More than 50,000 registered refugees live in Nairobi.[1] Assistance agencies face multiple difficulties in trying to reach the most vulnerable individuals within such a large population, and refugees with particular needs can struggle to access the assistance they need. Lesbian,…
Although there is a need for more research in this area, there is evidence to suggest that LGBTI persons may be discriminated against during disasters in various ways: being perceived as lower priority for rescue efforts; families with same-sex partners…
The deployment manager’s perspective It was 5pm on a Friday night and I was dropping off my new colleague, Markus[1], at the guesthouse after a briefing for his forthcoming deployment to the field. He would be on a plane early…
The availability and limitations of funding can heavily influence response to forced migration. Because issues of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) are relatively new to many state and NGO actors in this field, and because current economic pressures are…
Sexual and reproductive services are important for women in all settings. In humanitarian emergencies where even existing services may be disrupted or unavailable, particularly to those who have been displaced, the provision of reproductive health services may mean the difference…
I first encountered the issue of climate refugees in 2008.[i] As focal point for refugee issues at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was charged with answering a question from the Norwegian parliament on how to respond to forced…
The Cartagena Declaration on Refugees (1984) was the outcome of meetings between government representatives and specialists from ten Latin American countries who met in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, to consider the situation of refugees in Central America. It established the…
Brazil’s commitment to refugee law and protection since the mid-1950s resulted in the passing of a bill on refugees in 1997 (Law 9474). This not only broadened protection for refugees by including gross violation of human rights as a criterion…
Alongside the more than 3,800 refugees recognised by the Brazilian government, others arrive in the holds of cargo ships and slip unregistered into Brazil. “After my village was attacked, I ran away through the forest and walked to the port…
In October of 2009 there were 4,131 refugees from 72 nationalities living in Brazil. Of these, 3,822 arrived ‘spontaneously’, of whom nearly half came through their own networks, and 418 were resettled through the Brazilian programme, coordinated by the National…