An Overview: UNHCR Global Trends 2011

Today is World Refugee Day 2012 and it is also Refugee Week (18-24 June) in the UK. In light of this, and to continue to raise awareness of the importance of quality education in refugee situations, below are some key points from UNHCR's recently released Global Trends Report 2011. 

• In 2011, 700, 000 more people than in 2010 were receiving assistance from UNHCR (either as refugees or Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)). 
• The total of those forcibly displaced worldwide was 42.5 million.  
• 7.1 million people were in protracted refugee situations (defined as 'one in which 25,000 or more refugees of the same nationality have been in exile for five years or longer in any given asylum country') by the end of 2011. This amounted to three quarters of the refugee population under UNHCR's protection (yet in some cases, education - particularly above primary level - is considered incompatible with refugee situations).
• Pakistan was host to the largest number of refugees worldwide (1.7 million) at the end of 2011.
• A concerning fact is that four-fifths of the world's refugees were hosted by developing countries - countries that often cannot achieve their own educational goals, therefore putting into perspective the educational struggles in refugee situations. However, it is perhaps important to note that in some cases refugees can be better off than the host community due to 'hand-outs' they get. 
• Importantly in terms of education, 46% of the world's refugees were under 18 at the end of 2011.
• The top five major source countries of refugees were Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, and DRC.
• Voluntary repatriation remains the durable solution which has benefited the most refugees. The question needs to be asked if all of these repatriations have truly been voluntary however, or whether these refugees have had little choice e.g. because of camp closures. Also, in terms of education, the focus on repatriation can result in the reproduction of poor educational practice due to the focus upon using the home country curriculum.
  
  

Unless I've missed it, I couldn't see much mention of education in the report. To read the report in full, you can get it here.

P.S. If you're on Twitter, you can follow the blog @GEDBlog

Review of UNHCR's Education Strategy 2012-2016

UNHCR recently released its Education Strategy for 2012-2016 and promises a greater focus upon education in its areas of work. Below are the main points of the strategy, along with discussion of the positives and drawbacks of its approach.

Key points

Action 1: More children will learn better in primary school - linked to objective 1: Improve learning achievement for refugee children in primary school

Action 2: Schools will protect children and young people - to achieve objective 2: Ensure that schools are safe learning environments for refugee children and youth

Action 3: More young people will go to secondary school - to achieve objective 3: Improve access to formal secondary opportunities for refugee youth

Action 4: More youth will follow HE courses - linked to objective 4: Improve access to HE opportunities for refugee youth

Action 5: Education will be available at every age - to achieve objective 5: Ensure opportunities for education are lifelong and available to all according to need

Action 6: Education will be part of all emergency responses - linked to objective 6: Provide education as early as possible during an emergency

Priority countries from 2012-2013: Bangladesh, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Yemen

Positives and negatives

+ Focus upon post-primary education including HE

+ Recognising the importance of education in all emergency responses

+ Proposed capacity development of UNHCR staff to manage education programmes (UNHCR staff at present are not trained in this area)

- Objective 6 reproduces the discourse of implementing education programmes according to their current state as opposed to improving/adapting them

- All of the actions are dependent upon receiving adequate funding

- Rationale for priority countries is not publicly available (apart from the brief description in the strategy itself, which is not context-specific)

- The use of partnerships for implementing the proposed actions is not something new (at present, UNHCR rely upon education development organisations to implement education programmes)

- Although promising, none of the proposed measures are new - they have all been heard before with seemingly little impact

The development of this strategy is undoubtedly welcome. In fact some might argue it's long overdue. It seems time will tell if it is mere rhetoric or is likely to bring about significant positive impact upon the quality of education received by refugees in different contexts. I for one am going to be keeping a close eye on the outcomes - I'll do my best to keep you all posted. 

Read the complete Education Strategy 2012-2016.

Would be great to hear your initial reactions/comments/thoughts on the strategy - you can post your comments in the box below.