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Supporting meaningful refugee participation at all levels

Christina Thompson

The global refugee crisis has become one of the most pressing humanitarian challenges of our time. In 2023, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has estimated that there will be 117.2 million displaced or stateless people worldwide. The demand for urgent needs, assistance and protection is unprecedented. Crises the world over keep this number growing every day in Sudan, Syria and Ukraine, amongst others, and yet the traditional approach to providing aid to refugees has remained largely the same: often top-down, with little or no meaningful participation of refugees in the decision-making process that affects their futures. This approach has limited the effectiveness of aid and support for refugees, leading to a call for more meaningful participation of refugees in the humanitarian sector. It also dangerously serves to perpetuate colonial power dynamics and sustain cycles of dependency.

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