FMR 70

Knowledge, voice and power

September 2022

People with lived experience of displacement need to be heard. Their perspectives, strategies and solutions should be at the centre of discussions about policy and practice. The authors in this issue reflect on progress made but also on the road still to travel. They challenge attitudes, highlight injustices and make practical recommendations for change.

We are very grateful to the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) for their partnership on this issue and for the generous financial support of both the International Development Research Centre of the Government of Canada and LERRN (funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)).

Forced Migration Review issue 70 includes a major feature on ‘Knowledge, voice and power’ exploring issues of representation, influence, privilege, access, discrimination and more.

The issue also includes a feature on ‘Social cohesion in refugee-hosting contexts’, exploring the role of social cohesion in contexts of protracted displacement, with a particular focus on Kenya and Lebanon. It has been produced with the financial support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Jesuit Refugee Service.

FMR 70

Knowledge, voice and power

September 2022

Forced Migration Review issue 70 includes a major feature on ‘Knowledge, voice and power’ exploring issues of representation, influence, privilege, access, discrimination and more.

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Social cohesion special feature standalone PDF

FMR 70 English FMR 70 English

Alice Philip and Olivia Berthon

From the Editors

Heather Alexander, James Milner and Alice Philip

Mentoring new voices in forced migration publishing

Feedback from authors who participated in a new mentorship scheme offers useful insights into how to increase the inclusion of under-represented perspectives in forced migration publishing.

Fnan Mhretu and Lokpiny Bol Akok

Bridging youth and power: the Youth Advisory Board in Cairo

Experience gained in developing a Youth Advisory Board within Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services in Cairo highlights the importance and the challenges of including the voices of unaccompanied refugee children and youth in discussions about issues that directly impact their lives.

Lilian Obiye

Hear my voice: refugees’ participation in Kenyan policy development

The involvement of refugees in recent legislative changes in Kenya demonstrates how public participation can be used as a tool to empower refugees and give them an opportunity to influence policy.

Aleksejs Ivashuk

Tackling statelessness: the fundamental importance of stateless people’s voices

Enabling stateless people’s voices to be heard more strongly and more widely is a fundamental requirement for a better understanding of the problem of statelessness and how to tackle it.

Sahat Zia Hero, Alison Kent, Alexandra Kotowski and Parmin Fatema

Voice and power at the intersection of art, technology and advocacy

Insights from the Rohingya refugee response reveal how art and digital technologies can offer opportunities for refugees and IDPs to lead, advocate and share their voices in forced displacement contexts.

Sefa Secen

Self-representation of Syrian refugees in the media in Turkey and Germany

Refugees are increasingly creating alternative news media platforms in order to better represent their own perspectives.

Bahati Kanyamanza and Emily Arnold-Fernandez

Meaningful representation starts at the top: refugees on UNHCR’s ExCom

Refugee representatives should form 50% of UNHCR’s Executive Committee to ensure that the UN Refugee Agency is governed by the people it exists to serve.

Tristan Harley, Suyeon Lee and Najeeba Wazefadost

Not just a seat at the table: refugee participation and the importance of listening

The 2019 Global Refugee Forum was significant for its inclusion of refugee representatives. There is much to be learnt by paying close attention to the speeches they gave – that is, by really listening to their voices.

Sana Mustafa, Deepa Nambiar and Rahul Balasundaram

Shifting power in forced displacement: the need for internal organisational change

Organisational learning, commitment and action focusing on both refugee leadership and localisation are essential if there is to be a shift of power in the forced displacement sector.

Daniel Davies and Emily Elderfield

Language, power and voice in monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning: a checklist for practitioners

Frameworks for monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning need to take into account what languages people use, how they prefer to access information, and what words participants understand and are comfortable with.

Christa Charbonneau Kuntzelman and Anila Noor

Beyond consultation: creating meaningful partnerships through participation

Due to embedded power inequities, the voices of persons with lived experience of displacement are often minimised or silenced across humanitarian, governance and academic sectors. We propose a model for meaningful partnership that goes beyond consultation.

