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The Under-Examined Role of Refugee-Led Organisations in Assisting Refugee Children
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The Under-Examined Role of Refugee-Led Organisations in Assisting Refugee Children

By Dr. Evan Easton-Calabria (UNICEF Innocenti) The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of local communities as both providers of assistance and partners of established aid actors, building on existing localisation efforts in the humanitarian sector. This is particularly true of organisations and initiatives started and led by refugees themselves, known as refugee-led organisations (RLOs). Notably, many RLOs provide crucial services to refugee children, ranging from education to child protection. Others are youth-led, as discussed in a companion blog article, illustrating child participation in action and one of many ways young people take ownership over finding their own solutions. At the onset of the pandemic, as many established aid actors withdrew from local service provision, RLOs around the world stepped in as first responders, providing emergency food rations to fellow refugees during lockdowns, sewing masks, raising awareness about COVID-19 hygiene and sanitation protocols, and more. In part due to their prominence in delivering support when many other organisations were limited in their ability to do so in person, refugee-led organisations have become an increasingly widespread topic of discussion within the humanitarian sector. This is also reflected in funding flows, with new financing mechanisms for refugee-led organisations now worth over 50 million USD - illustrating a clear increase since the onset of COVID-19 in the visibility of and investment in refugee-led organisations. The importance of informal support to refugee children and youth Despite growing recognition of the many ways in which refugee-led organisations offer support to their communities, there is a significant lack of recognition of their critical role in both discourse and evidence, which can be attributed to their under-utilization in programming and their still limited visibility in policy. In particular, there is a clear need for more rigorous empirical research into RLOs to provide evidence and insights to support more impactful programming. This gap is particularly significant in policy and practitioner discussions on RLOs’ roles in supporting child protection and wellbeing – a critical aspect given research findings on the importance of informal support provision to migrant and displaced children. For example, as the UNICEF report ‘Reimagining Migration Responses found: ‘Scarcely any children or young people who said they felt scared said they would turn for help to the police or other authorities; they were more likely to turn to religious leaders, international charities [including community-based organisations] and teachers.’ Almost half of respondents stated that they thought a community leader would help them if they were in need compared to approximately 40% saying they believed a government official or police would help them. These findings on the importance of community assistance, whether it be members of the community, grassroot organisations, or faith-based leaders, underscore the relevance of refugee-led grassroots efforts to provide safety and assistance for refugee children and youth.  Countless examples of RLOs assisting children and families Through my work and research with RLOs in Eastern and the Horn of Africa over the last ten years, I have seen first-hand the significant assistance that RLOs provide to refugee children and their families. In a refugee settlement in Uganda, refugee leaders explained how their organisation acts as a first responder in child protection cases, helping children directly when they can and referring them onwards to services or the authorities when they cannot. In Nairobi, an organisation started by a Somali refugee offers English and computer classes to children (many of whom are not in formal schooling) as well as a safe space to convene. In Berlin, refugees have created their own library, including for children, and others have developed programming for at-risk refugee youth. Multiple RLOs offer emergency shelter for unaccompanied children or mothers and children and also organise children and youth activities such as football. Several RLOs even run their own Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes. One RLO director started his own ECD and primary school class for children in a Ugandan refugee settlement during lockdown, working with children as young as two years old, in an effort to create a space for learning and to protect children dealing with domestic abuse. In Kampala, the RLO Bondeko Refugee Livelihoods Centre leads an education project with ECD components for children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Importantly, refugee-led initiatives for children often arise out of a gap in existing humanitarian and development programming. Of the ECD programme, for example, Bondeko’s director stated:We noticed that at that age there is no support at all from UNHCR or other stakeholders in the field of education – they prefer to give support to children in primary school. But the fact is that children refugees are reaching primary school and they are not competitive with nationals who went through kindergarten or nursery…our program aims to help refugee children to be competitive.  Advancing evidence and learning on refugee-led child programming These and countless other examples illustrate how refugee-led organisations are places where significant innovative good practice in child and youth programming occurs. These organisations offer real opportunities for agencies like UNICEF to help scale up important and currently under-utilised practices. Doing so also provides important pathways to widen humanitarian localisation by focusing on those needs that refugees themselves have identified through supporting solutions that they have developed. As one leader of a refugee youth-led organisation explained, ‘When big agencies come they don’t see what’s on the ground and they don’t see what’s missing because they have their own projects. This doesn’t work. But we give opportunities for refugees to come up with their own project, to design it with them, and to help with implementation.’ Presented below are some recommendations for policy, practice and research to further advance refugee-led child programming.  Recommendations for Policy & Practice  Improve meaningful representation and inclusion of RLOs in local/regional consortia or clusters on different areas of child wellbeing. RLOs have a deep understanding of the main challenges faced by refugee children and families; including RLO leaders and staff in relevant stakeholder meetings can increase learning and the potential for partnerships. Formalise channels between RLOs and local authorities, NGOs, and INGOs for referring child protection cases and other referral needs. This could occur through facilitating introductions, partnerships, and MoUs between relevant stakeholders in particular neighbourhoods or regions. Increase funding to RLOs for child and youth programming. RLOs need stable financial support to run operations (most employees are in fact volunteers); this includes funding to pay for rent and to pay employees in addition to resources for child programming.  Next steps in research  The following types of research could increase the evidence base on RLOs and child programming as well as improve knowledge for policy and practice: In-depth case studies of the work of RLOs in child protection and wellbeing to address the current lack of qualitative data on this topic.Surveys of RLOs to better understand the prevalence of child- and youth-focused programming, including the types of support offered and RLOs’ needs and challenges in providing it. Qualitative research with refugee-serving NGOs, IOs, and INGOS to understand their level of engagement with RLOs and to better understand how RLOs could contribute to their work and vice-versa (e.g. opportunities, barriers, needs).   
Four women stand in a field of flowers and are throwing scarves into the air.
Article

