Tag: Refugees

May 13, 2020

5 Refugees that Impacted the World

May 13, 2020
5 Refugees that Impacted the World

A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. There is a common misconception that refugees willingly leave their country in search of a better life in the western world, but that simply isn’t true. Many believe the UK accepts a lot of immigrants and asylum seekers but in reality, there are actually very few living in the UK compared to other countries and many dream to return to their home country when peace returns. But unfortunately sometimes that takes more than a single generation, and refugees are forced to settle down elsewhere, finding a new place to call home. In recent years, western media has portrayed migrant communities in a negative light, so here are five refugees that impacted the world positively.

1. Freddie Mercury

Born in Zanzibar as Farrokh Bulsara, Freddie Mercury was the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. In 1964, his family fled the Zanzibar revolution and moved to Middlesex. In 1970 Mercury formed the band Queen and went on to write many of Queen’s successful hits including “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Killer Queen”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “We Are The Champions” and more. Freddie Mercury died in 1991 from complications due to AIDS, but was immortalised through his music after death, receiving countless awards. He was even inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame. In 2018, 20^th Century Fox distributed “Bohemian Rhapsody”, a biographical drama film entailing the life of Freddie Mercury and his journey with Queen, further immortalising his musical impact. Mercury is regarded by many as one of the greatest singer-songwriters, with some even arguing he may have been the greatest singer of all time, making him an excellent example of a refugee that impacted the world.

2. Iman

Iman, born Zara Mohamed Abdulmajid, is a Somali, Muslim refugee and supermodel. In 1973 Iman was scouted in the streets of Nairobi by photographer Peter Beard, who was captivated by her beauty. She eventually moved to the United States, pursuing a career in modelling but was met with many struggles along her path as a black model.

[blockquote]“I didn’t even understand it. People called me ‘Iman the black model’. In my country we’re all black so nobody called somebody else black. It was foreign to my ears. I was doing the same job as them. Why would I get less money?”

Following a successful modelling career, Iman launched her own cosmetics and clothing line and even went on to work in TV and cinema, featuring in “Star Trek VI: The undiscovered country”, “Miami Vice” and “Project Runway Canada” among many others. Iman now engages in philanthropic work, including working with Save the Children, Keep a Child Alive, and the Children’s Defence Fund and is now the first global advocate for Care.

3. Sergey Brin

Sergey Brin is a perfect example of a refugee who had an enormous impact on the world. Born in Moscow to Jewish parents, Brin is co-founder of Google, the world’s most popular search engine. In 1979, his family immigrated to the US to escape institutional anti-Semitism in the U.S.S.R. Brin attended Stanford University for his PHD in Computer Science where he met Larry Page and began working on the search engine, which eventually became so popular that they suspended their PHD studies. Google was named as such after the mathematic term ‘googol’, which is equivalent to 10 to the power of 100 (1 followed by 100 zeros). This was to reflect their mission to organise the large amount of information on the internet and enable it to be discovered through their search engine. Google was launched in 1998 through the collective raising of $1,000,000 from their personal network and investors. In 2016 Google also bought out popular video and streaming site YouTube. With over 80,000 searches a second, and 1.2 trillion searches a year, Google now dominates the digital search engine world.

4. Madeleine Albright

Born in 1937 in Czechoslovakia, Madeleine Albright made history as the first female Secretary of State in the US. Albright’s family were forced into exile when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia during World War II, fleeing to London before returning after the defeat of the Nazis. However her family were forced to flee once more, after the Czechoslovakia became part of the U.S.S.R. in 1948, this time moving to the US, when Madelein was just eleven years of age. Albright began her career as an intern for The Denver Post. Her political career began after organising a fundraising dinner for the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Ed Muskie, leading to Albright becoming his chief legislative assistant in 1976. Eleven years later in 1997, Madeleine Albright was sworn in as Secretary of State where she continued her service until 2001. Albright is now an advocate for refugee rights.

5. Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini was born in 1965 in Afghanistan. His family temporarily relocated to Paris due to the nature of work his father was in, but by 1980 when they were ready to return to Kabul, the Soviet army had invaded and a communist coup ensued in his homeland. Following this, Hosseini’s family were provided political asylum in the United States and moved to California. Hosseini continued to live in the US, graduating from university with a medical degree. Whilst practicing medicine, Hosseini began writing his debut novel The Kite Runner, which follows the story of a young Afghani boy through different chapters of his life, including fleeing Kabul from the Soviet army, moving to Pakistan and then moving to the US. The story sheds light on some of the raw experiences refugees can face and became a number one New York Times best seller for two years. Hosseini went on to write many books and became a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in 2006. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Khaled has made several visits to see UNHCR’s frontline work for refugees travelling to Lebanon, Italy, Afghanistan, Chad, Iraq, Jordan and Uganda. Hosseini also went on to form his own charity, the Khaled Hosseini Foundation, providing humanitarian relief to women and children in Afghanistan. Hosseini continues to work closely with refugees and aims to raise awareness of the suffering they face. In 2018 he published Sea Prayer. Inspired by the tragic death of Alan Kurdi, this novel raised awareness of the struggles Syrian migrants face when fleeing their country and crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Khaled Hosseini is a great example of a refugee who used their experience to have a positive impact on the world.

These are just a few examples of the many famous refugees that have had an impact on the world. It’s also important to remember everyday refugees who, although not famous, make a positive impact on the lives, communities and countries they relocate to.

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Written by Hannan Almasyabi

Marketing Support Officer

January 29, 2020

Refugee and Migrant Communities in the UK Challenge Traditional Models of Charity and Aid

Kawkaba Samadzada Blog domestic programmes, Refugees, Sector News, UK

January 29, 2020
Refugee and Migrant Communities in the UK Challenge Traditional Models of Charity and Aid

Refugees are often on the receiving end of philanthropic giving. However, refugee and migrant communities in the UK also provide sizeable charitable donations and aid, as highlighted in recent studies. In this blog post, Madiha Sadiq and Olivia Everett argue donations by refugee and migrant communities in the UK should be better valued, celebrated, shared and most critically, supported.

A burden?

Stances against migrants and refugees are often based on a nexus of nationalist opposition and economic rationalisation. These perspectives are often hinged on the traditional notions of the refugee as a ‘guest’ or a ‘burden’ on the state and taxpayers, in addition to fears of diluting the nation’s identity and values by welcoming too many migrants and refugees. However, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) often give remittances to support other refugees/IDPs in other countries and/or family and friends at home – for many families in need, this is an economic lifeline. Financial support of this kind alleviates some of the pressure on governments to provide official aid to developing countries. In fact, combined with remittances from migrants in general, total remittances are several times larger than formal international development aid. Financial remittances are also shown to be more stable than private debt and portfolio equity. In additional to financial remittances, refugees and migrants also provide social remittances. Social remittances from transnational communities entail the transfer of skills, knowledge and ideas. The recipients of such remittances extend beyond the migrants’ immediate family and friends thereby having a greater social impact due to the benefits being enjoyed by more people.

Challenging anti-refugee narratives

This is all despite refugees (and many migrants in general) often living under heavy financial constraints. This challenges the ideas of the nationalist and economics based opposition to refugee presence in the UK. Rather than “sponging off the government and taxpayers” and “living comfortable lives” while the UK’s nationals are “left to suffer” and endure a “lesser quality of life”, as some argue, the reality of refugees often paints a different story. Evidence on remittances (and by refugees specifically) is limited and often conflated with programmes on migrants in general. It is for this reason that it is important to remember that a refugee’s reason for relocating is not economic, and their challenges will most likely differ from that of economic migrants. However, it is recognised that the remittances both of these groups makes are used in similar ways: daily subsistence needs, healthcare, housing, education and other basic needs.