Abdullah Sarwari, Musa Ahmadi and Tracey Donehue

Power-brokers and gatekeepers as allies: a model for partnership

From their experience of working together on refugee education in Indonesia, the authors identify four modes of refugee inclusion and exclusion in decision-making processes and discuss the roles and responsibilities of allies in overcoming the silencing of refugee voices.

Meh Sod Paw, Minkyung Choi and Jihae Cha

Voice, identity and listening: reflections from a refugee

To better understand and respond to the real needs of refugees, we need to learn from the stories of people like Meh Sod who resettled in the USA aged 12.

Rachel Silver, Mark Okello Oyat, HaEun Kim and Sahra Mohamed Ismail

Rhetorical commitments and funding realities in Dadaab, Kenya

In this article, we draw on our diverse experiences as a transnational research team affiliated with the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees Project to reflect on how current funding practices continue to constrain refugee-led research in Dadaab, Kenya.

Rossmary D Márquez-Lameda

Funding, credibility and visibility: supporting forced migration research in the Global South

Academics in the Global South who are conducting research on the Venezuelan displacement crisis confront a number of challenges relating to funding, credibility and visibility. Interviewees reflect on how to tackle these challenges in light of realities on the ground.

Kirandeep Kaur

Co-writing and inclusive publications

My reflections on publishing inclusively through co-writing highlighted many barriers faced by refugee researchers and research participants in the quest to be published on an equitable standing with western, non-refugee researchers.

Ahmad Akkad

Displaced Syrian academics: unheard voices in academia

Multi-layered support is needed for displaced academics to be able to participate in academia and to be heard as academics in their own right – not only as displaced academics.

Asma Rabi, Noor Ullah and Rebecca Daltry

Exclusion from the conversation: reflections from Afghan refugees

While refugee voices are increasingly valued in research and policymaking, Afghan refugees continue to face barriers to access and participate in these conversations. Their insights offer recommendations for how to increase inclusion to inform decision making.

Abis Getachew, Mary Gitahi, Uwezo Ramazani and Andhira Yousif

When displaced persons lead research: experience from East Africa

Four displaced researchers who are leading a study on refugee-led organisations in East Africa discuss the benefits and challenges associated with being an ‘insider’ researcher.

Cory Rodgers

From coexistence to cohesion in refugee-host relations

Improving ‘cohesion’ has become a common objective in refugee-hosting contexts. But the term is often used without clear definition, which has consequences for policy and programming.

Dawn Chatty

Evolution of the stability sector in Lebanon: the role of civil society

In recent decades, civil society has played a fundamental role in supporting social stability in Lebanon, including efforts at improving social cohesion between different groups.

Watfa Najdi

Aid tensions after the 2020 Beirut port explosion

Tensions can intensify in contexts of overlapping crises: humanitarian actors must recognise the different kinds of tension resulting from aid distribution and respond accordingly.

Michael Owiso

Incoherent policies and contradictory priorities in Kenya

Since 2013, Kenya has embraced contradictory policies to manage its refugee affairs, with simultaneous calls for encampment, socio-economic integration and camp closure that affect both refugees and host communities.

Ekai Nabenyo

The politics of sharing aid with host communities

Extending refugee aid and services to host communities is a strategy to preserve the humanitarian ‘protection space’, but may drive unrealistic expectations for host entitlements.

Stephen Hunt and Cory Rodgers

Measuring social cohesion: lessons from Kakuma Camp

Various surveys have been constructed to measure social cohesion in contexts of displacement. But the results must be interpreted carefully by those seeking to inform policy and programming.

Danielle Vella and Diana Rueda

Reflections on approaches and barriers to reconciliation

In a series of working discussions, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has identified common barriers to reconciliation. Making progress to overcome these barriers starts with individuals.

Social cohesion special feature standalone PDF