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Introduction ‘Financial inclusion’ has become the cause du jour for several humanitarian players in the forced migration space. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) 2018 Global Compact on Refugees called for financial inclusion as a means to support ‘self-reliance’, which they define as ‘the social and economic ability of an individual, household or community to meet essential needs in a sustainable manner and with dignity
comparatively higher incidence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and marital rape in camps than rape outside marriage. The reality that the displacement process is not linear, leading more people to be trapped in protracted displacement without any clear end in sight, exacerbates the threat of GBV to women, children, and even men. 1 The displacement confronted by millions of South Sudanese refugees illustrates one of the inevitable consequences of colonialisation (i.e. refugee
opportunities around the world. Digital labour platforms and the online gig economy now promise access to work for anyone with an internet connection, a computer and the right skillset. Inspired by this promise, governments, civil society, social enterprises and international organisations in the humanitarian and development sectors, including the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Norwegian Refugee Council
increasingly more present in contexts of forced displacement, with digital inclusion of refugees being framed by humanitarian agencies as a fundamental human right and an essential tool to promote access to income and skills development ( UNHCR, 2016 ). The deployment of digital technologies has been consistently emphasised by government and humanitarian organisations as crucial to fostering refugees’ self-reliance, entrepreneurship and well-being, as well as to implementing innovative solutions
Women Refugees and Livelihood Barriers The coronavirus pandemic has had a damaging impact on the livelihoods of women globally and a disproportionate effect on refugees compared to their host populations ( Clingain et al. , 2021 ; Dempster et al. , 2020 ). Women refugees already disadvantaged by virtue of their social status and other legal, social and logistical barriers have been hit hardest by the devastating effects
refugee-serving organisations see online freelance work as a vehicle for ‘entrepreneurial’ self-reliance ( Easton-Calabria, 2022 ). Web-based income opportunities appear particularly relevant for forcibly displaced people because they seem detached from local regulations and markets. This makes them especially relevant in contexts where refugees face restricted labour market access and work in informal economies. While the wider digital economy incorporates all kinds of economic
Introduction In May 2013 the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Beirut registered the highest number of refugees per capita worldwide, where nearly one million Syrians fled across the border to escape the civil war that started in 2011. This war exacerbated pre-existing tensions and widened the rift between Lebanon’s political parties that were split between pro and anti-Syrian regime. However, both blocs came to an
citizenry of photography. From June 1918 to April 1919, the American photographer Lewis Wickes Hine made photographs of refugees and other European civilians affected by World War I while working overseas for the American Red Cross (ARC). Refugees emerged as a new humanitarian subject in direct result of the changing global order that came with World War I. Hine’s photographs and the ARC’s use of them, both shaped and restricted public imagination with regard to refugees, and international spectators’ responses to them. Here, I explore Hine’s refugee photographs and more
Introduction With the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) having run a deficit almost since the start of its operations in 1950, the US’s decision – as UNRWA’s erstwhile primary funder – to cut its financial support for the Agency is having a significant impact both on UNRWA and over five million Palestinian refugees living across UNRWA’s five areas of operation in the Middle East: Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank. This article explores UNRWA’s responses to this dramatic cut in funding; more
Introduction This is the story of a meeting between a humanitarian operation and a conspiracy theory, and what happened next. The operation was a search and rescue mission run on the Mediterranean by many different non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Médecins Sans Frontières, 1 aiming to save the lives of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers lost at sea. The conspiracy theory 2 was that this operation was the opposite of what it