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With more than 70 million people displaced today, the global refugee crisis is in need of assistance from institutions in order to provide education, healthcare, and other aid to refugees and their families.
Education is at the forefront of managing the global refugee crisis. With around half of the world’s refugees being children, education is especially important. However, many refugee children are slipping through the cracks and not getting a proper education. Unfortunately, only 2 percent of humanitarian aid goes to education, and the results are directly reflected in the school enrollment rates of refugee children. Global secondary school enrollment is at 84%, however, secondary school enrollment for refugee children is only at 24%. This is significant because in comparison to primary school enrollment of refugees being 63% and secondary school enrollment being 24%, it can be inferred that children are not receiving adequate resources in their primary schools and not proceeding to secondary school (hence the massive enrollment drop). The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is educating about the refugee crisis free of charge. They provide guidance to primary and secondary school teachers on how to include refugee children in the classroom by teaching them how to provide extra support in cultural and environmental adaptation, language acquisition and dealing with stress and trauma.
The Global Refugee Forum is another institution that is being utilized to assist the global refugee crisis. The goal of the forum is to find better solutions for refugees and the communities hosting them. The forum aims to change legal policy in order to enable greater inclusion of refugees in society and resettlement. This is an effective way to gain awareness on the topic and for countries to come together and help solve this crisis.
Health care is of paramount importance for refugees and families of refugees. Many countries have different policies regarding governmental assistance and health care coverage. Starting in 2016, Canada offers limited temporary coverage of health-care benefits to refugees. This program was only implemented following backlash of the initial 2012 program where there was an elimination of health care coverage for many refugees and refugee claimants.
Though there are many initiatives such as education provided by the UNHCR, global participation in the Global Refugee Forum, and health care programs, there is still much more institutions can be doing to help the global refugee crisis. This is a pressing issue and with the vast power and number of institutions globally, more could be done. We are moving in the right direction, but this crisis is far from being over.
Sabryna Farsace, March 2021
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