of the world’s forcibly displaced populations, including refugees, are hosted in the countries of the Global South,” lamented that “local knowledge is often overlooked and underused.” She stressed that “international compacts and agreements on displaced populations need to reflect better the interests, priorities, concerns and perspectives of refugee communities and host countries in the global south.” Gillian Gillen also stressed the Government of Canada’s commitment to refugee participation through , integrating meaningful refugee participation in policy work. Canada also demonstrated its commitment by making in December 2019 as the first country with a refugee advocate and former refugee, Mustafa Alio, in its delegation to the UNHCR Global Refugee Forum.

The panelists also acknowledged that there is an opportunity to leverage and build on existing measures for greater refugee inclusion and support to RLOs. Stella Ogunlade highlighted UNHCR’s work with refugee organizations since 2015 and during COVID-19. One example is the that celebrates NGOs who developed innovative approaches to protect and deliver services to refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR. Among the seven RLOs that won the award for 2020 was the , whose founder – Abdullahi Mire – was a speaker at the LERRN-IDRC webinar on refugee education in November 2020. Asserting that the UN agency has a long history of engaging with refugees through camp management committees, peaceful coexistence committees, tools for participatory assessment, and multi-stakeholder and community-based approaches, Ms. Ogunlade acknowledges that there is a need for strengthening systematic engagement with refugees and refugee-led organizations. Gillian Gillen said that the Government of Canada has increased funding to country-based pooled funds, which provide financing directly to NGOs. Other Canadian funding opportunities that may benefit RLOs include the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives for small-scale and high-impact projects, the Women’s Voice and Leadership Program for women’s rights organizations, and the Equality Fund.

Concluding that there is a need to shift the conversation from “if” refugee participation and leadership is crucial to “how” to make it happen, the speakers emphasized that institutionalizing refugee participation at all policymaking and practice levels has vast potential for transformative change. They proposed the following:

1. Strengthening creative solutions: RLOs have raised money independently through innovative solutions such as asking for refugee volunteers’ contributions, fundraising campaigns, and individual donations. These measures, integrated with capacity-building and flexible funding, can contribute towards equal partnerships. Supporting capacity-building can help these RLOs gain access to funding.
2. Capacity building: Panelists agreed that strengthening the capacity of RLOs is critical to meaningful participation. These could include supporting efforts such as the Kakuma Refugee Network that link up with educational institutions and others to build partnerships that inspire positive changes, and the Molham Team focused on building local refugee-led businesses’ as a key for better allocation of resources, efficient project implementation, and building partnerships with INGOs.
3. Flexible Funding: Access to funding remains a challenge for refugee-led organizations. Mustafa Alio pointed out that “In 2019, less than 1% funds to local and refugee-led organizations.” Addressing the gap between humanitarian needs and funding support during the global health crisis, Diala pointed out that “Refugees have been in an emergency mode for years and years facing many legal obstacles including anti-refugee rhetoric and economic problems.” Donors are also exploring new and existing mechanisms to fund RLOs. Stella Ogunlade mentioned that UNHCR is exploring Simplified Partnership Agreements for Refugee-led Organizations. The Innovation Awards are a promising example of a simplified process. Equal partnerships require refugees to have the ability to decide which projects to pursue and how to implement them, not just to be consulted within externally driven agendas.
4. Meaningful participation and partnership: Refugee-led organizations’ many benefits include the representation of refugee voices, awareness of community needs, improved responses, accountability to displaced populations, relationships of trust with the community, and the ability to mobilize local resources, knowledge, and connections. As Stella Ogunlade stated, meaningful refugee engagement needs to move beyond “tokenistic appearances” to engage with refugee-led organizations, including enhancing access to refugee communities, supporting empowerment initiatives for refugees, and assisting with localization. Similarly, Mustafa Alio suggested that Refugee-led Organizations can be important and meaningful partners in refugee responses, but issues of trust and power need to be addressed to create genuinely equal partnerships, crucial in providing services and program implementation.

