Understanding the processes of refugee and humanitarian innovation and the constraints and opportunities experienced in ‘bottom-up’ problem-solving has far-reaching implications for humanitarian practice.
Last month we participated in National Refugee Week 2015, celebrating the creativity, contribution and resilience of refugees in the UK.
Whilst blogging and sharing examples that are testament to this, we highlighted our involvement. (Here’s a link to our Refugee Week!)
We highlighted the focus for public sector bodies in the UK to ensure people, process and technology are lined up to deliver a more citizen-centred service and improve joined up working in society. Partner agencies and support services provide coordinated assistance for refugees in order to provide them with opportunities to achieve a better life in their new surroundings. There is a need for various support service providers and agencies to work more collaboratively on one secured platform to support refugees in overcoming challenges from cultural barriers to finding resettlement.
Please look through our #RefugeeWeek blog postings…
Refugee Week was an inspiring week for us and it was wonderful to see how so many shared in the celebration of the contribution of refugees in the UK. We’d like to share with you a recent report from Oxford Universities Refugees Studies Centre; a global leader in multidisciplinary research on forced migration. It’s a fascinating insight into human innovation for Refugee communities focusing not only on displacement but through to resettlement. Additionally, read our feature on the Somali Community in Cardiff.
Refugee Innovation: Humanitarian Innovation that Starts with Communities
About the Report: Even under the most challenging constraints, people find ways to engage in creative problem-solving. Refugees, displaced persons, and others caught in crisis often have skills, talents, and aspirations that they draw upon to adapt to difficult circumstances.
On July 17th, we launched the report “Refugee Innovation: Humanitarian Innovation that Starts with Communities” which focuses on examples and case studies of ‘bottom-up innovation’ among different refugee populations. This report takes you on a journey – from Jordan to South Africa to Uganda to Kenya to the United States. We look at a range of refugee situations, drawing upon examples from different stages of the ‘refugee cycle’: recent mass influx, protracted situations, and resettled refugee populations.
Understanding the processes of refugee innovation and the constraints and opportunities experienced in ‘bottom-up’ problem-solving also has far-reaching implications for humanitarian practice.
Authors:
Alexander Betts, Director Refugee Studies Centre and Humanitarian Innovation Project
Louise Bloom, Research Officer, Humanitarian Innovation Project
Nina Weaver, Research Coordinator, Humanitarian Innovation Project Report
Further Information: