Past Event! Note: this event has already taken place.
LERRN-IDRC Webinar | Refugee Education during and beyond Covid-19: Perspectives from local and global actors
November 19, 2020 at 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
| Location: | Online Event |
| Contact Email: | lerrn@carleton.ca |
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse recent gains in access to quality education in many parts of the world. These challenges have had a particular impact on refugees. While many countries in the global North were able to pivot to remote learning in the midst of pandemic lockdowns, many refugee-hosting countries in the global South were not able to extend such opportunities due to limited resources and technical infrastructure. The result was a significant interruption to learning. Even when distance education is available to the host community, refugees and other forcibly displaced students have been frequently excluded from such learning opportunities due to their legal status, combined with a lack of access to technology and the infrastructure necessary for active participation in distance learning. The consequences of this exclusion compound inequalities and threaten to have long-lasting consequences for livelihoods, inclusion and the pursuit of solutions.
Based on the findings of a recent report “Education under COVID-19 Lockdown” by LERRN partners at the Centre for Lebanese Studies, this webinar will draw on the perspectives of researchers and innovators in the Middle East and East Africa to consider how local responses can be mobilized in response to the impact of COVID-19 on refugee education, and what lessons can be drawn from this experience to better inform global discussion on the enhancement of refugee education.
Moderators:
- Barbara Shenstone, Regional Director for Middle East North Africa (IDRC)
- James Milner, Director, Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN)
Panelists:
- Abdullahi Mire, Journalist and Education Activist based in Dadaab, Kenya
- Jennifer Roberts, Senior Education Officer (Emergencies) at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
- Marwan Tarazi, Director of the Center for Continuing Education at Birzeit University
- Evelyn Jepkemei, Regional Education Advisor, World University Service of Canada (WUSC) based in Nairobi, Kenya
- Elaine Chase, Associate Professor in Education, Health Promotion and International Development at UCL Institute of Education
- Mai Abu Moghli, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Lebanese Studies and a Research Associate at RELIEF Centre-University College London
This is the second in a series of webinars co-hosted by LERRN and IDRC. These monthly seminars will address several dimensions of forced displacement, with an emphasis on the perspectives of actors who are closest to the issues being discussed. You can watch the first one HERE.
LERRN is a team of researchers and practitioners committed to promoting protection and solutions with and for refugees. The goal is to ensure that refugee research, policy and practice are shaped by a more inclusive, equitable and informed collective engagement of civil society.
Part of Canada’s foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve the lives of people in the developing world. Bringing together the right partners around opportunities for impact, IDRC builds leaders for today and tomorrow and helps drive change for those who need it most.