In 2015, UNDP estimated that there are 258 million international migrants and over 70.8 million people were displaced mainly by conflicts. Displacement due to environmental disasters and climate change has affected almost 22.5 million people since 2008.
We believe working in partnership, learning from each other and creating long-term development approaches are important in addressing migration and displacement. In 2018, International communities Organisation has partnered with Qisetna and invited organisation and individuals working in the field of migration, forced displacement, and refugee rights to participate in an on-line survey. The motivating aspect behind this intention was to understand and address the issues they face and identify opportunities they think can be a solution to these problems. We wanted to be clear of our position on a range of needs, and expectations of the community of interest by listening them. All respondents confirmed they can commit to an online Network and %40 was willing to dedicate 1 or 2 days per month and, %20 said they could participate more than 2 days per week. When we asked them how they would like to contribute, most of them voted in favour of Sharing Experiences, and then Workshops and finally Training. Though, half of them declared their interest in annual seminars/meetups, almost one third were keen to be a part of virtual meetings and social media posts.
Additionally, in 2020, Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the situation of organisations and support workers. Lack of good coordination and delays in getting in touch with public authorities was identified as the main problems. The organisations who are providing housing support, English lessons, financial advice and legal support were able to move to remote working and these supports still being offered, mostly via phone, email or webinars. However, most of the organisations, particularly refugee camps or humanitarian aid professionals, are not able to deliver essential services from home. There were also issues with logistics, such as how to keep in touch with refugees and people seeking asylum; implement health and safety processes within this new way of working, or information sharing with partners and volunteers given GDPR restrictions.