Advocacy and Thought Leadership
We strive for systemic change through inclusive policies for displaced and host populations. Our focus is on the implementation of the Refugees Act 2021, influencing government plans, and advocating for climate change and disaster response legislation.
We influence policy implementation through:
Innovation and Learning
Developing new thinking, matched with practical solutions, on specific issues and trends and their impact on the displaced and the host populations is our priority. The selection of issues will be informed by visioning and scenario planning, collaborating with others on ideas for solutions. We identify in our work, through listening to the displaced and host populations and reflecting key documents and related research, areas that need further inquiry and research.
The Institute is modelled as a learning hub and apart from the courses, launched a series of national, regional, and global learnings through webinars, conferences, and workshops. Of interest to the learning hub is interactions with other actors in the sector, including the host and displaced populations, especially in the areas of local resource, urbanization, migration, knowledge transfer, and utilization, and technology. The institute is focused on research and their impact on policy and the opportunities for interventions with policy and decision makers to promote positive change.
Capacity Building and Support
We continue to be capacity building experts for various institutions including the Government of Kenya and International Non-Governmental Organizations in the areas of laws on SGBV prevention, especially in the areas of asylum, and repatriation.
We create awareness and education for:
In addition, we also train police officers, court users, and justice sectors.
Partnerships and Localizations
To create an inclusive and just world for the displaced and host populations, we must work with them, their networks, civil society, health providers, organizations within the justice systems, county and national governments, East Africa Community, and IGAD to transform systems and structures.
Gender Equality
We are fully committed to prioritizing the promotion of gender equality in all our programs. We are aware that gender is increasingly viewed as being on a spectrum and the risks for sensitivity to gender identities are encompassed within broader forms of women and men’s vulnerabilities. We seek to broaden and deepen our understanding of what this means and how to transform gender relations.
Inequalities that women and girls face in terms of power relations, voice, and access to resources are compounded by displacement while at the same time, women and girls form the majority of those displaced. We ensure and prioritize our gender equality work primarily towards the empowerment of women and girls and the transformation of currently unequal gender-relations between women and men, boys and girls.
Disability Inclusion
Our experience over the years is that the displaced and host populations with disabilities face physical, social, and attitudinal barriers to their participation and inclusion and may encounter double discrimination because of their sex, gender, and impairment. We know that women with disabilities are at particular risk of violence, abuse, and neglect.
Emerging Trends
We will explore how the displaced and host populations interact with climate change and technology and are alert to the potential impact on rights and opportunities for interventions with policy and decision makers to promote positive change.