6. Reimagining refugee futures: cities, not camps?

Make Change Happen

Of the approximately 71 million people displaced by conflict and violence worldwide, nearly 26 million are considered refugees. But are more secure futures hindered by a collective failure to see refugees as diverse people, with skills to offer, and preferences about where they call home? For World Refugee Day, we discuss new IIED research comparing refugees’ experiences of life in urban areas to that in camps, examining Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Jordan and Kenya. And we hear about an energy access project that captures some of the complexity of working with displaced people. Hosted by Liz Carlile, IIED’s director of communications, the discussion features Lucy Earle, principal researcher, and Deena Dajani, researcher, both working in IIED’s Human Settlements research group; alongside Kevin Johnstone, researcher in IIED's Shaping Sustainable Markets research group. The episode also features contributions from two experts working in Kenya: Dr Michael Owiso, dean of the School of Development & Strategic Studies at Maseno University, and Dyfed Aubrey, inter-regional advisor at UN-Habitat. More information: https://www.iied.org/reimagining-refugee-futures-cities-not-camps-make-change-happen-podcast-episode-6 You can follow the organisations and panellists on Twitter: @lizcarlile and @lucyearleurban. Follow the podcast on @IIED_Voices for all the latest updates.