Refugee Leadership During COVID-19 and Beyond
The Global Refugee-Led Network, in a call with more than 100 refugee leaders around the world, discovered that refugees have been excluded from health responses in pandemic-affected areas, previously self-reliant refugees have been forced into destitution and others remain highly vulnerable to exposure in crowded camps. Refugees also remain highly anxious due to a lack of information and capacity to respond. In this context, refugees have mobilized to step up and fill voids, providing information and training, food distribution, legal support, mental health and other critical gaps all over the world in East Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and beyond. As UN agencies and NGOs continue to be constrained by restrictions, it is refugees who are serving as the first responders to their own communities. Experts are calling for donor regulations and multilateral agencies to pursue refugee-led responses during this pandemic and beyond. (UNSW)