How can we help?

By understanding and celebrating the contributions refugees and migrants make despite their own hardships (rather than wrongfully vilifying their presence), we can better aid their integration in the UK. Charitable activities by refugees and migrants can best be supported by a number of means, such as the introduction of tax-breaks, aiding in post-conflict recovery, as well as assistance with voluntary return to post-conflict societies. Most importantly though, it is a matter of changing perceptions. Refugees have a lot to offer to our societies. It is crucial to highlight these contributions to the general UK population in order to combat misinformation surrounding refugees and migrant communities.

Learn about HAD’s programmes into Domestic Programming

Co-written by Madiha Zeb Sadiq

Research and Development Assistant

& Olivia Everett

Research and Development Intern

November 25, 2019

How faith can help refugee and migrant women to heal from sexual and gender-based violence

Kawkaba Samadzada Blog Faith, Gender, Refugees

November 25, 2019
How faith can help refugee and migrant women to heal from sexual and gender-based violence

This blog on How faith can help refugee and migrant women to heal from sexual and gender-based violence was first published on The Age of Superdiversity blog hosted by the University of Birmingham and Institute for Research into Superdiversity.

Forced migration experience is often a traumatic and unpredictable experience. Migrants fleeing their countries of origin rarely expect to encounter the worst hazards, like kidnapping, human trafficking and confinement.

In Medenine and Zarzis in southern Tunisia, 15 refugee and migrant women from ten Sub-Saharan countries told me their often harrowing stories.

At times, listening to the suffering they endured was heartbreaking but the wealth of strength the women shared, and their hopes and prayers, were more overwhelming. All stories are unique, yet their accounts show commonalities in the factors that forced them to leave their homes.

Common themes included development related issues such as poverty; conflict related concerns like insecurity; and the risk of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including harmful practices such as forced marriage or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).

And each of them wanted, most of all, a better future, a future free from poverty, conflict or abuse.

The unknown migratory pathways expose migrants of all genders and ages to sexual violence. Many lose their relatives and belongings, and are trafficked in deplorable conditions.

The sources of the distress and trauma experienced by the women I interviewed in Tunisia are complex and multi-layered. Most are mothers: some left their children in their country of origin, some of them gave birth alone and without medical assistance in Libya. Others gave birth when they arrived in Tunisia, after escaping sexual exploitation in neighbouring Libya, and walking through the desert to cross the border.

Around half of the women were accompanied by their children who were born as a result of sexual violence. Despite the severe exploitation they experienced, they decided to give the ‘gift of life’. Overall, children were typically a source of motivation for women to continue their struggle for a better future.

Most of the women said they draw incredible strength from adversities they endured and attribute this to their faith. They manage their stress with the help of their faith, known as religious coping. The women show different patterns of religious coping, from active to passive means. Throughout their dangerous journeys, faith kept refugees and migrants going:

“When you are walking in the desert you have to have faith“, said a 25-year old migrant. She, along with 13 of the other women temporarily residing in Tunisia and 23 women living in Turkey, believes that God’s mercy will transform their lives.

They see praising God, praying to God, thanking God and seeking forgiveness as effective and available ways of coping. They expect that God will help them, send them a helper or open a new door. They still want to move to Europe to begin a better life.

Going back is not an option.

A women from Sierra Leone had to flee her country because she feared for her life when she refused to perform FGM/C on other girls. She was repeatedly raped in Libya and learned she had become pregnant as a result before she got in a flimsy boat bound for Italy. After a lengthy journey without water and food, the dinghy sunk and many passengers had to fight for their lives.

“It’s in the Mediterranean sea that I saw people drowning,” the 32-year old refugee told me. “I am not a good swimmer, but that day I had the strength to swim and to even save another life. Just in front of me I saw people going down [in the water] and never coming up again…God has a reason for me to stay alive…”

A woman from Nigeria had been trafficked, together with her husband and young child, to Libya. They then joined others making their way to Europe by boat. She was in the sea when she lost consciousness during a rescue operation near Sicily. She was taken to the nearest hospital in Tunisia, leaving behind her son.

