Amjad, a Syrian refugee living in Domiz, northern Iraq, shares how the Peace Leader and Interreligious Cooperation for Peace programmes took him on a transformative journey of self-discovery and inner peace.

Global English Language Unlock 3 students in Dzaleka Refugee Camp decided to flex their creative writing skills and wrote poems which they were keen to share with our community!

“One of the most pressing educational challenges we face is the lack of access to quality education due to inadequate access to the necessary resources that are needed by the refugees to have the same kind of quality education as children or youth from the cities or other towns,” said Isaac, a refugee youth advocate at the 2024 UNESCO Digital Learning Week.

Prince believes digital skills support youth in finding their way. Through his Creative Writing & Design experience, he’s gained confidence,  a sense of direction, is making a living and supporting others in the community with his skills.

"Education at JWL has given me a sense of security, making me have hope for myself and my family," says Nyan-nyuei. This World Refugee Day, she and fellow students in Kakuma Refugee Camp share how education and the community they find through JWL gives them a sense of hope, safety, and home - a space where they can learn and thrive.

Our joint innovative educational initiatives have been honoured with the prestigious KU Prize for Knowledge Transfer. This accolade recognises outstanding contributions by KU academics who go beyond the academic environment to engage with broader societal challenges and to shape a future worth living.

How can teachers at the margins benefit from integrating AI in their teaching practice?

Join us on 16 May for an INEE Topical Meet-Up which invites participants to reflect about good practices and the role of AI for teachers in marginalised and emergency contexts, sharing our experience with the Learning Facilitator programme as a starting point.

New podcast alert! Higher Ed Voices at the Margins dives deep into the inspirational stories of JWL students, graduates, teachers, and other changemakers breaking barriers to higher education for underserved communities.

This week, over 170 young women in Kakuma graduated from the Global English Language programme! This cohort is part of JWL’s high school outreach efforts to encourage and support female refugee enrolment in higher education.

In an essay content launched by the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Learning Facilitator students were invited to submit essays exploring the role of AI in education. In the process, it became clear that AI writing tools fall short of reflecting learners’ authentic voices and lived experiences, lacking the necessary depth and insight.

Wedad, an educator and graduate of the Learning Facilitator programme in Erbil, believes that education is the foundation for women’s empowerment and that investing in their education can lead to a more equitable and prosperous world.  

Marginalised youth’s demand for JWL’s programmes is unprecedently high and growing, with more than 10,000 learners enrolled across programmes in 2023. Despite growth, overall expenses have decreased, and academic quality has been maintained.

In a world in dire need of peace, education can provide hope. Graduates of the Peace Leader programme, like Bafreen, learn critical conflict-resolution skills, develop an intercultural and interreligious mindset, build their inner peace and adopt a servant leadership approach to foster peaceful communities.

On the occasion of the second Global Refugee Forum (13-15 December), JWL pledges to provide refugees with scholarships to strengthen their self-reliance, enabling them as well host communities, to thrive.

Over 8,000 learners have enrolled in 2023, most of them in crisis contexts. Many more, especially women, are demanding access to our transformative higher education programmes. We won't turn them away but we urgently need your support.

The Tumaini Festival, held annually in Malawi’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp, is a unique cultural event which brings together members of the refugee and host community, and beyond. This year, students and graduates of the Ecotourism programme led guided tours to reveal Dzaleka’s untold stories and promote intercultural harmony.

Learning Facilitator programme graduates become empowered teachers who apply student-centred and inclusive approaches in their classroom. Our latest report reveals the transformative impact of this six-month programme on graduates and their communities. 

Join us on 12 December (REGISTRATION REQUIRED) for an interactive session sharing good practices, challenges and opportunities in facilitating female refugees' access to higher education.

The Youth Sports Facilitator programme results in self-confidence and initiatives promoting inclusive and cohesive communities. Through the analysis of graduates’ voices, the study shows the development of a social entrepreneurial mindset and the nurturing of two key existential competences.

What challenges of our time does JWL face and address? Find out more in this interview with JWL Executive President, Fr Peter Balleis SJ.

Full interview (GER)

In 2022, JWL saw continued significant growth in the number of students, courses and community learning centres across 23 countries. Once again, our model has proven to be scalable, transferable and sustainable, reaching more marginalised learners while maintaining the quality of the learning experience.

Graduates of the Peace Leader programme find inner peace and develop a mindset which transforms them into servant leaders who take action to build peaceful communities.

JWL is thrilled to be partnering with Saint Louis University (USA) as we continue to diversify our stackable learning path and reach more marginalised learners.

