Resources

The field of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in humanitarian emergencies has shown remarkable development over the last two decades.1 Mental health was once a notable omission from the health priorities to be addressed in the context of humanitarian…

Worldwide, refugees often live through devastating experiences prior to fleeing their homes, including fearing or being close to death, seeing the death of loved ones and experiencing deprivation or torture (Cardozo, Vergara, Agani, & Gotway, 2000; Kleijn, Hovens, & Rodenburg,…

This booklet from Jesuit Refugee Service presents teaching, reflections and guidance of Pope Francis regarding migrants and refugees. It contains a Message from Pope Francis and twenty action priorities in two versions. One is meant for active pastoral engagement with migrants…

Children in Syria live under the constant threat of violence. The blatant flouting of international humanitarian and human rights law has earned this crisis the dubious honour of being recognised as the most significant humanitarian protection crisis in living memory.1…

No parent, no adult relative or guardian was with them on the way: in 2014, not a few, not a thousand, but more than 50,0003 boys and girls like Karla and Freddy journeyed unaccompanied through deserts and forests, through mountains…

This is a comprehensive report of the GNRC 5th Forum. It is a summary of all aspects of the Forum, including the speeches, papers presented, contributions and transcripts of messages delivered at the Forum. Includes remarks from distinguished guests during…

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is the recommended immediate psychosocial response during crises. As PFA is now widely implemented in crises worldwide, there are increasing calls to evaluate its effectiveness. World Vision used PFA as a fundamental component of their emergency…

The Rohingya Refugee Crisis is a children's emergency. Over a five-month period, 655,500 people have fled widespread violence in Myanmar, 58 percent of which have been children. Since arriving in refugee camps in Bangladesh, many of these children have reported the…

In the summer of 2007, focus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted with Liberian refugee women living in the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the means through which Liberian families were…

The impact of the post-migratory experience on young voluntary migrants’ mental health has often been overlooked. As mental health conditions often first manifest in adolescence (Patel, Flisher, Hetrick, & McGorry, 2007), it is important to examine youth resilience strategies. Migrants…

The relationship between spirituality and resilience has been enquired into by academic researchers across different disciplines, especially around people experiencing death (Greef et al. 2008, 293), violent trauma (Connor et al. 2003, 491), war (Fernando et al. 2011, 55), austerity…

Resilience—the ability to anticipate, withstand and bounce back from external pressures and shocks—is an increasingly important construct in shaping humanitarian strategy by the international community (DFID 2011; UNICEF 2011; USAID 2012). Local faith communities (LFCs)—groupings of religious actors bonded through…

Religion is a powerful force in southern Africa, affecting all aspects of daily life and health (Anderson 2001, Chitando 2007a), particularly among rural women (Agadjanian 2005). Rural churches are a center for informal social interaction, shaping attitudes and behaviors of…

International standards, currently being developed, define a CFS program as one that “supports the resilience and well-being of children and young people who have experienced disasters through community organized, structured activities conducted in a safe, child friendly, and stimulating environment”…

Since the beginning of the current humanitarian crisis in Iraq, more than three million school-aged children and adolescents have experienced disruption to their education. Providing continuity of learning and protection for affected children demands that agencies such as World Vision…

The declaration, known as an Affirmation of Welcome, is the first to involve UNHCR and a spectrum of faith-based groups. It sets out principles to guide faith leaders in providing welcoming environments for refugees and displaced people, and those without citizenship, including through promoting community understanding and tolerance, and combatting xenophobia.

The idea for a joint declaration emerged from a meeting hosted by UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres in Geneva in December 2012 with religious leaders and faith-based NGOs.

Taking place between February and April of this year, drafting of the Affirmation involved a coalition of leading faith-based organizations and academic institutions. The text draws upon principles and values of welcome shared by religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.

The Partnership Note sets out broad guidance for UNHCR staff to engage with, reach out to, and partner with faith actors in the context of forced displacement. It describes UNHCR’s understanding of the range of faith actors and the role they play in humanitarian responses. The Note also flags the challenges of partnership and highlights instances where we would not normally engage owing to humanitarian and human rights considerations. More importantly, it contains examples of good practice and lessons learned from existing partnerships in the field and highlights principles that are a point of departure for dialogue and cooperation with faith actors and communities, while setting out actions and activities to put these principles into practice. The Partnership Note may be used as point of departure for conversations on many issues between UNHCR and faith actors. It can also help guide you, as partners, to establish dialogue across faiths and with a range of humanitarian actors.

These Guidelines provide a critical framework for engagement with faith‐based organisations (FBOs). They are not a blue‐print. Like all similar guidelines, these are provided with the pragmatism that each UNFPA Country and Regional Office will consider them in light of the specific political, social, cultural and economic circumstances.

