11.05.23: Nassim Majidi shared insights at a webinar organised by IOM - UN Migration on lessons learned on sustainable rural integration based on our study with The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
The study analyses 120+ reintegration programs in 6 countries - Afghanistan, Kenya, Moldova, Nepal, Senegal, Tunisia. Engaging with returnees, communities, and stakeholders, it explores rural context fit. The webinar highlighted the diverse nature of the returnee profiles, including international & internal returns during the COVID period. Factors like choice vs. forced return, successful reintegration & impact on perception were analysed. Challenges for women were also a key factor of discussion.

The webinar raised points on how only 40% of the reintegration programs had links to agriculture or rural transformation. The panellists drew examples from Senegal's successful involvement of regional/local authorities and Kenya's need to bridge national-county gaps.

Key recommendations by panellists included multi-stakeholder partnerships, inclusive food systems, location/learning-based approaches etc. Nassim Majidi emphasised on the need to link reintegration to development plans & the different ways to finance rural reintegration. Swipe through to know more
The accompanying toolkit introduced in the webinar also supports local stakeholders & agrifood actors in integrating rural returnees into agrifood programs. It guides stakeholders throughout the program cycle of pre-design, design, implementation & monitoring/evaluation.

28.04.23: Samuel Hall and Youth Voices Community co-hosted and organised an Open Mic Session for Poetry, Music, and Storytelling by Refugees, Migrants and Host Communities. Hosted at our Nairobi Office, we provided a platform for talented artists with lived experiences of migration and displacement and those from the host communities to showcase their skills and tell their stories including stand-up comedy, poetry, storytelling, and music and/or any other platform they feel most comfortable in.

Watch the Performances on Our Instagram Page

25.04.23: To push for localisation within migration research, Samuel Hall, as part of the Migration Summit 2023 organised a virtual panel event: ‘Localisation of Research With Refugees - The Ethical Way Forward’. The panel consisted of 4 researchers: Franco Ohisa, an independent refugee researcher based in Kakuma; Samuel Binja, researcher and founder of Kalobeyei Initiative for Better Life, JeanPaul Kasika, Programmes Coordinator at RELON (Network of Refugee-led Organisation), Kenya and Nassim Majidi, Co-founder, Samuel Hall.

The panel reflected on the relationships between refugee researchers and other institutions dominant in the industry and how more ethical partnerships could be formed. It also focused on developing the agenda for localising research and its ethics through a set of principles that will be discussed with the audience.

Watch the Full Recording Here

Read the Full Presentation Here

25.04.23-26.04.23: Nassim Majidi from Samuel Hall presented key findings in panel discussions at the first thematic meeting organized by the Rabat Process on voluntary return and reintegration. One of the panels focused on focuses on the importance of creating synergies between the programs of voluntary return and the protection of migrants. While another panel focused on findings and good practices from our health and reintegration study with IOM Afghanistan.

Samuel Hall focused on presenting results of the study on migrant health, continuity of care and impact on reintegration which is interesting for its concrete and operational aspect. The aim of the discussions was to raise awareness of the importance of strengthening links/synergies between local and national reintegration and development programs and inform on the need to consolidate the protection of migrants in all phases of voluntary return and reintegration.

20.04.23-21.04.23: Migration Governance and Asylum Crises (MAGYC) organized their concluding conference on the theme what home means for Syrian Refugees and the narrative of belonging. The conference was in partnership with Sciences Po Research Centre and University of Liège (The Hugo Observatory).

Nassim Majidi was a part of a roundtable discussion and keynote address where she focused on the narratives of belonging for Syrian refugees based on Samuel Hall’s research and extensive work in the region. The aim was to highlight the need to change the narratives on solutions and adapt more refugee centred approaches to the work we are doing.

16.03.23: Samuel Hall, KNOMAD, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNDP, and The World Bank organised a workshop on ‘Youth, Migration, and Development: A New Lens for Critical Times’ with panellists Sonia Plaza, Alessandra Casazza, Jason Gagnon, Ishimwe Jean Marie and Mary Munyoki.