With limited time to address questions from the audience and social media during the webinar, the panelists reacted to the following questions in a correspondence following the webinar.

What role can RLOs play in changing public narratives around refugees, both in host countries and elsewhere?

The inaccurate perception of refugees as passive recipients of humanitarian assistance remains a persistent narrative. Through their work, RLOs demonstrate refugee self-reliance as they actively contribute to their fellow refugee and host communities. In fact, RLOs that have proven their leadership and impact on the ground can play a huge role in changing the negative connotation that comes with the word ‘refugee’, from a passive recipient of assistance to an active provider of assistance to fellow refugees, and an equal partner to international aid providers.

What are examples of changes we have seen in mechanisms for funding to RLOs, such as the UNHCR Simplified Partnership Agreement or Canada’s Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI)? How can we build form these examples of progress?

The CFLI is designed to be a small-scale, flexible funding mechanism. This makes it highly accessible to local organizations who may not have previously received donor funding. Expanding the envelopes of funding available, as Canada is doing, and encouraging other donors to put in place similar funding mechanisms, are ways to increase available opportunities for RLOs. By program design, the CFLI is intended to respond to local needs and engage closely with recipients, many of whom are small organizations with modest resources. Regarding past changes to these funding mechanisms, in 2012, the CFLI transitioned into being a fully decentralised program managed by Canadian missions overseas. This decentralization allowed the program a greater degree of flexibility, and to build closer working relationships with implementing partners. A recent adaptation, for example, was through the CFLI program’s updated Terms and Conditions to allow more flexibility with the kinds of local organisations eligible for funding. This allows the CFLI to be able to partner with a wider range of stakeholders who often face restrictions.

What are some practical suggestions that can be shared in how RLOs can navigate the vetting process to receive external funding? / How can RLOs work to bridge the gap between the current capacity of RLOs and the necessary reporting and vetting requirements from donors?

As mentioned during the webinar, a frequently cited obstacle to funding is the lack of previous experience managing funds. Small, more manageable funding arrangements, such as those provided by the CFLI, can be valuable tools in this regard. Likewise, there have been examples of RLOs partnering with INGOs for both funding purposes, as well as other forms of capacity-building and training. Larger NGOs can also serve as “mentors� in this regard and provide advice on the development of the internal governance, policies and financial oversight required for many vetting processes.

Other forms of capacity-building can also be important resources to offer to RLOs to increase partnership opportunities over the long term. An example on how this may be pursued is Canada’s Women Voice and Leadership and Equality Fund, both of which are focused on providing support to local organizations, including women led and RLOs, and include a measure of capacity building for the implementing partner.

How can work on refugee-led organizations be mindful of the limits of the term “refugee�? How do we include those organizations not run by registered refugees, but by migrants or asylum seekers without status?

It is important to have flexibility in the use of the term ‘refugee’, since many people meet the UNHCR definition of a refugee but are not granted the formal status as refugees due to procedural complications and/or because they do not necessarily need the status in their host countries. For example, there are many Syrians who fled Syria due to the exact reasons that render a person a refugee per the legal definition, but they are not formally registered as refugees with the UNHCR because their host countries are not parties to the 1951 Convention. As such, not all organizations led by members of displaced communities are led by individuals who benefit from ‘refugee’ status.

This report was prepared by Sohaila Khaliqyar, LERRN Project Communications and Social Media Coordinator, Rachel McNally, LERRN Project Officer, and Nadeea Rahim, LERRN Program Officer.

The LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement is coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

Event details and recordings available here.