According to Sr Patricia Lemus Alvizures, “investing in education is the best way to transform the world.”  It is “the greatest wealth that people can have because it means developing themselves, their potentialities, and talents,” and (in the long term) lift entire communities.

A humble, creative and committed business leader, Innocent inspires others (especially youth) to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. His soap business played a crucial role in supporting the community from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring access to affordable soap-based products. 

“School and English courses offered me an excellent opportunity to define a new horizon and overcome the barriers hindering my personal growth. I identified my strengths and learned to dream of a better future for myself and my family,” said Ms Ferishta Sardary in her opening video address during the Task Force on Migrants and Refugees’ presentation at August’s International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) 2022 Assembly in Boston (USA).

How do communities perceive graduates' impact? In the fourth of five case studies from Kakuma, we introduce Nura, who goes above and beyond to empower others through education.

The desire for peace, freedom, justice and the belief in a better future brought together our Peace Leader students, graduates and facilitators in Iraq. Last weekend, the group was hosted by Deir Maryam al-Adhra, our partner in Sulaymaniyah, to share experiences and engage in discussions.

How do communities perceive graduates' impact? In the third of five case studies from Kakuma, we introduce Lukambo, a visionary and role model for youth in the community.

This best practice unpacks how the Peace Leader course enables peace and reconciliation in fragile and complex contexts through its blended learning approach rooted in the Ignatian Pedagogy tradition.

Servant Leadership is an approach to leadership that puts serving others at the forefront. This article explores how youth at the margins who graduated from the Diploma in Liberal Studies use Servant Leadership to contribute to their communities and to nurture peaceful and just societies.

On 20 June, as we mark World Refugee Day, we are reminded of the plight of refugees, their resilience, and their rights. Refugee youth play an important role in efforts to broaden access to higher education.

What a privilege it was to meet these new JWL students who express themselves in English with great confidence.  I could sense the self-esteem in these young people which was not the case when they first came to CERCLE, after having failed the government junior high school or baccalaureate exams.

Many of our students have faced the realities of political strife over the past year but refused to give up on their education. With their courage, leadership and determination, along with JWL’s support, they were able to continue their studies despite the odds.

Hundreds of young people walk one hour or more along the snow-covered mountains of central Afghanistan to reach their learning centre.  They are determined to study, irrespective of the weather, the political uncertainties, or newly imposed restrictions.

Education empowers and transforms, and learning technologies extend its reach. Over the past 6 months, 100 teachers from 26 local schools in Kalobeyei and Kakuma Refugee Camp undertook the Learning Facilitator programme.

The report reveals how the Diploma became more than a higher education programme accessible to learners at the margins. It became the means by which graduates and their communities can choose their own definition of development and self-emancipation.

100 Teachers from 26 local schools in marginalised communities of the Kalobeyei settlement and Kakuma Refugee Camp in the Turkana region of Northern Kenya have been selected to join an internationally accredited and certified teacher training programme beginning this month.

Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) held its annual AJCU and IAJU Liaisons’ meeting on June 7, 2021.

Dr Isabella Rega and Dr Martha Habash participated in the 21st Commitment to Justice in Higher Education Conference organised by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) with a presentation titled ‘Promoting Justice Through Education for Those Living at the Margins: Jesuit Worldwide Learning’.

In 2020, the JWL community & model were put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic – and proved resilient. We also celebrated 10 years of the Diploma in Liberal Studies.

As we now look to the future through the lens of our 2021-2025 Strategic Framework, we are pleased to present our new Global Advisory Board.

Collaboration is crucial to the realiation of our common goals of providing underserved communities with transformational higher education and fostering a more peaceful and humane world.  on the IAJU website.

In case you missed it - or if you'd like to relive it - the recording of this first global, virtual graduation ceremony is now available!

As we prepared to celebrate ten years of higher education at the margins and established our strategic priorities for the next five years, we decided to present JWL like never before – in the form of a course!

As JWL celebrates a decade of online higher education at the margins, this report reviews and reflects upon this journey, unpacking trends and lessons learnt, in order to strengthen efforts for the next decade.

Celebrating 10 years of higher education at the margins - our inspiration and journey.