UNICEF and other child rights organizations* have a long history of partnering with religious communities of all faiths on a wide range of issues that affect children. Religious communities are uniquely positioned to promote equitable outcomes for the most vulnerable…

The guide is intended to: Provide a general overview of the nature and scope of violence against children that can be used for informational and educational purposes; Highlight the positive roles that religious communities can and do play in advocating…

Review of the implementation of Arigatou International's Ethics Education Programme "Learning to Live Together" in six schools in Apopa, Mejicanos, and Soyapando (San Salvador, El Salvador). It analyzes the impact of the programme on children in contexts highly affected by…

So I have a new name, Refugee Strange that a name should take away from me My past, my personality and hope. Strange refuge this. So many seem to share this name, refugee, Yet we share so many differences. I…

It is widely recognised that ‘refugees often see the education of their children as a principal way of ensuring a better future’ (Dryden-Peterson 2003, 1). However, the means for providing such an education, and views of what precisely would amount…

There has been a plethora of psychosocial interventions in the tsunami region – some have spoken of a psychosocial industry! Either with programmes which are specifically psychosocial or with psychosocial aspects to more traditional aid programmes. In general, they include…

Geographically, Malta is positioned in a central position in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located 93km (58 miles) from the south of Sicily and 288km (179 miles) from North Africa. It thereby has proximity to both mainland Europe (Malta is…

After decades of assessing and describing the street children population, more attention is needed to evaluate the impact of street children programs on successful reinsertion into the community. The purpose of the current study was to assess the impact of…

The phenomenon of street children has become a focal point of the media and in academic research in recent years. It is a continuing issue and has been accepted by the international community as a serious global problem. A large…

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identifies a major protracted refugee situation as one where more than 25,000 refugees have been in exile for more than five years. Protracted refugee situations refer to those that…

This paper examines the interplay between the destructive and healing forces within human communities, as reflected in the life of children. This work stems from over 30 years of being involved as a participant/near-miss survivor/therapist, in a society exposed to…

Worldwide, there is an increasing trend toward urbanization, a phenomenon that is highly conspicuous in developing countries and in war- and disaster-affected areas.2 The majority of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, which have become home to most…

The term resilience has been widely used in recent years. Fundamentally, it refers to a person’s ability to adapt successfully to acute stress, trauma or chronic forms of adversity (e.g. Masten, 2014). However, there are various understandings of resilience. While,…

A Syrian Teacher, November 2015 On November 3, 2015 I received a message from one of my contacts, a human smuggler. A group of 25 Syrians was stuck on a beach in Dikili, north of Izmir. They had failed to…

Increasing research on exposure to political violence, terrorism and war has led to significant advances in comprehension of the nature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychological responses of youth to these environments (Betancourt and Khan, 2008). However, more systematic…

People destabilized by armed conflict, including refugees, internally displaced persons, in particular, women and children are at increased risk of exposure to HIV infection (United Nation General Assembly 2001). The above quotation suggests that internally displaced persons in general and…

Health is wealth, so says the adage and this is an undisputed fact for the reason that the well being of a people can holistically add to their development generally. Local communities with little infrastructure seem to be more susceptible…

Over 70,000 Burmese refugees have resettled in the United States in the past decade. While Burmese adolescents quickly acculturate into American society, their perspectives on health are not well-known. The purpose of this study was to identify adolescent Burmese refugee…

This article examines education policy for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, drawing on 44 stakeholder interviews conducted in March 2016. Findings indicate that the idea of children’s rights, enshrined in international conventions, combined with foreign aid, encouraged the creation of a…

At the core of social protection is a concern for addressing vulnerability and risk. It is increasingly understood that social protection policy frameworks and programmes must be informed by a recognition of the diversity of vulnerability and risks, and the…

Contemporary discussions on strengthening national child protection systems agree that community-based child protection mechanisms (CBCPMs) are fundamental elements of child protection systems.1 Because they are relatively easy to access, or perhaps are the only alternative that is available in responding…

Worldwide, the field of child protection in humanitarian settings is undergoing an historic shift toward strengthening child protection systems on a national scale (African Child Policy Forum et al., 2013; Davis, McCaffrey, & Conticini, 2012; UNICEF, UNHCR, & World Vision,…

This report was commissioned by Sacred Heart College, and funded by the Breadsticks Foundation to better understand the conditions affecting access to education for migrant children in Johannesburg. The Three2Six Education Project for Refugee Children at Sacred Heart College has…

Rights without borders Locations: Grenada, Lebanon, Mexico, USA, Brazil, Uruguay, Rwanda, South Africa, Italy, Thailand, Australia Program overview: Primary care (but not exclusive) to children, young people and their families. Promoting education through extra schooling support, non-formal education and ongoing formation…

Released June 26, 2018  

Accounts of humanitarianism regularly address the historical influence of religious traditions and commitments in shaping our understanding of this field. Whether focused on ancient writings regarding obligations to others, the religious views and backgrounds of key humanitarian figures of the…

Many of our readers already know that Lebanon, a country of fewer than 6 million people, has reached a breaking point in its capacity to host the almost 1.2 million Syrian refugees that have streamed into Lebanon as a result…

Unskilled migrant workers and their families represent a crucial human resource in Sabah (Malaysia) as cheap labour, but also as religious believers. Christian organizations belonging to various denominations have started to cater to this community in recent years by providing…

Little is known about the early educational performance of children in migrant farmworker families. The authors examined the school readiness and early school success of 289 four-year-old preschool children of migrant families attending Redlands Christian Migrant Association centers. Children's school…

Guidance on mental health and psychosocial programming This guidance has been developed in phases. A desk review looking at the literature relevant to faith-sensitive psychosocial programming, followed by fieldwork in LWF and IRW country offices (Kenya, Jordan and Nepal), led…

Education for Refugees and the forcibly displaced Jesuit Relief Service USA

Over the past several decades, an increasing number of refugee children and families have involuntarily migrated to countries around the world to seek safety and refuge. As the refugee population increases, it is becoming more important to understand factors that…