Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions are key to good public health outcomes for forcibly displaced people. A collaborative ‘roadmap’ for better integration of WASH services in crisis response has recently been launched.
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated new thinking as those working with forced migrants try to secure safe accommodation and access to basic services for asylum seekers and refugees despite the challenging context.
Efforts are under way in Uganda’s refugee settlements to transfer responsibility for water services from NGOs to the country’s utilities. The transition needs to be carefully managed if it is to succeed.
A case-study from the Lower Omo Valley explores some of the challenges to water security for people who have been displaced within their own homelands.
Two refugee women in Liberia are repairing handpumps in order to support others in their community.
Displaced Afro-descendant communities in Colombia have experienced significant marginalisation during the pandemic but have drawn on ancestral knowledge to try to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.
A health intervention in a complex crisis, such as the one in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, can only succeed if the community is effectively engaged and actively participates in the response.
A new tool to collect and track people’s perceptions in the context of COVID-19 is providing valuable information to help support communities during the pandemic, while enabling greater community engagement.
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) is important for building a resilient health system – and critical during a pandemic. A multi-country assessment undertaken in late 2020 has highlighted significant shortcomings which need to be addressed.
In the face of COVID-19, adaptation, innovation and learning from experience have been key to responding adequately to the needs of displaced people.
Recent research across a number of countries highlights significant disparities in access to basic public health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. States have a responsibility to learn from the current pandemic and address the barriers that exist.
Older refugees are particularly at risk from COVID-19. WASH services are key to reducing disease transmission for this vulnerable group.
Many of the world’s top refugee-hosting countries have not acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention and yet they engage with the international refugee regime in a number of ways. Not only are international refugee law norms being disseminated and adopted in these States but also non-signatory States often participate in the development of international refugee law by being present and active in global arenas for refugee protection.
Few Asian States have acceded to the Refugee Convention yet they may have laws, policies, practices or systems that can be of use in responding to refugees’ protection needs.
Somewhere between party and non-party to the Refugee Convention, Turkey is a rather unique case from the perspective of refugee law and practice, with its protection regime fundamentally shaped by the Refugee Convention and the optional geographical limitation allowed under it.
Hong Kong is often cited as a positive example of a non-signatory territory that has established a government-led refugee status determination mechanism. However, in the absence of a broader public or executive-led commitment, this mechanism falls far below international standards.
In the absence of a codified refugee rights framework in Jordan and Lebanon, legal actors must be creative in the development of strategies and approaches to ensure the protection of refugee rights in practice.
Non-signatory States are increasingly important as donors, and UNHCR has been targeting some of these new funding sources. With funding, however, come influence and challenges.
Despite Bangladesh not having ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention, a number of recent court judgements indicate respect for elements of the Convention’s rulings.
A coalition of civil society actors has developed effective strategies for working alongside the Thai government to facilitate better policies for refugees.
Refugee journalist JN Joniad has been living in Indonesia since 2013, unable to move on and yet unable to access his basic rights.
This is the text from the back cover of this issue of FMR. It profiles the last book written by our RSC colleague Gil Loescher, who died in April 2020.