Building community following displacement due to armed conflict

Abstract

Individuals and families forced to flee their homes during internal armed conflict have to cope with the weakening, if not complete breakdown, of societal institutions in their local communities. Furthermore, internally displaced people (IDPs) flee to host communities which frequently are poor and struggle to cope with the influx.The common approach to addressing this humanitarian problem used by the international community is project-based, sequenced programmes. Frequently decisions regarding these interventions do not involve IDPs, accentuating their powerless position. This approach has been criticized for not providing for true participation and therefore not leading to sustainable change (Chambers, 1995) and it can only meet the basic elements of participation in a typology of participation identified by Pretty et al. (1995). 2 The following case study of a post-conflict transition project in Mindanao, Philippines illustrates an alternative paradigm of participation (Muncy, 2000) developed by Community and Family Services International (CFSI), a Philippines-based international humanitarian non-government organization (NGO). This paradigm uses a blended rather than solely sequenced approach to engagement, participation and action. The process engages IDPs from the moment of displacement and does not reduce the experiences

Armed Conflict in Ukraine and Social Work Response to it: What Strategies Should be used for Internally Displaced Persons?

“…Long-term intervention strategies (Lai & Toliashvili, 2010;Kang, 2013) foresee that services for IDPs must be multileveled (individual assistance, connection with the community and advocacy, participation in collective political actions) and must be focused on recovering the relations between person and social systems, developing local support systems, involving community resources, including volunteers, to help people who find themselves outside the usual environment and relationships. Other authors add that assistance could be effective only if it will be based on the community development approach (Frederico & Picton, 2007) or on developing local forms of support (Douset & Denov, 2012).…”

Resettlement post conflict: Risk and protective factors and resilience among women in northern Uganda

“…Studies of displaced individuals in the Philippines and southern Sudan found that decisions to return to areas of origin were influenced by reduced violence, increased security and political stability, and the need to engage in livelihood activities (Frederico et al, 2007; Pavlish and Ho, 2009). The findings from Burundi, Mozambique, the Philippines, and southern Sudan identified additional factors influencing decisions to return, including the need to rebuild lives, re-establish social and economic activities, engage in cultural practices, access education and training, and return to a sense of normalcy (Frederico et al, 2007; Igreja et al, 2010; Kamungi et al, 2005; Pavlish and Ho, 2009).…”

“…Studies of displaced individuals in the Philippines and southern Sudan found that decisions to return to areas of origin were influenced by reduced violence, increased security and political stability, and the need to engage in livelihood activities (Frederico et al, 2007; Pavlish and Ho, 2009). The findings from Burundi, Mozambique, the Philippines, and southern Sudan identified additional factors influencing decisions to return, including the need to rebuild lives, re-establish social and economic activities, engage in cultural practices, access education and training, and return to a sense of normalcy (Frederico et al, 2007; Igreja et al, 2010; Kamungi et al, 2005; Pavlish and Ho, 2009). Resettling individuals face myriad challenges, such as limited access to clean water, food insecurity, limited access to land, limited health care and educational resources, unequal access to farming materials, gender-based violence, gender inequality, discrimination, political instability, and an absence of governance structures (Frederico et al, 2007; Kamungi et al, 2005; Pavlish and Ho, 2009).…”

Building culturally relevant social work for children in the midst of armed conflict: Applying the DACUM method in Afghanistan

“…This person is a community member with limited education, often a woman, who is expert in working with community structures, a knowledgeable advocate regarding difference, marginalization and concern for those who suffer, and someone able to address prevention issues in the community context. Such community social work practices are widely noted in the literature on social work with populations affected by conflict and colonialism (Federico et al, 2007; Gray et al, 2008; Key, 2008; Lavalette and Ioakimidis, 2011; Lyons, 2006; Murphy, 2011; Rankopo and Osei-Hwedie, 2011; Walton and Abo El Nasr, 1988).…”