On Thursday, November 19, the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and the (IDRC) hosted their second webinar in the LERRN-IDRC webinar series to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on refugee education. The webinar attracted over 160 participants and viewers on social media platforms spanning across 18 countries, bringing together scholars, practitioners, and stakeholders from Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

Based on the findings of a recent report, “, written by LERRN partners at the Centre for Lebanese Studies, the webinar drew on the perspectives of researchers and innovators to consider how local solutions can be mobilized in response to current challenges posed by COVID-19 on refugee education.  The distinguished speakers, , , ,Ìý , , and , highlighted the significant effects the pandemic has had on students, teachers, and parents throughout East Africa, the Middle East and beyond. The panellists expressed their concerns over the profound negative long-term impact of disruptions to education during the pandemic, including the loss of previous learning and literacy skills, poor learning outcomes, student dropout (especially girls in secondary schools), fewer students continuing to secondary school, and early forced marriages.

Reflecting on the report findings, Mai Abu Moghli and Elaine Chase emphasized the significant impact the pandemic has had on the education of refugees and other marginalized in Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. The combination of lockdowns, weak infrastructure, and gaps in distance learning limited support to teachers in public schools, Moghli stressed, produced “a severe setback of access and quality of teaching and learning for most vulnerable children.” Moreover, parents and teachers face particular challenges as they struggle to manage these new learning realities and the impact on students’ social and psychological well-being.

Elaine Chase, focusing on the role of teachers in the context of mass displacement, emphasized the importance of understanding the needs of local communities and providing needs-informed professional development opportunities for teachers and learners. Drawing on the work of the , a platform that responds to teachers’ professional development needs in Lebanon, Chase offered insights on how online digital resources can be harnessed to transform education in challenging environments. In response to COVID-19 restrictions, the RELIEF Centre rapidly designed an on online teaching, accessible in English and Arabic for teachers across the MENA region. Since the course’s launch in April, 35,000 teachers have benefitted from the training, and an additional Lebanese organization has also engaged refugee students in robotics, helping them form a positive identity on the world stage for their creativity and innovation.

Echoing the challenges and opportunities for distance learning in the MENA region, Marwan Tarazi outlined a series of online experiential learning modules designed by the . With support from the IDRC, the Centre for Continuing Education provides learning modules structured around curriculum topics that students in Lebanon can use independently, incorporated by teachers in their classes, or utilized by trained mentors in refugee communities to help learners.

Abdullahi Mire, drawing attention to how COVID-19 has forced massive shutdowns that disproportionately affect refugee education due to the “digital divide,” highlighted the challenges refugee learners experience in the Dadaab Refugee Camp. With present limits to stable internet connections and delays in developing a public library, Mire described how COVID-19 made already existing challenges that much worse. Before the pandemic, only three percent of student refugees had access to university education.  The Dadaab Response Association members have already published two working papers on teacher training and exam practices to illuminate these challenges. Another two that address female student dropout rates and corporal punishment in refugee schools are underway.

Jennifer Roberts from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Evelyn Jepkemei from the World University Services Canada (WUSC) also expressed concerns regarding the effects of lockdowns on learners’ educational progression, particularly on the gradual learning loss. With many homes unable to access online learning technologies, radio and TV sets, phones, and even books, 90 percent of half the refugees enrolled in schools have been affected by pandemic disruptions. Roberts described how this affects students’ learned skills and erodes their literacy and reading capabilities, with young girls being especially susceptible to dropping out at higher rates and not resuming their education. During the webinar, she stated, “the situation is dire,” and there is “an emergency in refugee education around the world.” Providing insights on the challenges parents face with distance learning, Jepkemei highlighted how language provides an additional barrier for parents when assisting children with learning from home. She also emphasized the need to advocate for refugee education and provide incentives that promote retention of refugee learners, especially measures that encourage refugee girls’ education.

Despite the complexities that COVID-19 presents for refugee education, the panelist concluded that the pandemic offers an opportunity to build back better and implement creative ideas in education, including new ways of learning, training teachers, and distance learning pathways. A key takeaway, they collectively echoed, was the need to support and empower refugee-led and community-led responses. As Jepkemei pointed out, “there are always organic solutions that come out of communities.â€� Some noteworthy initiatives include the , a refugee-led organization in Dadaab that connects high schools within the community with schools in Canada and the United States. The organization has also collected approximately 50,000 books in a for refugee children and is expected to launch Dadaab’s first-ever public library. WUSC in Kenya created short training modules about online teaching to share with teachers in WhatsApp groups, in addition to a weekly WhatsApp meeting.