There is no going back to the world before COVID-19. This applies to many areas of society and it also applies to universities that had to switch to digital teaching and learning overnight. Digital learning opens up a huge opportunity for greater educational equality worldwide. Read Fr Peter Balleis SJ's latest article in German in the Forum Magazine for Sustainable Economics.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Fr Dr Stefan Hengst SJ as Executive Vice-President of Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL). Fr Hengst holds a Doctorate in Civil Engineering – on scholarship –  from  Ruhr Universität Bochum, Germany. He taught students in the Department of Mechanics during his Masters (also at Ruhr Universität Bochum) and supervised Masters theses during his doctoral studies. He brings with him a wealth of experience in academics and organisational management in the private and public sector, including within humanitarian contexts, across four continents.

Many people long for the ‘old normality’ after the several months of quarantine. This desire for order is probably a human need. But what exactly was that ‘normality’?

Are you based in Switzerland? Passionate about exlploring social impact of higher education on refugees and minority groups? JWL is looking for a Research Assistant (intern)!

JWL held it's annual meeting with AJCU and IAJU liaisons on 2 June. Vital to the cultivation and expansion of JWL’s university partnerships (and through this, the realisation of common goals) all AJCU and IAJU members are invited to designate a JWL liaison. Find out more about the meeting and how to get involved. 

Do you have good knowledge of finance and accounting? Interested pursuing a career in the humanitarian sector, international non-profit administration, general international accounting and finance?

JWL is looking for an Accounting and Administration intern!

In a matter of weeks, universities have been forced to move their teaching from campuses to computer screen. While many are still struggling with this quantum learp, some have performed wonder and a more permanent shift at least to blended learnign has been discussed. The question seems to be "not if but when" this will occur.

The latest issue of the Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal focuses on international education and features articles that explore Jesuit Worldwide Learning’s work and partnerships to empower refugees and other marginalised communities with transformative education. 

• Learning with Students at the Margins: Creighton University’s Pilot Program with Jesuit Worldwide Learning 2017-2018 (Dr Martha Habash)
• Translating Ignatian Principles into Artful Pedagogies of Hope (Dr Susan Mossman Riva)
• Five Things you Should Know about Jesuit Worldwide Learning: Higher Education at the Margins (Dr Martha Habash)

Vor über einem Monat startete der erste eEducation tools Kurs im blended Learning Model von JWL. Es läuft bereits die dritte Kursrunde und über 500 Lehrkräfte aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum haben sich angemeldet. Diese Woche berichtete der BR über das Gemeinschaftsprojekt mit Seitwerk und Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.

Check out this video to find out more about how Refugee-led organisations in Kakuma Refugee Camp (Kenya) are uniting to serve their communities during COVID-19.

Don't forget to test your knowledge and learn facts about COVID-19 through our crash-course! Find out more, sign up and share with those who might benefit or appreciate it!

Due to overwhelming interest and number of applications received, the special crash-course in eEducation Tools will be back for additional runs! 

Click here for Germany       Click here for Switzerland    Click here for Austria

JWL invites you to learn facts and test your knowledge about the ongoing pandemic through a fun, interactive crash course.

Find out more about how to get started!

Congratulations to our six Peace Leader graduates in Yangon, Myanmar!

Find out more in the very first issue of the Myanmar Leadership Institute's newsletter. 

Diese Fortbildung, die im Blended-Learning Format angeboten wird, an: Im Onlinekurs „eEducation-Tools–Digitale Lehr-Lernmethoden“ werden digitale Lern- und Lehrmethoden vorgestellt und können gleichzeitig direkt in der Praxis erprobt werden – der Fokus liegt also auf den didaktischen Möglichkeiten, die Tools und viele weitere Angebote bieten. So können Lehrkräfte, wo nötig, schnell und kostengünstig weiter auf die veränderte Unterrichtssituation reagieren. die Anmeldefrist am 08.04.2020 endet (start 14.04.2020).

Are you passionate about sports and its potential for social good?  We are looking for experienced online instructors to support the delivery of a blended learning course that trains refugees and other members of marginalised communities to create, manage and sustain youth sports programmes in their communities. 

If you are interested, please register online here or contact us at jwlinfo@jwl.org!

JWL makes top 10 in Jesuit decade in review!

A year after the Global Compact on Refugees was affirmed by member states at the UN General Assembly, the first Global Refugee Forum (GRF) will be taking place in Geneva this December. 

OEB 2019 - Leveraging technology to enable changemakers at the margins!  Just one of many topics in this last Newsletter in 2019.

At a summit organised by the Holy See in Geneva on the occasion of the 30-year anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ‘Education as a Driver to Integral Growth and Peace’ book was also launched.

The 2019 Yearbook of the Society of Jesus is out! It also features two articles about JWL. 