She has had no news of her three-year old for two years.

A rape survivor as well, she retains her faith and prays to God to find her son. She told me she hoped to speak to a religious leader to help her make sense of her experience, and thought that rebuilding her life based on the Bible would allow her to start afresh.

Most migrant women looked for a connection with a church or a mosque in Tunisia – but they were not easily accessible, especially for Christians. The women belonged to local faith communities in their own countries, attending faith congregations and religious study groups. But in the course of their displacement they lost most, if not all, of their connections with their faith community. They now mainly pray alone, occasionally in a group with family or roommates.

Back home they used to own and read religious script, whilst now their only option is to use a script from a phone application. This does not give them the same comfort as holding a paper copy of the Bible or Qu’ran.

For Muslims, a language barrier and unfamiliarity with new areas inhibit them from attending places of worship. While for Christians in Tunisia, observing religious practices seems even more difficult because access to pastoral care is sporadic and occasional. The Christian women said they wished they had a chance to go to church or speak to a religious leader. But churches in Tunisia are mainly in the north, leaving women in the south unable to access them due to lack of money for travel fares, lack of childcare and other practical barriers.

Daily stressors – external factors negatively influencing a person’s life such as economic destitution, family separation – are known to exacerbate women’s trauma by making them more anxious. However, I realised that women who face a dominant daily stressor such as losing a relative or an application for asylum being rejected, are even more nervous and unwell. In such situations, women, depending on their background, complexity of suffering and perceived religiosity levels, to varying degrees fall back on their faith and religious resources.

One woman from the Ivory Coast lost her faith and stopped counting on God. The level of frustration and pain she experienced overtook her faith.

In summary, the spiritual needs of migrants are greatly unmet, be it in transit and/or during resettlement. Many of the women I interviewed wish to actively practice their religion to feel better and reconnect with the religious coping they had back home, including group prayers and individual reflection.

Some extend their religious resources, for example by maintaining links with religious leaders through phone calls or by taking part in online groups of worship, such as on Facebook and WhatsApp. Some never stop praying in their hearts. Some pray 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A 32-year old refugee women shared with me her prayer:

“Ease violence in the world because if there is no peace in the world I had to face things like this, that’s why I was raped over and over again in Libya, that’s why there is no peace in Libya, and in other countries similar violence against women and children”.

I sincerely hope that collective prayers from different places around the world will bring relief to survivors of violence and ultimately support their efforts to turn anxiety and loss into strength and hope.

Humanitarian actors and faith communities must do much more to prevent and respond to sexual violence against women in vulnerable situations, and to assist survivors in recovering and reintegrating into society.

Written by Sandra Pertek for The Age of Superdiversity

SEREDA Project Researcher and HAD Postgraduate Fellow

November 18, 2019

SGBV across migrant and refugee journeys: Early lessons learnt from Tunisia

Kawkaba Samadzada Blog Gender, Refugees

November 18, 2019
SGBV across migrant and refugee journeys: Early lessons learnt from Tunisia

This blog on Sexual and Gender Based Violence across migrant and refugee journeys was first published on The Age of Superdiversity blog hosted by the University of Birmingham and Institute for Research into Superdiversity.

My programmes explores the influence of religion on migrant and refugee women who experienced Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) during their journeys. In this post I share what I learnt about the nature of SGBV experienced by my respondents. Statistically it is estimated that around 1 in 5 women experience sexual violence in crisis situations (Vu et al., 2014), when reaching Europe this increases to 69% because of additional risk factors, including insecurity, inadequate housing and economic hardship (Keygnaert and Guieu, 2015).

