Who are the key actors in a local research ecosystem?

A local research ecosystem includes humanitarian and development organizations, local research organizations like Samuel Hall, local universities, community-based organizations, local municipalities, and migrant associations including refugees and refugee-led organizations, all working in partnership.

What are the core components of ethical research with refugees?

Ethical research with refugees involves three core components: building capacity within communities for research, ensuring responsibility to represent diverse voices and co-design priorities, and grounding research through methods like participatory action research while considering funding needs.

What challenges do refugee researchers face in their work?

Refugee researchers are often not fully trusted or engaged beyond data collection, are paid as incentives rather than based on qualifications, face funding access issues due to perceptions of impermanence, and their lived experiences are frequently undervalued by international institutions.

Why is advocacy important for refugee researchers?

Advocacy is crucial for refugee researchers because it provides access to platforms to share right information based on lived experience, ensures proper representation of the community, helps donors understand the extreme realities on the ground, and enhances inclusive decision-making.

How can research in refugee camps be made less 'extractive'?

To make research less extractive, it's essential to build trust and establish proactive relationships with local communities, involve community leaders in mobilization, respect participants' privacy and consent, protect vulnerable populations, and ensure financial engagement values their time and contribution fairly.

What challenges do refugee enumerators encounter in data collection?

Refugee enumerators face challenges such as participants viewing research as a business for monetary gain rather than for its impact, trust issues from community members, and significant language barriers in diverse refugee populations requiring trained translators.

What kind of resources are most needed by refugee-led organizations and researchers?

The most crucial resources needed are direct funding, robust networking opportunities among refugee researchers globally, and capacity strengthening in areas like grant writing and proposal development, rather than just basic capacity building.

How can research findings be effectively disseminated beyond traditional reports?

Dissemination should go beyond reports and journals by investing in research communications, fostering partnerships and outreach, utilizing storytelling, increasing presence on social media, organizing conversations and dialogues, and engaging varied audiences to humanize experiences and spread information.

How can art be used to voice refugee concerns effectively?

Art can play a key role by providing platforms and resources for refugee artists (musicians, designers, photographers, storytellers) to share their talents and experiences, educating the community and global audience, and allowing them to unleash their potential to convey nuanced stories of migration.

Key Moments

Localising research with refugees: An ethical way forward - Migration Summit 2023

MIT OpenCourseWare

Education3 min read98 min video

Apr 28, 2023|188 views|6

migration displacement livelihoods refugees education workforce development MIT ReACT storytelling migration summit ethics research panel

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Key Moments

TL;DR

Localizing research with refugees means equitable partnerships, researcher capacity building, and better data for impactful change.

Key Insights

Localization of research with refugees requires a shift from external actors to empowering local voices and systems.

Refugee researchers face challenges of trust, fair compensation, and full engagement beyond data collection.

Ethical research necessitates building trust, respecting privacy, community participation, and protecting vulnerable populations.

Strengthening the capacities of refugee-led organizations (RLOs) through direct funding and training is crucial.

Beyond reports, research dissemination needs diverse communication strategies to reach various audiences effectively.

Partnerships must move beyond transactional relationships to equitable collaborations, valuing lived experience.

DEFINING LOCALIZATION OF RESEARCH

The discussion highlights that localizing research involves more than just involving local individuals; it's about building capacity and empowering local actors. Localization means having the capacity to understand context, observe changes over time, validate data, co-design projects, and advocate for communities. It requires a commitment to long-term engagement and support, moving beyond superficial involvement to genuine partnership within a local research ecosystem.

THE ROLE AND CHALLENGES FOR REFUGEE RESEARCHERS

Refugee researchers often face significant barriers, including a lack of trust from international institutions, being relegated to data collection roles without full project involvement, and receiving inadequate compensation. Their lived experience and contextual understanding are frequently undervalued. Empowering refugee researchers requires their engagement from project design to dissemination, fair financial recognition, and opportunities for capacity building to enhance their skills.

BUILDING ETHICAL RESEARCH PRACTICES

Ethical research in refugee contexts demands a strong emphasis on respect for individuals, privacy, and dignity. This involves securing informed consent, protecting vulnerable populations, and ensuring community participation from the inception of research projects. It also means confronting trust issues by building relationships with local communities and leadership, and ensuring research aligns with the needs and realities of those being studied, rather than being purely extractive.

STRENGTHENING REFUGEE-LED ORGANIZATIONS (RLOS)

A key aspect of localization involves strengthening refugee-led organizations. This means providing direct funding, which dispels the narrative that refugees cannot manage resources effectively. Investing in capacity building, such as proposal writing and grant negotiation, empowers these organizations to become equal partners. Collaboration should move beyond seeing refugees as beneficiaries to recognizing them as capable partners in research and development initiatives.

DIVERSIFYING RESEARCH DISSEMINATION AND ADVOCACY

Effective research localization extends to how findings are shared. Moving beyond traditional reports and academic papers, there's a need for diverse communication strategies like storytelling, art, social media, and dialogues. This approach humanizes research, connects with broader audiences, and supports advocacy efforts. Art, in particular, can be a powerful tool for refugees to swiftly voice their concerns to a global audience by showcasing their talents and lived experiences.

FOSTERING GLOBAL NETWORKS AND COLLABORATION

To truly localize research, global networks of refugee researchers are essential for sharing experiences and best practices across different contexts. This requires international institutions to foster such connections, not just through social media, but by actively bringing researchers together. Partnerships should be built on trust and mutual respect, forming consortia where refugee researchers and international actors can collaboratively bid for funding and development projects, ensuring local voices are central.

Mentioned in This Episode

●Companies

●Organizations

●People Referenced

Common Questions

Localization of research refers to shifting decision-making power and resources from external to local actors to foster more sustainable and locally-led responses. It involves building local capacity to understand trends, validate data, co-design projects, and advocate for communities, rather than just using local individuals for data collection.

Topics

Capacity Building

Mentioned in this video

Organizations

Refugee-Led Research Hub

An organization Samuel Binja is involved with as a research assistant, highlighting collaborations in ethical refugee research.

Africa Refugee-Led Network

An organization for which Jean-Paul serves as Vice Chairperson, connecting refugee leaders across the African continent.

RLO Kenya

A country network of refugee-led organizations in Kenya that unites community leaders to advocate for refugees and promotes meaningful participation in decision-making.

Innovation Lab School

An entity in Kakuma refugee camp where Franco Oroisa works as an ICT consultant, integrating ICT into education.

People

Samuel Binja

A Congolese Refugee researcher, founder and director of the Kakuma Intergrated City for Better Life, advocating for improved education and empowering refugees in decision-making processes.

Franco Oriesa

An ICT consultant at Innovation Hub School in Kakuma refugee camp and a local researcher with passion for amplifying refugee voices through research.

Nassim Majidi

Co-founder and Executive Director of Research and Policy at Samuel Hall, known for her expertise on reintegration and displacement, advocating for ethical and collaborative research.

Legislation & Policy

UN Global Refugee Compact, Article 34

A global agreement emphasizing that humanitarian response is effective when persons of concern are fully engaged.

Locations

Dadaab Refugee Camp

A refugee camp from which Ahmad, a Somali researcher, was repatriated to Kismayo.