By Refugees, For Refugees: Refugee Leadership beyond the Pandemic

The third webinar in the LERRN-IDRC webinar series on forced displacement builds from this blog published by the Kaldor Centre in April 2020 and focuses on refugee participation and leadership.

This webinar will explore the factors that influence the impact of refugee-led organizations (RLOs) as service-delivery providers in humanitarian settings before and during COVID-19. In the context of the Coronavirus pandemic, when international actors are limited in their mobility and access, RLOs are increasingly becoming frontline responders that provide vital assistance to displaced communities. This webinar aims to discuss how we can move the debate from a normative commitment to refugee participation and leadership to concrete measures that address the many barriers refugees-led organizations face in responding to local needs. Panelists include refugee leaders, donors, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, who will consider innovative solutions with and for refugees and engagement of refugee-led organizations during the pandemic and beyond.

The LERRN-IDRC webinar series on forced displacement serves to create a forum for engagement between localized perspectives by actors from significant refugee-hosting contexts with Canadian and global policymakers. Engaging with current forced migration debates within the context of COVID-19, the webinars seek to amplify the voices and perspectives of partners closest to the issues. These seminars will address several dimensions of forced displacement, such as education, health, and refugee leadership, within broader questions on migration drivers and sustainable knowledge ecosystems in the Global South.