Fieldwork in Tunisia at peak heat hours was exhausting at times, but extremely rewarding. I sought refugee and migrant survivors of violence to speak to me about the role of religion in their lives pre, during and post migration. I arrived to Medenine in Southern Tunisia, a busy town with little infrastructure for migrants. I interviewed 15 Sub-Saharan migrants and refugees of 10 nationalities from West and East African countries, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most migrants were unhappy and anxious about their current life situations in a country in which they did not intend to reside. Many have been frustrated by uncertainty and the long wait for their official legal status and better living conditions. The shelters of temporary residence did not meet migrants’ needs and often negatively affected their health and well-being. I feel it is fair to say that the situation for migrants in Medenine has not been given sufficient attention by the international humanitarian community. Whilst the responsible UN agencies are ‘doing their bit’ and a handful of INGOs play an important role in service provision, the allocation of more resources and better coordination is desperately needed to support the dire and often hopeless situations migrants find themselves in, in the Tunisian context.

En route to Europe, migrants were stopped in Libya and other transit countries, in which they were subject to human trafficking and sexual exploitation by smugglers, militia and/or authorities. Sadly, most women I spoke with, have been exposed to and suffered from sexual and gender-based violence. Women from Congo described how, across all countries of transit (Cameroon, Niger, Algeria and Libya), they have been forced into sexual relations in exchange for travel passes. Often they were not allowed to continue their journey if they refused intimate relationships. Finally, after months of confinement and abuse in Libya, these Congolese women boarded boats for Europe, looking death in the eye. They entrusted their lives to God and believed that God would save them from drowning. They were rescued in deep sea and transported to the nearest hospital in Tunisia, far away from a desired destination – Europe. Many migrants, crossing hundreds of miles in the unknown waters, did not survive the dreadful journeys in search of a better tomorrow.

The accounts my respondents shared with me show that both women and men who undertake these migrant and refugee journeys are exploited and forced into unwanted sexual relationships, often being subjected to kidnapping and human trafficking. These multiple human rights violations, according to my findings, which should not be generalised to all groups of migrants, occur throughout the migrant and refugee journey across all countries of transit.

Some of my early lessons learnt:

Transactional sex for travel passes is demanded by militia, officers of authority, smugglers and traffickers at different points of migrant journeys in all countries of transit.
Rape is systematic across migrant journeys as a tool to control and deceive migrants who await to embark for Europe. Detaining migrants and luring them with a promise of reaching Europe is a deceptive and coercive strategy. Physical and emotional violence are commonly linked to sexual violence.
SGBV against men is reported by some migrants to be equally common as SGBV against women. Men are abused whilst waiting to board boats to Europe. Men are exploited physically and demanded to work for no payment.
SGBV is an outcome of a cross-border organised crime and human trafficking, the moving and selling of human bodies for a financial gain by organised international groups.
Survivors require specialised support and economic opportunities to regain their humanity and dignity, to recover from trauma and to start their lives over.

The need for protection of migrants and refugees and regulation of migration management has never been greater. More coordinated arrangements could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Migrant infrastructure in countries of resettlement, including in transit countries of temporary refuge, needs to be improved to reduce vulnerability of people on the move to further risks of violence. A broader programmes agenda should further explore the above complexities in order to inform and improve policy and practice.

See my next blog post, which will be posted next week, where I reflect on how religion travels with refugee and migrant survivors of SGBV. I shed light on migrant and refugee SGBV survivors’ faith dimension of their experiences, resilience and vulnerability.

Find out more about the SEREDA Project at:
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/programmes/superdiversity-institute/sereda

References

Keygnaert, I. and Guieu, A. (2015) What the eye does not see: a critical interpretive synthesis of European Union policies addressing sexual violence in vulnerable migrants. Reproductive Health Matters, 23 (46): 45–55. doi:10.1016/j.rhm.2015.11.002.

