Congratulations to MDS graduate Goundo Diarra on her collaborative research on refugee education in Kenya!
Goundo has been an active contributor to LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, a partnership between academics and civil society partners, primarily in Canada, Kenya, Lebanon and Tanzania. A focus of LERRN since 2018 has been partnered research with those most affected by displacement. With the support of LERRN, Goundo has been working with the Dadaab Response Association (DRA), a refugee-led community research organization in Kenya, to co-design and undertake research on refugee education.
In 2024, Goundo worked through virtual platforms with DRA partners in Northeastern Kenya to co-design research to examine if and how global commitments on refugee education were implemented in the context of the Dadaab camps. The research involved focus group discussions and key informant interviews with teachers, students, and school administration across four different secondary schools undertaken by members of the DRA. Goundo then collaborated with the DRA to conduct a thematic analysis to identify key themes, patterns, and insights. Narrative analysis was used to interpret the stories and experiences shared by participants.
The results of this research was published by LERRN as a Research Summary in March 2025. Goundo then travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in April 2025 to present the findings along with members of the DRA at a regional conference organized by the Ethiopian IDRC Research Chair on Forced Displacement.