Archives: News

Monday, August 12, 2019

Youth in Amman: Transforming Education

Photo: Yasmeen Shahzadeh, 2019   August 12 is International Youth Day: a celebration and recognition of the agency and role youth have in the in the world today, and the opportunities they possess in driving change for the future. The theme for this year’s International Youth Day is “Transforming Education”. Aligned with the 2030... More

Monday, July 8, 2019

“I’m so happy to be working with this project. It’s just like you’re doing something that is meaningful,” says Zahraa Al-Ahmad, who is heading to Lebanon.

Zahraa Al-Ahmad was born in Syria and moved to Canada when she was eight years old. She tells that she left her home country before Syria’s Civil War started. Al-Ahmad became more interested in studying refugee issues because of a graduate course she took with James Milner, LERRN’s director. “During this course, I think... More

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

“Having attempts to collaborate on this kind of project will be so eye opening for me,” says Stéfanie Morris, who will be joining the Tanzania group.

Stéfanie Morris was born in a small town in Northern Quebec.  Her mother is French-Canadian and her father is from Saskatchewan. Morris has lived all over Canada, but the biggest change for her was when she was 10 years old and her family moved from Eastern Canada to a small town in Alberta. “I... More

Saturday, June 29, 2019

“I think it’s really important for me as a Jordanian living abroad to be serving my community,” says Yasmeen Shahzadeh, who will be working in Jordan through LERRN.

Yasmeen Shahzadeh was born and raised in Jordan. Both maternal grandparents of hers were refugees from Palestine and she grew up learning about their experience and seeing them finding ways to serve their family and the communities. “I was always drawn to being in humanitarian aid an NGO is working with U.N. agencies. That... More

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

“They [refugees] know best what is happening with their lives, they know best what the solutions to their problems are,” says Mohamed Duale who will be working with refugees in Kenya.

Mohamed Duale’s family fled Somalia in the early 90s. He was born in Somalia but grew up in Toronto. Although he left his home country when he was a child, he has witnessed some of the main issues refugees face. In Toronto, he worked for about four years as a youth worker with the... More

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

“I absolutely love what LERRN stands for,” says Akalya Atputharajah, who is heading to Kenya this Summer.

Akalya Atputharajah’s parents came to Canada as refugees from Sri Lanka just before she was born. Other family members also followed the same path. She grew up hearing stories about her family’s journey after leaving Sri Lanka. She was born and raised in Toronto, a city where many people share similar stories about life... More

Thursday, June 6, 2019

“This project is really important because it provides an opportunity to see how we can collaborate better, how we can learn from each other,” says Merve Erdilmen, who was born in Turkey and is heading to Tanzania to work on refugee issues.

Merve Erdilmen came to Canada from Turkey in 2014 as a research assistant to work in an international research project. She was in Canada for three months and says that she enjoyed the country so much and saw so many opportunities that she wanted to come back. Erdilmen moved from Turkey to pursue her... More

Friday, May 24, 2019

“LERRN is seeking to localize that knowledge production by the people who are most affected in the global south,” says Christina Klassen, who is heading to Lebanon.

Christina Klassen spent one Summer in Jordan and when she left the Middle East, she knew she wanted to come back. After graduating she got in touch with a Canadian organization she knew and she was told that they needed someone to work with refugees in Lebanon. That was the opportunity she was looking... More

Friday, May 24, 2019

Nimo Bokore brings her knowledge and lived experience to LERRN

Nimo Bokore left Ethiopia in her early 20s during Ethiopia’s Civil War. Before leaving, Nimo worked as a journalist, covering the 1977- 78 Ethiopian-Somali war from the field. Bokore was in prison for seven months before she was released, but that was not the end of the persecution for her. Right after having her... More

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Protecting the Internally Displaced: From Rhetoric to Reality

In partnership with LERRN, professor Phil Orchard, from the University of Wollongong, in Australia, spoke about how the international response to the problem of internally displaced persons (IDPs) protection has changed over the past 20 years, and how legal protections have been introduced at the regional and domestic levels. There are over 40... More

Monday, March 18, 2019

Women and Girls’ Rights in Headlines in Conflict Zones

On the International Women’s Day, Journalists for Human Rights and LERRN (The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network) invited experts and practitioners for the launching of the Gender Report - Putting women and girls in headlines in 2018. Here is a video of what the speakers had to say about the theme:   Click on... More

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Research Highlight: Empowering Local Refugee Relief

The Lebanese American University released a research highlight on the work that will be done through LERRN. For full story, click... More

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