Intersectionality and Durable Solutions for Refugee Women in Africa

Abstract

This article proposes a re-evaluation of the classic 'durable solutions'-repatriation, local integration, resettlement-being applied to refugee women in Africa, foregrounding gender considerations in the selection of solutions to apply, women's access to these processes, and sensitivity to the African and peacebuilding context. Extant literature largely ignores the reality of diversity among refugee women. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) policy and states' practices regarding refugee women do not sufficiently address this diversity and how structural dynamics are shaping durable solutions for refugees. I argue therefore that there is an intersectionality of disadvantage, a dual intertwined convergence of personal and systemic factors that make refugee women in Africa doubly deprived in accessing and experiencing sustainable durable solutions. I suggest that rethinking durable solutions for refugee women in Africa involves a reassessment of the three solutions, and the adoption of initiatives that positively link refugee women and peacebuilding outcomes.

How Are Forcibly Displaced People Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak? Evidence From Brazil

“…Refugees are a complex population because they have different layers of vulnerability that make their rights more easily violated: nonnationals (without vote), forced displaced populations, numeric minority, non-Portuguese native speakers, and perceived as different because of their race, nationality, religion and cultural traditions. While other studies reflected on intersectionality and refugees (e.g., Hayes, 2018 ; Lee & Brotman, 2013 ; Vervliet et al, 2014 ; Yacob-Haliso, 2016 ), this research contributes to understand how being a refugee (with all the multiple identities involved) facing the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil involves additional challenges that are not faced by the Brazilian population.…”

A Scoping Review of the Health of Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced Women in Africa

“…Over the last decade, through cluster interventions, the UN has made remarkable inroads in addressing basic humanitarian needs and ameliorating the protection and assistance gaps for IDPs [7]. Nevertheless, Olajumoke Jacob-Haliso has critiqued the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on their approach to forced displacement in Africa, describing it as a blanket approach that obscures African women's unique marginal experiences in various refugee settings [21]. In particular, displaced women carry an unequal burden of care because of a gendered responsibility toward caring for children and the elderly.…”

Examining power in protracted spaces: a feminist approach toward approach toward the elimination of refugee women's insecurity inside Dadaab

“…Indeed, the 'war on terror' finds its expression in this era of the refugee regime. Yacob-Haliso (2016) argues that the events of 9/11, the economic recession of the early 2000's, and increasing xenophobia, all speak to reasons why the United States and other Western nations have reduced the number of refugees they resettle. Similarly, Esbenshade (2011) makes an interesting contribution through the argument that DNA testing on "African refugees who claimed to be family members of refugees already in the United States" (p. 176) also speaks to this decline.…”