"Can a Jesuit University on one side of the world transform the lives of people halfway across the globe? German Jesuit Fr Peter Balleis believes so and his organisation has done it. Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) is bringing Jesuit education to rural communities, refugees and indigenous peoples in Africa, the Americas, Middle East and Asia through an innovative approach of mobile learning."

JWL evolves to meet need for greater quality, flexible professional courses.  Read all about the latest activities of our students and staff. 

During his visit to Switzerland, Father General Arturo Sosa SJ stopped by Geneva and joined us, along with the Jesuit Community and representatives of international organisations and friends of the Jesuits, for a special evening of reflection and discussion. 

Dezentralisierung: Mit digitalen Mitteln an die Ränder gehen!  Um genau die Menschen an den Rändern zu erreichen, haben die Jesuiten das Online-Lernprogramm Jesuit Worldwide Learning ins Leben gerufen.

Pascal Meyer SJ visit to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya is featured in the Swiss Province summer newsletter.

Read all about how our students celebrated International Day of Sports for Development and Peace!

"This program gave the chance to study again after ISIS came to my village," says Nagham Dawood, who fled the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq for Erbil, the region's capital, when the terrorists came. "It has built my self-confidence and other skills that I would now like to use to benefit other refugees."

A lot has been happening at JWL during the last few months of 2018.  The launch of JWL HeLP - Humanitarian e-Learning Platform at the OEB Conference in Berlin, our students in action across Africa and the Middle East as well as updates from our very own Pascal Meyer SJ on the move in Kakuma and Dzaleka.

Loyola Campus Graduation: A Reflection

Graduation season is ending, just as graduation is the closing of one chapter and the opening of a com­pletely new one. Graduations are special because they are much-needed reflections in the busy and hectic continuum of our lives at Loyola Campus/JWL's Community Learning Centers. Gradu­ations can be cliche and redundant, but they instruct you on the greatest lessons of life, which is to appre­ciate and cherish every moment of your life.

In July 2018, Father John Fitzgibbons, S.J. and Father Daniel Hendrickson, S.J., Presidents of Regis and Creighton Universities, respectively, hosted the Graduation Ceremonies at Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya and Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi. Fifty students received Diplomas in Liberal Studies during the ceremonies. This article includes a brief description of Jesuit Worldwide Learning precedes Father Fitzgibbons’ speech to the graduates.

Here is our Fall Newsletter.

This issue of the magazine is dedicated to the concerns of Ecology and Sustainability. Through critical analysis, reflection, writing and discussions Loyola Campus hopes to make the students more environmentally conscious.

JWL Diploma Graduation in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi.

Class valedictorian for the Kakuma 2018 graduating class of Jesuit Worldwide Learning Diploma Program featured in The Denver Post-YourHub edition.

Student Representative for the Dzaleka 2018 graduating class of Jesuit Worldwide Learning Diploma Programme

JWL Diploma Graduation in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya

First volume of “GEM in Action", the digest of the Global Education Movement at Southern New Hampshire University.

Article written by Fr Francis P. Xavier SJ published in Thanmaya, an e-magazine of the Jesuits of Kerala Province.

Interview of Fr. Peter Balleis in online German Catholic internet news portal - Weltkirche.katholisch.de

Congratulations Peter,Ngu, and Veronica! We are very proud to announce that our very first Myanmar Diploma programme students graduated in May this year. The ceremony, which took place at the St Aloysius Gonzaga Institute of Higher Studies in Taunggyi, was also attended and presided by Archbishop Basilio Athai, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Taunggyi.

JWL listed in FADICA's report - Catholic Social Innovation in Global Refugee Crisis

Check our new video featuring our Diploma students in Erbil - learning and working together to make the world a better place.

What you can do!

Studieren in Dörfern und Lagern
Online-Kurse: der erste Schritt aus der Misere

"Rund 180 Jesuiten-Hochschulen gibt es weltweit. Im kommenden Jahr wollen sie sich zusammenschließen. Um die Zusammenarbeit zu stärken, haben sie bereits einen wichtigen Hebel."

There are around 180 Jesuit colleges and universities worldwide.  To strengthen their collaboration, they will form a global alliance, which will contribute to supporting JWL's mission as highlighted in this article by the German Catholic online news organization.

JWL Diploma Alumni from Kakuma Camp (Kenya), Muzabel Welongo now a graduate student at Georgetown University in Global Human Development Program, plans to return to Africa upon graduation and work for an NGO supporting refugees.

JWL Alumni, Innocent shares his learning to create positive and lasting impact in Kakuma Refugee Camp.

Many exciting developments have been happening at Jesuit Worldwide Learning since we published our last newsletter. Read all about them in our new issue. 

