The COVID pandemic has highlighted the critical role that refugee participation can and should play in improving humanitarian responses.
Our work on refugee participation highlights that for refugee participation to be meaningful it must be substantive, sustained and substantial. For participation to be substantive, it must mean that input from refugees must have the potential to make a measurable difference in the outcomes of a process. For participation to be sustained, it must include refugee participation in the design, implementation and evaluation of policies and programs. And for participation to be substantial, it must ensure that refugees are able to participate in sufficient numbers to bring diverse and representative views while also equipping and empowering refugees to participate with the skills and background information that places them on par with counterparts around the table.
Advancing refugee participation also means addressing the barriers that have typically constrained the role that refugees could play in shaping policy and practice.
