Efforts to Integrate the Afghan Refugee Population by the Local Peacebuilders in India
a case study from the “Race, Power and Peacebuilding” report
All over the world violence, war, persecution and extreme poverty force millions of people to flee their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. Due to traumatic migration experiences such as lack of social support, separation from family members, cultural differences and language barriers, refugees are more susceptible to psychological challenges.
Thus, it is essential to meaningfully integrate the refugee population in the host country.
In New Delhi, India, local peacebuilders have developed methods to build trust with and promote inclusion amongst the Afghan refugee population.
The Peacebuilding Project, in collaboration with People Beyond Borders, planned a project which aimed at building self-reliance and capacities of female Afghan refugees (aged 13 and above) by training them to make sustainable sanitary napkins.
The local peacebuilders included in the project were aware that the Afghan community, similar to the Indian society, is a traditionally patriarchal society. For this reason, the leading partners chose to develop an all women team of volunteers to create a welcoming environment. More often than not, INGOs overestimate the importance of thematic information and abstract concepts, which is not enough to create peaceful social cohabitation in the local community.
In this case, local peacebuilders were more familiar with the context and adopted practical methodologies based on the realities and needs on the ground.
By talking to the refugee women, the team learnt that the majority of them had close family members living in Afghanistan and were concerned about their safety. During this highly sentimental situation, the peacebuilders decided to improvise activities to build resilience and reduce stress amongst the participants. It also led to social cohesion amongst the different ethnic communities within the Afghan population such as Hazaras, Pashtuns and Tajiks.
One activity included creating a ‘dream board’ where participants shared their career goals and dreams. This made people develop a connection with each other, feel less isolated and share past experiences. Volunteers from the host population used their existing networks to connect some participants with services such as English classes, or pro bono therapy sessions.
This shows how by developing acceptance, trust and respect, local initiatives can be successful in building and improving relations within and between communities.
Even after the formal completion of the project, volunteers continued to conduct workshops with refugees. The flexibility and adaptability of local initiatives shows how they can be more cost efficient and sustainable than INGO programmes.
They key role international entities can play in such interventions, is by assisting local peacebuilders in getting access to donor aid, which would allow them to expand their scope of action.
Written by
Navya Khanna,The Peacebuilding Project
Resources:
Visit The Peacebuilding Project’s website: https://www.peacebuildingproject.org
& their Instagram page: https://instagram.com/thepeacebuildingproject
In October and November 2021, Peace Direct, in collaboration with the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), and United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY) convened a global online consultation to discuss structural racism in the peacebuilding sector. The findings established the extent of the problem across the wider humanitarian, development and peacebuilding sectors. Our aim for this report is to probe in more detail the issues as they relate specifically to peacebuilding.
