ALiGN is proud to announce that, thanks to its partnership with LERRN: the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network at Carleton University, two of our writers and researchers, Kathy Dobson and Ghadah Alrasheed, have been invited to participate in the annual “Forced Migration Training” camp at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi at the end of August. The training, entitled, The Meaning of Asylum in Transient Contexts of East and Horn of Africa, means a unique opportunity for Kathy and Ghadah to hear first hand from some of the people working to affect change for refugees in local, national and global context in order to influence research, policy, and practice to advance the well-being of refugees. Working with partners in Canada, Lebanon, Kenya, Jordan and Tanzania, the research team with LERRN will be studying ways to implement global refugee policy, identity those factors that can impact implementation, and identify how civil society can contribute to improved outcomes for refugees.
Kathy and Ghadah are thrilled to be part of this project, which will uniquely bring together the expertise of both LERRN and ALIGN, offering them the opportunity to observe and learn directly from refugee communities and from people working in the largest refugee camps in the world. They’re grateful to have been invited by Dr. Milner and MOI University in Kenya to join the training.
“It will be a humbling opportunity to learn how to “listen” to refugee voices and how to amplify these voices and make them more heard locally and globally,” says Ghadah. Adding that this is an important initiative, “and very much needed, considering the currently often misshaped and misleading political and public debates surrounding refugees and forced migration.”
Kathy couldn’t agree more. “I know we’re going to learn so much and I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone at the Kenya School of Government. Thanks to Dr. Merlyna Lim, director of ALiGN, and Dr. James Milner with LERRN, we have this really incredibly exciting opportunity. It’s one thing to hear or read about some of the issues refugees are facing and trying to deal with, and quite another to witness it first hand, from those directly involved and affected.”
Image source: https://time.com/4327239/kenya-close-refugee-camp-dadaab/