Georgetown's Campus Ministry recounts the 2017 World Union of Jesuit Alumni Congress.

Jesuit Worldwide Learning and Loyola Campus, Sri Lanka expand and strengthen their partnership - openning new community learning centers in Sri Lanka and India.

Check out our mention in InsideHigherEd's article on "Reaching Refugees"

The Zurich Catholic Diocese interviews Fr.Peter about his new book. 

"Instead of having to leave the neighborhood, young people can find opportunities in the community." Learn more about the opportunities JWL and Re-Connect Cafe bring to the Bed-Stuy community in America Magazine's article.

At a side event of the 69th meeting of the UNHCR Standing Committee, Jesuit Worldwide Learning was represented by Ms. Grace Muvunyi, a student of JWL’s Diploma in Liberal Arts Program.

Jesuit Worldwide Learning: Education at the Margins offers a mixture of online and in-person educational opportunities in service of people who have been displaced because of political turmoil, violence and other crises throughout the world.

On #WorldRefugeeDay, we remember refugees are part of the global community. We need to work for their freedom, rights, and dignity. Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) offers online education to form them leaders with social responsibility.

Fr. Peter Balleis and JWL's Academic programs being offered at multiple refugee camps in northern Iraq has been highlighted in several German TV and Radio news programs. The German Bavarian State Parliament is now investing over €150,000 in student scholarships.

This spring semester with the help of a Creighton Global Initiative grant, Creighton students and faculty took participation with JWL — which provides access to higher education to refugees around the globe — to a new level as students both took online courses with the refugees in the program and served as teaching assistants in those courses.

JWL's Academic Programs in northern Iraq featured on German ARD news broadcast on May 31, 2017.   

JWL diploma students Alain and Toussaint founded the Salama Africa organization to empower the youth of Dzaleka Refugee Camp. Read more about their positive impact on their community. 

Alumni and friends of Jesuit institutions in the United States will have a historic opportunity this summer to connect and learn from fellow Jesuit alumni from across the globe. For the first time ever, the World Union of Jesuit Alumni (WUJA) Congress will take place in North America at John Carroll University in Cleveland from…

Peggy Lynn Macisaac's article features how JWL and other organizations are making headway in solving the crisis of disrupted education among displaced learners.

Roland Kalamo lives and studies at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. The Congolese university student and youth community activist is pursuing a degree in Applied Arts. “It is human behaviour to think that everyone is just like you and that we all are the same,” he says. “Yet, the similarities we have as humans are not applicable in all the fields.” Roland’s words kicked off the Mobile Learning Week Symposium’s on how technology can provide continuity of education for displaced learners.

In Romans Manyiel Garang’s classroom, there are 180 students, some as old as 35—ten years older than Garang himself. Garang is a primary school teacher in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee camp, responsible for providing refugee children and some adults with a pathway to a brighter future while they wait to be resettled. 

The Institute of International Education, or IIE, and the Catalyst Foundation for Universal Education have launched an online clearinghouse to connect displaced students with opportunities to continue their education in safety around the world.

The final month of 2016 was a chance for new beginnings for refugees and displaced persons in Iraq eager to learn.

Two young ladies, Amina and her friend, are refugees from Syria living in a camp called Domiz near Dohuk in northern Iraq. They were present in early June 2016, when I introduced the project Jesuit Worldwide Learning – Higher Education at the Margins (JWL).

Innovation is complex. It exists in the space between the world of science and human emotion. It is fueled at the precise moment when hope conquers logic and creates the momentum to make possible the impossible.

Fr. Peter Balleis, S.J., Executive President of Jesuit Worldwide Learning, was recognized at the prestigious Opus Prize Award Ceremony held on Thursday Nov. 17, 2006 at Creighton University. Fr. Balleis and JWL were one of three finalists nominated to receive the award. 

From October 12th to the 14th Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) held an educational summit at the Munich School of Philosophy, Germany. The aim of the summit was to structure, design and debate two learning tracks for JWL focusing on the area of environmental education.

The Jesuits in Switzerland, Germany and Austria have together started a digital training program for disadvantaged people and refugees.

Greetings from the University of Illinois. I landed in US a week ago to embark on my Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

Peter Balleis S.J., Executive President of Jesuit Worldwide Learning, is among the 3 finalists eligible to receive the prestigious 2016 Opus Prize.

Farini Wasamba Fredy is originally from North Kivu, Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). His life was under threat and so he left his home country as he was being persecuted as a human rights activist.

Refugees and disadvantaged learn together worldwide (Translated from German)