Vu, A., Adam, A., Wirtz, A., et al. (2014) The Prevalence of Sexual Violence among Female Refugees in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. PLoS Currents, 6. doi:10.1371/currents.dis.835f10778fd80ae031aac12d3b533ca7.

Written by Sandra Pertek for The Age of Superdiversity

SEREDA Project Researcher and HAD Postgraduate Fellow

September 16, 2019

The need for a sustained humanitarian commitment to the global refugee crises’

Kawkaba Samadzada Blog Refugees

September 16, 2019
The need for a sustained humanitarian commitment to the global refugee crises’

Humanitarian crises in Syria, Afghanistan, and South Sudan have displaced more than 13 million people around the world; millions have been forced to leave their homes and have not received sufficient humanitarian support. Behind the statistics are people: mothers, fathers, children, all with dreams for their futures. And while it is sometimes easy to switch off from what is happening around us, we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the refugee crises’ happening around the world. As the frequency and complexity of humanitarian climate-related crises’ continue to rise, the number of people who will be forced to flee from their villages and towns will inevitably increase. In drawing attention to the almost ‘forgotten’ about refugee crises’, HAD shines a light into these areas. Only in doing this will we be able to create change.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

In addition to being a host to many refugees escaping violent conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), South Sudan, and Burundi, the DRC has seen increases in internally displaced citizens, due to increased inter-ethnic fighting within its borders. Even though the civil war in the DRC ended in 2003, violence continues to plague the country. Hundreds of thousands of Congolese were forced to flee across Lake Albert into Uganda in 2018 when inter-ethnic fighting resumed in the north-eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri [1].

5 million IDPs (as stated by OCHA, UNHCR)
A host to over one million refugees from neighbouring countries

South Sudan

Since 2013, the brutal conflict in South Sudan has forced many families to flee their homes. Currently, 4.3 million are displaced, while 1.6 million have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. Women and children are particularly vulnerable. 63% of the refugees from South Sudan are children. These child refugees are often fleeing unaccompanied, which makes them particularly unsafe.

3 million displaced as a result of conflict
The number of refugees fromouth Sudan has surpassed 2 million

The Central African Republic (CAR)

In the CAR, conflict is rife. Despite the transition to peace in 2013, there has been renewed conflict and violence in the country. Over a quarter of the population has been displaced. 2.9 million are in urgent need of humanitarian support.

More than 605,000 refugees from the CAR
655,000 IDPs
543,000 in neighbouring countries

Cameroon

Peaceful protests in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon started in 2016, which have now escalated into violent conflict. This conflict, between the state’s military and non-state armed groups, has left more than 450,000 people displaced. 780,000 children are without schooling and hundreds of villages have been destroyed.

450,000 displaced
Hosting refugees from Nigeria and the CAR

Ethiopia

Ethiopia, with more than 900,000 refugees and asylum-seekers seeking safety within its borders, is home to the second-largest refugee population in Africa. Moreover, with inter-communal violence and conflicts deepening since 2016, Ethiopia has more than 1 million IDPs.

The second-largest refugee population in Africa
More than one million internally displaced

The bigger picture:

While there has been a focus on countries that are receiving very little media attention in this blog post, we must not forget about all the other refugee crises’ going on around the world. Millions are displaced. There are a record 70.8 million displaced as a result of conflict, persecution or violence, according to the UNHCR

The refugee crisis is a human crisis. Behind the statistics are real people.

If you want to find out about HAD’s programmes priorities, click here.

You can read about HAD’s ongoing programmes project on forced migration and violent conflict, as well as post-ISIS Iraq analysis conducted by a PHD fellow.

Additionally, find out how HAD’s R&D team enhances our knowledge on refugees, social justice and religion and find out how HAD has been building the capacities of Syrian NGOs responding to the crisis.

Written by Charlotte Davies

Marketing and Communications Intern

The Role of Faith in Psychosocial Response

Kawkaba Samadzada News Faith, HAD News, Mental Health, Refugees

July 24, 2019
The Role of Faith in Psychosocial Response

Religion and belief can act as powerful coping mechanism for individuals dealing with traumatic experiences.

