Refugees – C4D Network

Dignity and humanitarian action in displacement (ODI report, 2019)

April 3, 2019

This report draws on the findings of a two-year HPG research project on ‘Dignity in displacement: from rhetoric to reality’. The goal of the project was not to define dignity, but to understand what it meant to affected people in different places, with different cultures and at different times. It explores how refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and returnees in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Lebanon, the Philippines and South Sudan understand dignity, and whether (and how) they feel that their dignity has been upheld in displacement.

It then compares their understanding with that of humanitarian workers in these responses, analysing what this means for humanitarian policy, programme design and implementation more broadly, and the localisation agenda more specifically.

It suggests six recommendations for incorporating dignity into a humanitarian response including:

Invest time and resources in listening to the affected population from the start of the response, and use this information to inform project design and implementation.
Use more face-to-face communication, especially in the assessment phase of the humanitarian response, and pay attention to what means of communication are appropriate at each stage.
To better understand the local culture and language, include anthropologists, sociologists, translators and others in the response, who can help in understanding the affected population and the dynamics of their situation.
Invest in programmes that promote self-reliance, where possible, and encourage more participation by affected communities in project design and implementation.

Click here for full report.

Humanitarian Journalism Today (15 October, London, UK) – film screening and report launch

September 29, 2018

This event is about the journalists who report on humanitarian crises today. It launches a major new report from Martin Scott, Kate Wright and Mel Bunce, The State of Humanitarian Journalism, based on four years of research. This report shows which news outlets report on humanitarian issues, how they frame their stories, and what audiences think about this news.

A panel of leading journalists and media commentators will discuss the findings and their own experiences reporting on humanitarian crises, including:

Josephine Schmidt, Executive Editor at IRIN, the world’s oldest humanitarian newswire
James Copnall, Newsday presenter, BBC World Service
Tom Law, Director of Campaigns and Communications, The Ethical Journalism Network
Stefanie Glinski, Freelance journalist and photographer, currently based in Afghanistan.

This is followed by a screening of the celebrated documentary, ‘Another News Story’ about the journalists who reported on the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’ in Europe.

What role can drama play in conflict? A radio drama for Syria, qualitative research findings (BBC Media Action Brief, 2018)

June 25, 2018

Since 2011, Syrians have been living through a war and the challenges that prolonged conflict entails. Those who have fled overseas – often as refugees – and those who have remained in the country have lost family members and their homes, lack access to education and health facilities, and are living with the daily threat of violence. In such a context, ethnic and religious divides have intensified and armed groups have been increasingly recruiting young people in Syria and neighbouring countries.

Against this backdrop, between 2015 and 2017, BBC Media Action produced and broadcast 150 episodes of the thrice-weekly radio drama Hay el Matar (Airport District ). Funded by the European Commission as part of a broader project aiming to help build an open and inclusive society in conflict-ridden Syria, the classic soap opera aired on BBC Arabic radio and online and was accompanied by a weekly discussion programme. Set in a fictional Damascus suburb, Hay el Matar followed the daily lives of residents and featured love affairs, family feuds and tragedies. Each episode was scripted by a team of Syrian writers and touched on a different issue relevant to life in Syria (e.g. the ongoing civil war, migration, violence and radicalisation, economic insecurity and child or forced marriage).

Click here for full brief.

Children’s Screen Content in an Era of Forced Migration: Facilitating Arab-European Dialogue – Documentaries, Distribution, Ethics (Workshop Briefing, 2018)

June 18, 2018

This workshop briefing, the second in a series of three, is part of a project focused on the representation of refugee and migrant children in European screen content for children. Hosted by the Danish Film Institute (DFI) on 19 and 20 March 2018 as part of the annual Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, CPH:DOX, two half-day workshops offered an opportunity to explore how the topic is handled in children’s content made in Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany.

In all these countries, screen content that focuses on children newly arrived in Europe is rare. The few examples to touch upon these issues are commissioned and broadcast predominantly by public service broadcasters (PSBs), including Danmarks Radio (DR, Denmark), Nederlands Publieke Omroep (NPO, Netherlands), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC, UK) and Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF, Germany).

The Copenhagen workshops discussed formats that inform children through factual representations rather than fiction.

Click here for full briefing.

TEDxKakumaCamp – livestream from Kakuma Camp, Kenya

June 9, 2018

TEDxKakumaCamp will be the first TEDx event hosted in a refugee camp, with refugees, and also for refugees. It is curated by Melissa Fleming and Dana Hughes with support from UNHCR and volunteer teams.

TEDxKakumaCamp offers a different lens into the reality of life as a refugee, away from the images of devastation and suffering, and towards stories of resilience, of contribution, of creativity. Speakers will include current and former Kakuma Camp refugees as well as international experts and artists who wish to make the world a better place for people forced to flee their homes.