The highly participatory discussion included sharing Samuel Hall’s findings from the field on youth integration, behaviour and experience; reasons, drivers, and motivators for youth disenchantment; youth participation and the cycle of migration. The participants included donors, development agencies, NGOs, CSOs, and more importantly community based organisations led by youth and refugees in Nairobi and refugees and youth themselves

02.02.23: Jared Owour from Samuel Hall shared key findings on Samuel Hall's research about opportunities for refugees in Kenya in the digital economy, which has the potential to promote economic inclusion among refugees at the World University Service of Canada’s (WUSC) International Forum 2023.

The forum explored factors that promote or hinder access to economic opportunities for young refugees, delved into solutions that can be accelerated to reach the sustainable and meaningful inclusion of young refugees within local, national, and global economies. Jared’s contribution was anchored around digital employment opportunities for refugees in Kenya, the impact of Refugee Led Organisations across Kenya on fostering digital economic opportunities, and recommendations on how we can create more enabling and empowering environments for welcoming and inclusive economies.

The International Forum explored how we can continue to advance responsible development during times of accelerated change, bringing together our network, peers, and collaborators in the broader global development and social movement spaces.

31.01.23: In a webinar organised by Research & Evidence Facility, Samuel Hall's Nassim Majidi presented research findings with REF with support from European Union on a recent study on South Sudan’s Decades of Displacement.

Samuel Hall in collaboration with Research and Evidence Facility (REF) in this study, explore the experiences of displacement, return and reintegration among South Sudanese refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The overall objective of the research is to understand the factors influencing displacement within and from South Sudan, and return to South Sudan from refugee hosting areas.

31.01.23-01.02.23: Samuel Hall collaborated with Refugee-Led Organisations Network, Kenya & Heinrich Böll Foundation - African Migration Hub in Kenya and Uganda to deliver workshops on Gender Responsive Advocacy led by Nassim Majidi, Devyani Nighoskar & Jared Ouwor. The workshop focused on three key thematic areas- the gendered and social equity dimensions of the climate-migration nexus: anticipating social transformations and risks associated with climate change, using digital media for advocacy and storytelling & contextualizing advocacy for localisation, inclusion and durable solutions.

The aim of the workshop was to reflect and share contextual knowledge about how gender plays a role in the broader social equity context and brainstorm on how Refugee Led Organisations can create more inclusive solutions and mitigate risks of gendered inequalities like climate change.

Our research shows that climate change acts as a “threat multiplier” for many women & young girls in conflict areas thus accentuating the risks of migration. Our co-founder Nassim Majidi led a session on the gendered nexus of climate change & how RLOs can help mitigate these risks. Some key recommendations include integrated partnerships, understanding of specific needs during the migration cycle, community led engagement, women led advocacy initiatives while also documenting traditional knowledge systems.

Stories being integral to Samuel Hall’s work, Devyani Nighoskar and Jared Owuor also led a session on enabling digital advocacy through storytelling for refugees hence emphasising the power of their own voice. Some key takeaways include creating safe spaces for digital storytelling, advocating for policy change, providing access to technology and also providing digital safety resources among others.

Understanding the importance of structured humanitarian-development funding flows and mechanisms, Nassim led a session on contextualizing advocacy for localisation, inclusion and durable solutions. Some key recommendations include creating a localised reponse and building local partner capacities.

14.12.22:David Lefor from Samuel Hall recently had the opportunity to share final evaluation findings and recommendations from the EU-funded BRiCE project, “Safe and Quality Education for Girls and Boys in Displacement Situations in Ethiopia and Somalia,” in collaboration with Plan International and Relief International, along with its research consortium of the University of Sussex, Gambella University and Puntland Development Research Centre. 

The BRiCE project,  a 4-year project in Puntland, Somalia and Gambella, Ethiopia,  aimed to improve access to safe, quality pre-school and primary education by engaging communities, duty-bearers and children themselves through a wide range of activities including the development of professional codes of conduct and safeguarding policies, developing skills among teachers, government officials, and students, and equipping schools with resources. It also aimed to strengthen data collection and build an evidence base on effective approaches and pathways to enhance safe, quality education in fragile and conflict-affected settings. 

The BRiCE project regional sharing event acted as a space to share findings and recommendations from the project with local governments, donors, NGOs, CSOs and international organisations.

9.12.22: Nassim Majidi, co-founder of Samuel Hall had the opportunity to present key insights from our work on Return and Reintegration at the “Building evidence and harmonising approaches on reintegration’ organised by EU-IOM Knowledge Management Hub (KMH) to improve future programming. 