Despite this fact, the role of faith in psychosocial response to trauma often tends to be overlooked by practitioners working with survivors of trauma, R&D and IPD are addressing this significant gap by working on a one-year programmes project on ‘Developing a Faith Sensitive Psycho-Social Response to Trauma amongst Muslim Women’ (co-led by R&D and the International Programmes Division at IRW). Funding for the project has been approved by IR Canada.

HAD Postgraduate Fellows Sandra Iman Pertek and Kathleen Rutledge started their fieldwork in Tunisia, Turkey and Iraq, where they interviewed Muslim women who have experienced trauma following violent conflict and forced migration. Meanwhile, HAD’s Head of Research, Dr Jennifer Philippa Eggert, has just come back from Gaziantep, at the Syrian-Turkish border, where she delivered programmes training to our Syrian partner organisation Syria Bright Future (SBF). The training was aimed at preparing SBF for the upcoming field programmes phase of our programmes project on gender, faith and trauma in Syria.

The project involves data collection on the ground, in the form of interviews and surveys. Dr Eggert, the Head of R&D, will be the academic lead on the project. She will train the Syrian data collectors, and advise on the data collection and analysis in Syria, in close cooperation with SBF. The project is expected to help inform guidelines for practitioners on how to integrate a faith perspective into psychosocial response to trauma.

Read our project update

Field notes from Turkey: Women, faith and trauma amidst horrors of war and hardships in refuge

The Values Underpinning the Muslim Charity Sector

July 10, 2019

A faith-sensitive approach in humanitarian response: Guidance on mental health and psychosocial programming

E Library Faith, Faith-Based Organisation, Humanitarian Response, Islamic Relief, Lutheran World Federation, Psychosocial Care, Refugees, Religion

A faith-sensitive approach in humanitarian response: Guidance on mental health and psychosocial programming

by The Lutheran World Federation and Islamic Relief Worldwide

TYPE

Research Report

OFFICE

Islamic Relief Worldwide

LANGUAGE

English

YEAR

2018

KEYWORDS

Faith, Faith-Based Organisation, Humanitarian Response, Islamic Relief, Lutheran World Federation, Psychosocial Care, Refugees, Religion

Islamic Relief Worldwide & The Lutheran World Federation As part of our on-going partnership, the Lutheran World Federation and Islamic Relief Worldwide began to work in 2016 on the development of A faith-sensitive approach in humanitarian response: Guidance on mental health and psychosocial programming. From the onset, we were clear that the guidance should be inclusive of all humanitarian actors, assisting both secular and faith-based organisations in the course of their work in the field. We use the term ‘faith-sensitive’ to bring the focus of the guidance on the faith of the people affected by conflict, disaster and displacement, rather than on the faith allegiance (or non-faith allegiance) of humanitarian organisations and agencies. The vast majority of people lay claim to some form of faith or religion, and they do not leave it behind in a humanitarian crisis. Taking people’s faith identity seriously in shaping humanitarian response is simply part of a people-centred approach. This guidance has been developed in phases. A desk review looking at the literature relevant to faith-sensitive psychosocial programming, followed by fieldword in LWF and IRW country offices (Kenya, Jordan and Nepal), led to initial draft of the guidance, closely aligned with the existing IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (2007). This draft guidance was then reviewed by a wide range of humanitarian actors and others and was pilot-tested in a variety of settings, leading to the document you have now. Office http://www.islamic-relief.org/ Citation The Lutheran World Federation and Islamic Relief Worldwide (2018) A faith-sensitive approach in humanitarian response: Guidance on mental health and psychosocial programming. LWF and IRW: Geneva and Birmingham.

faith-sensitive_humanitarian_response_2018.pdf

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ACC Project

Action On Climate Change and Consumption (ACC Project)

July 10, 2019