Written by Elizabeth Cafferty, Senior Advocacy Officer posted: May 9, 2012
Jennifer Schulte, Program Officer, Youth and Livelihoods, and Elizabeth Cafferty, Senior Advocacy Officer, recently visited the Sheder and Aw Barre refugee camps in the Somali area of Ethiopia to learn more about the adolescent girls living there. This is the first in a series of blogs exploring the status of displaced adolescent girls--an extremely vulnerable population.
This discussion paper examines the links between cash transfers and the positive and negative outcomes for children, in particular the role cash transfers have played in protecting children from harm, exploitation, abuse and violence. The objective of this paper is to identify ways in which cash transfer activities could support the protection of children affected by emergencies.
It is important to recognise that Cash Transfers present increased and specific risks for beneficiaries versus other forms of emergency assistance. Given children’s greater vulnerability, the impact of CTP on their wellbeing must be considered at all stages of the project cycle.
Next week, delegates from around the world will gather in New York City for the 56th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Every year, leaders meet to assess where the world stands on gender equality, and how far we have come -- and need to go -- in advancing women's rights.
We are pleased to share with you a new report Tapping the Potential of Displaced Youth: Guidance for Nonformal Education and Livelihoods Development Policy and Practice. Displaced youth have historically fallen through the cracks of humanitarian services and programming. This report synthesizes findings and recommendations from the multiyear (2008–2011), multicountry Displaced Youth Initiative, offering guidance on how to enhance nonformal education and livelihoods development opportunities for displaced youth.
Conflict and displacement destroy livelihoods and force people to adopt new strategies to support themselves. New livelihood strategies can increase the risk of gender-based violence (GBV). Women often have no safety net; they usually flee with few resources and little preparation and may become separated from or lose family members. A lack of access to economic opportunities while displaced often forces women and girls to resort to harmful measures to survive.
Results of a Community-based Pilot Project by BMA, KDHW,
GHAP and the Women’s Refugee Commission
July --- October 2011
REPORT FOR HEALTH WORKERS
WHO ARE WE?
The Women’s Refugee Commission is an advocacy organization based in New York, United States (U.S.). It advocates for changes in laws, policies and programs to improve the lives and protect the rights of refugee and internally displaced women, children and young people around the world.
More than 50 percent of refugees live in urban areas. Eighty percent are hosted by developing nations, in cities ill-equipped to guarantee their protection. The majority are marginalized due to their legal, economic and social status. They frequently lack sufficient legal and social support—education, health care, market access and community networks—to obtain gainful employment or run businesses.
Written by Sarah Costa, Executive Director, Women's Refugee Commission posted:
Like women’s rights and peace activists around the world, I was thrilled earlier this month when I heard that the Nobel Committee had chosen to honor President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, peace activist Leymah Gbowee, also of Liberia, and pro-democracy campaigner Tawakul Karman of Yemen with the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.
Today the Women’s Refugee Commission joins other organizations in marking Disaster Risk Reduction Day, and the critical role that this work plays in reducing the health and protection risks of women and girls in crises. Natural disasters now account for 42.3 million of the world’s displaced people. The impact of such disasters has expanded over the past two decades, and they are now responsible for half of the globally displaced.
The Women’s Refugee Commission is pleased to announce the 2011 revised Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Reproductive Health in Crisis Situations: A Distance Learning Module (MISP Module).
Today there are more adolescents and young adults than at any time in history, and the total global population of girls ages 10 to 16—the larg-est ever—is expected to peak in the next decade. Hundreds of millions of these girls are living in crisis-affected contexts. Yet, adolescent girls have been largely absent from international humanitarian agendas. They are often mistakenly classified with young children or adults, even though their needs are very different.
An estimated 58 percent of all refugees now live in cities.
The urban refugee population is increasing rapidly, but models for service delivery and protection have not kept pace. Applying camp-based approaches is both prohibitively expensive and inappropriate. The international and local community must identify strategies and models for assisting urban refugees that promote self-help, self-reliance and access to and support for existing host government services, as well as refugees’ integration into existing development and poverty alleviation programs.
