Refugee Education Initiative

Welcome to the Refugee Education Initiative (REI), an online forum linking like-minded people from around the world to discuss issues of forced migration, displacement, education and conflict.

We have a specific focus to improve access to education for refugees and displaced persons, although we welcome discussions on issues related to international development, immigration/migration and policy development.

We hope you will use the Refugee Education Initiative to learn and discuss:

• Current International Issues
• Academic Programs & Scholarships
• Jobs and Work Opportunities
• Academic Work by Students and Researchers
• Other Great Resources, Websites and Blogs

Or, get involved by publishing your work on our site or blogging about an international issue or experience you’ve had. Send us pictures, tell us your stories; we aim to promote as many as possible!

We have a passion for refugee issues and believe that information sharing is one of the best ways to assist with such a complex and international issue. Through the REI, we hope that you will contribute, learn and become involved within your own community; with an estimated 15.2 million refugees and 26 million internally displaced people (IDPs) worldwide, we can’t afford not to.

Why Refugee Education Initiative?

The Refugee Education Initiative began with an initial project in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps (Kenya) in 2009. Since then, the REI has grown into an online blog and forum engaging youth, undergraduate and graduate students and new professionals in refugee and asylum issues. We wish to inspire and engage individuals to improve their communities, whether at home or abroad.

The Refugee Education Initiative has the following Guiding Principles:

#1. Reciprocity in Learning
It is our firm belief that everyone is a teacher and everyone a learner. By engaging in a process of reciprocal learning we hope to gain insight into the realities of protracted situations and asylum processes.

#2. Self-Reflexivity
Although we have been engaged with refugee settlement for the past five years, we recognize that as  Canadians, our understanding of refugee issues is always limited by our own positionality. In order to counter our biases, we have sought to reach out to individuals, community groups, NGOs, professionals and academics around the globe to engage in discussion, deliberation and evaluation.

#3. Agency
Our initiative seeks to highlight the agency exhibited by refugee youth around the globe; we believe that refugee youth are capable actors who have much to teach us about civic and community responsibility and participation.

#4. Collaboration
By actively including others in our learning process we hope to gain new skills and recognize shared possibilities. We feel that with these guiding principles we will be able to listen actively, think critically, and hopefully assist young people to achieve the goals they have set for themselves.

We welcome your insights, critiques, comments and reflections throughout this website, and we look forward to connecting with you. Please explore and enjoy our site!