Refugees & Forced Migration Learning Hub

From 2017-2020, the JLI Refugees and Forced Migration (Refugee) Hub collated and communicated evidence on the role of faith actors in responding to refugee and displaced person’s needs, to influence policy and praxis. The Refugee Hub brought together practitioners, policy makers and academics in areas related to religion, faith, migration and refugees.

Following a period of inactivity between 2020 and 2023, the Hub resumed activities in 2023, when Hub members convened a series of roundtables examining the intersections between mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), social cohesion, and capacity sharing with religion, faith, migration and refugees. 

Read more about the 2023 Refugee Hub roundtables here.

Research:

• In 2017, the Refugee Hub completed a first scoping study on the role of local faith communities in urban displacement and localization. Read the full scoping study report or the scoping study brief by visiting our resources here.

• In 2018, the Refugee Hub partnered with UNHCR, UCL and IRW on a project on the role of local faith communities and implementation of the global compact. The Hub produced five case studies focused on Honduras, Mexico, Uganda, Germany, and Lebanon about the implementation of the comprehensive refugee response framework. Read the cases here.
• In 2020, the Refugee Hub produced a second scoping study. Dr Olivia Wilkinson, JLI’s Research Director and Susanna Trotta, JLI Research Consultant, published a ‘Local Faith Communities and Responses to Displacement’ chapter in the The Handbook of Displacement where they extensively review the literature to show how local faith communities are involved in responses to displacement from assisting people on the move, to arrival and reception, and long-term solutions.

Policy Influence:

• In 2018, the Refugee Hub submitted recommendations to the Global Compact on Refugees Consultation process on working with local faith actors leads to a more coherent, joined up, and efficient response to benefit refugees. Read the Refugee Hub’s Recommendation on Local Faith Communities and the refugee response for Global Compact on Refugees Discussions
• With the adoption of the Global Compact on Refugees, JLI Refugee Hub published a policy brief with accompanying resource brief that provides a reading list of articles related to faith, refugees, and the Global Compact. Also translated into French and Arabic