Designing a Youth-Centred Journey to the Future

Written for foresight practitioners and youth-focused and youth-led organizations, as well as think tanks and other UN agencies, Designing a Youth-centred Journey to the Future is hands-on toolkit developed to help make foresight more accessible to young people, and to transfer power to them through meaningful youth engagement principles.
A teacher leans over a desk and is re-arranging cones with letters on them. Children sit at a desk.
Blog

What is Effective Teaching?

The expansion of education in Zambia has offered an opportunity to consider what effective teaching looks like. In 2017, only 2 per cent and 5 per cent of 15-year-olds in Zambia reached proficiency levels in mathematics and reading respectively.1 Furthermore, primary school enrollment rates had stagnated since 2014, and not kept pace with Zambia’s population growth.2 To address these challenges, the Zambian government launched their Free Education Policy in January 2022, which eliminated tuition fees from early childhood education through secondary school. Since the introduction of this policy, enrollment has risen from 3.2 million to 4.3 million at the primary level and from 859,000 to 1.5 million at the secondary level.3
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Experts

Q+A with UNICEF’s Youth Foresight Fellows

UN Global Pulse provided financial and technical expertise to support the first cohort of UNICEF Youth Foresight Fellows in 2022–2023. Those Fellows designed the youth foresight process for Prospects for Children in the Polycrisis: A Global Outlook for Children in 2023 and Our Future Pledge toolkit for a global foresight youth campaign. We recently brought together two of these Fellows — Fisayo Oyewale, 26, from Nigeria, and Joshua Steib, 20, from Germany — to talk about foresight and intergenerational equity.
A woman is looking through binoculars towards the sky
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The UNICEF Youth Foresight Fellowship