These vast and innovative initiatives provide valuable lessons for the enhancement of refugee education during and beyond the pandemic.

This report was prepared by Rawan Youssef, LERRN Social Media and Communications Officer, and Rachel McNally, LERRN Project Officer.

The LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement is coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

Event details and recordings available here.

On Thursday, 01 October, the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and the (IDRC) hosted a webinar discussing the recommendations brought forth by the Honourable Bob Rae’s on Canada’s role in mobilizing a global response to the enormous global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the specific challenges faced by the international refugee system. The webinar attracted almost 200 participants, bringing together scholars and practitioners from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and North America. The distinguished panelists , Mustafa Alio, Dr. Maha Shuayb, Linda Oucho and affirmed the value of Canadian leadership in the refugee context, which can take many forms including: funding, greater leadership on issues of forced displacement including in Central America, resettlement, complementary pathways, multilateral engagement in peacebuilding, and the promotion of refugee participation.

Bob Rae emphasized, “We need to really begin to recognize that the world is changing, that refugee camps have become permanent settlements, that the voices of refugees need to be amplified and listened to.� Mustafa Alio urged other states to follow the lead of Canada in institutionalizing refugee participation in international delegations and called on actors to normalize refugee participation. Given the protracted nature of displacement, the inclusion of refugee voices is critical in the search for solutions, and there is a need for more opportunities for dialogue involving refugees, host governments, NGOs, international organizations and donors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, refugee-led organizations have demonstrated their value and capacity to respond to important needs in refugee and host communities. The panel affirmed recommendation #7 of Bob Rae’s report, which calls on Canada to financially support refugee-led organizations.

Although humanitarian efforts are valuable, Bob Rae stressed that they’re not enough. “We have to convince people that it’s actually in our interest to create a better refugee system.â€� Bob Rae identified the need to address the sources of conflict by engaging in conflict resolution, peacebuilding efforts and economic development. Solutions for displacement need to be contextualized for national and local contexts. Over the past 10 or 20 years, there has been a focus on containment and other restrictive policies. However, at some local levels like cities or regions, there is evidence of political will to welcome refugees.

Dr. Maha Shuayb cautioned that localization has recently become a buzzword in humanitarian practice and that it needs to be fully defined and understood to avoid unintended consequences, like reinforcing a Global North containment agenda or providing funding to weak national governments at the expense of local NGOs and refugees which has happened in Lebanon. It is important to establish accountability and examine existing approaches to working with host governments to ensure that localization truly benefits refugees. Furthermore, the panelists argued that we need to build a new political argument in support of refugees, not only using humanitarian and legal language, but also identifying areas where it is in the self-interest of states to work toward solutions for displacement. A political argument will be important for convincing people of the importance and the value of refugee protection.

As Linda Oucho noted, the COVID-19 pandemic offers an opportunity for reflection to identify what is working, where there are gaps and how to pursue change for the future. Gregory Maniatis suggested there’s a need to fundamentally rebuild the resettlement system by opening channels and complementary pathways such as labour mobility and family reunification. There are also important lessons that can be learned by looking at history, including successful examples of multilateral cooperation leading to solutions for large numbers of refugees. Bob Rae argued that Canada should be prepared to seize the opportunities of the current moment to contribute to positive change surrounding issues of displacement, not only now but for generations into the future.

LERRN is thrilled to continue the discussions on innovative solutions with and for refugees during the pandemic, and beyond. This webinar was the first in a series of webinars co-hosted by LERRN and IDRC. These monthly seminars will address several dimensions of forced displacement, with an emphasis on the perspectives of partners closest to the issues being discussed. Stay tuned through our website and as we announce details of the next webinar.

This report was prepared by Yasmine Ghania, LERRN Communications Officer.