The aim of this session was to reflect and brainstorm on how KMH results can contribute to the conceptualization and implementation of migrant protection, return and reintegration initiatives at the global level. Some of the key discussion points made to improve future programming included the role of research in designing and implementing return and reintegration programmes, challenges of Harmonization vs. contextualization in  return and reintegration programmes implementation, benefits & approaches of capacity development initiatives and discussing what makes the communities of practices and fora useful and inclusive.

8.12.22: To understand how people affected by displacement are faring in cities as compared to camps & how inclusion and integration can benefit all residents; Jared Ouwor from Samuel Hall Team shared insights from our work on protracted displacement in urban world at IIED 's Nairobi participatory forum.

The prevalence of displaced communities in Nairobi has received attention from the local & national govts. There have been advances with a new Refugee Bill in 2022 that recognises refugees’ rights. The registration of Somali refugees which had been halted will soon resume. Our findings on financial inclusion including concerns around access to finance and credit facilities and other related barriers for urban refugees elicited responses from a number of actors.

2.12.22: Team SH recently had the opportunity to present our findings on conflict-sensitive capacity gap assessment to prevent & respond to the recruitment of children into armed groups at #CAACConference2022 a.k.a the Children Affected by Conflict Conference held from 28th to 30th November, 2022 at Nairobi, Kenya. It was organised by Save the Children International, and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), with support from the government of Sweden and the European Union.

Key recommendations from the team focused on a need for more frequent conflict analysis to promote a more nuanced view of risks. There is an urgent need to engage with root causes rather than symptoms. The team also presented key findings on how engaging through religious and communities can help better understand their roles and limitations. There was a call for creating gender transformative programming and involving youth to lead prevention and response initiatives.

17.11.22: Trafficking in persons (TiP) is a persistent crime that targets people of all genders and ages and is present globally, regardless of whether countries are places of origin, transit, destination, or a combination of all three. 

Samuel Hall’s Senior Research Manager,Rebecca Frischkorn, had the opportunity to present findings from our research at the Cross-Region Seminar on Reintegration of Victims of trafficking, organised under the framework of the EU-IOM Knowledge Management Hub (KMH), funded by the European Union, in collaboration with the IOM’s Cooperation on Migration and Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Solutions (COMPASS) programme.

The seminar discussed challenges facing and opportunities for sustainable reintegration of VoTs. Financial instability, stigmatisation, inadequate information and mental health issues are the key factors in inducing further vulnerability.  There is a need for systemised monitoring of data of trafficked victims. The new Monitoring Toolkit developed by Samuel Hall for IOM will help identify factors that affect trafficking survivors' reintegration through three key dimensions - economic, social and psychosocial.

10.11.22: Samuel Hall's Lisa Pfister & Pauline Cherunya, PhD. shared key insights from the ongoing Equal Partnerships & our work with local governments at the The Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility & FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg's workshop on African Intermediary Cities and Migration. Building on our past research, local governments are better placed to respond urgently to needs of IDPs, ensuring protection & access to services. This involves multi-stakeholder engagements with local communities. Oftentimes, urban displaced are not recognised when there are encampment policies. We highlighted this through our work using participatory forums to come up with development-based solutions to displacement together with local actors that can work in their cities. Our past projects suggest that a shared mandate on migration was essential. Multiple government officials are eager to take charge of the local integration of refugees and partner with international and national donors and NGOs. The workshop reiterated the need for multi-stakeholder partnerships. Some of our key takeaways include the importance of the research about urban spaces in secondary cities, having a shared mandate to migration, potential collaboration with local actors, a need for ethical partnerships amongst local government and civil societies and a call for cross-collaboration among funding agencies.

13.10.22: Samuel Hall organised a workshop on the importance of storytelling in policy making for European University Institute's Young African Leaders Programme.

Led by Samuel Hall’s Advocacy & Storytelling Officer, Devyani Nighoskar; the workshop focused on how identifying, articulating, and disseminating stories can help understand policy implications & the changes that may be required. Through case studies, discussions and group presentations; the session facilitated horizontal learning with insights from talented professionals from across Africa exploring how Africa can build its own positive narrative(s) through storytelling in policies.