UNICEF holds a firm belief in the power and potential of young people. UYFF embodies this conviction, enabling young people to contribute to the anticipation of and response to future challenges. Meaningfully engaging youth in foresight research can help UNICEF access fresh perspectives and insights, becoming more responsive and adaptive to changes in the external environment that could greatly impact present and future generations, and making significant strides towards enhancing anticipatory governance, as well as achieving a more equitable future for children and youth worldwide.
9 faces of the 2022 Youth Foresight Fellows
Experts

2022 Youth Foresight Fellows

Over the course of 12 months, fellows will hone their foresight skills and have the opportunity to contribute to pioneering research and advocacy projects. The Fellowship program provides the necessary resources, training and support for these young individuals to make a significant impact on UNICEF’s work. UYFF embraces a meaningful youth engagement approach, meeting young people where they are and giving youth both the support and the space to steer the programme. This is a chance for young people to collaborate with UNICEF, as well as global peers and stakeholders, advocating for issues that are close to their hearts while enhancing their anticipatory capacity, leadership and communication capabilities within a diverse and dynamic network.
The 2023 Youth Foresight Fellows
Experts

2023 Youth Foresight Fellows

UNICEF has recruited a group of young futurists/foresight practitioners from around the world to become its latest cohort of Youth Foresight Fellows. Fellows will work with UNICEF to design and facilitate a comprehensive foresight research process to inform UNICEF’s Global Outlook, which provides an annual in-depth analysis of trends and events impacting the rights and wellbeing of children across the globe. Fellows will also design a foresight tool to make futures thinking more accessible to young people.
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Blog

Scaling impact through meaningful youth engagement in research, foresight and convening

With the clock ticking towards 2030 – amidst a backdrop of increased political polarization, the climate crisis, the rise of populist movements, ever-increasing distrust towards institutions, and the aftermath of a global pandemic that disproportionately impacted children and young people and exacerbated intergenerational unfairness – it is more important than ever to find ways to support and elevate young people’s access to spaces of influence so they can each contribute to their community, their society, their country and their future.
A man is sitting on a chair
Blog

Beyond Activism: A glimpse into the future with the UNICEF Youth Foresight Fellowship

“Remember, you are more than just a climate activist now – you are a climate futurist,” said one of my mentors. “Demonstrate it.” It was with those words that I was sent to speak at a high-level panel alongside UN chiefs and leaders at the UNICEF Global Leadership Meeting – a meeting that comes around once a decade.
Teachers are sitting at round tables and are listening to a presentation on the Akeius digital learning app.
Article

Mastering Digital Learning

How can education systems best prepare and support teachers to effectively leverage technology in the classroom? Evidence from implementation of the Akelius digital learning application (Akelius app) in Bosnia and Herzegovina suggests that practical teacher training programmes -- which connect theory with practice through hands-on learning -- hold promise to support the scale-up of digital learning programmes in the region and beyond.
From a Care Economy to a Care Society
Article

From a Care Economy to a Care Society

On the occasion of the first International Day of Care and Support observed on October 29 this year, it is critical to reflect and build on the experiences of some of the UN agencies that have been engaged with bringing the spotlight onto care work well before the pandemic – UN Women, the ILO, and UNICEF among them. Nurses putting their lives at risk to care for COVID patients without proper protection; domestic workers separated from their families to stay in a “bubble” with their employer; mothers struggling to cope with the impact of closed child-care centers and schools during the global pandemic. These and countless similar stories threw into stark relief our dependence on care work for optimal human development, and in particular, the vulnerabilities faced by those carrying out the vast majority of that work - women and children.
A group of children sit at a table that has different pictures and art materials on it.
Article

Through the Eyes of Children

As part of UNICEF’s research on the Akelius language learning platform across primary schools in Italy, our researchers conducted visual storytelling workshops that captured children's stories through collage making. To understand students’ perspectives on childhood, school, and learning, we held workshops with children enrolled in Italian classes across 2 different schools. The participating students were between the ages of 7-10, and included migrants, refugees, and Italian-born children with disabilities.