Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees: Growing together as a society

On the occasion of World Day of Migrants and Refugees (24 September), an international conference (hybrid format) was held at the Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations, around ‘Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees: Growing together as a society.’  Among the speakers were JWL’s Global Research Director, Dr Isabella Rega, and Ms Mélodie Honen-Delmar, who reflected on the role of higher education in facilitating refugee integration in host communities, by focusing on the Peace Leader professional course whose ultimate goal is to foster peaceful and inclusive communities.

JWL’s Peace Leader professional course (certified by Hekima University College), offered in multiple countries around the world, including refugee and IDP camps in Iraq, Malawi and Kenya, was presented as an example of how JWL’s blended learning model nurtures a sense of community and intercultural understanding at both local and global levels. The inner transformation that takes place as learners make their way through the programme empowers them with competences and qualities conducive to embracing diversity, respect and dialogue between cultures, and moves them to act for the betterment of their social environment.

By acquiring the knowledge and the skills that I was given, I'm able to transmit it […]. The course is not only changing me, but it’s changing [the]community through me. Whereby what I have acquired, I'm able to execute it to the community. I'm able to make sure people are in peace, people are able to understand one another, people are able to respect, people are able to coexist despite the differences. – Peace Leader graduate (anonymous)