Advocacy

Education in emergency and crisis settings requires careful navigation of complicated legal and cultural systems in countries of first asylum, within the immediate host community, and globally to promote educational access alongside protection and safeguarding.

Advocacy

The OSUN Hubs advocate on a global stage for those affected by displacement, by promoting the opening of higher education opportunities, supporting the lowering of barriers to access, and developing initiatives that chair the Working Group on Refugees, IDPs/DPs, and Host Communities, which meets monthly.

The Working Group envisions a world in which higher education opportunities are accessible to all persons affected by crisis and/or displacement. By bringing together partners from across OSUN’s network, the Working Group seeks to provide educational opportunities to displaced populations, to create new knowledge in relation to refugees and displaced populations, to use that knowledge to advocate for educational access and the needed policy changes to ensure durable solutions, to cultivate strong connections between OSUN partners, and to foreground the university as an actor for social justice through education. To join the Working Group, please contact [email protected].

The Hubs are firmly positioned OSUN as a global player in terms of education for displaced populations. Because of the work of the Hubs, OSUN has twice been elected as the co-chair of the Global Task Force on Education Pathways and continues to play an active role in setting direction of the 15x30 strategy by leading in the drafting of key multi-stakeholder documents and the implementation of programming in collaboration with global partners. In 2022 alone, the Hubs led in the drafting of the Third Country Solutions for Refugees: Roadmap 2023; led the “Overseas & Program Infrastructure” drafting group for the US Pathways Initiative recommendation to the Bureau of Population, Refugees, Migration; collaborated with UNHCR on a panel for the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference related to the bridging programs and the Hubs key role in the space; acted as the only university network to be on a high profile panel at the Annual Tripartite conference on resettlement; and contributed significantly to drafting the UNHCR Tertiary Task Force Team’s Global Refugee Forum pledge. The Hubs have been asked to represent OSUN in the soon-to-launch UNHCR-founded Interagency “Global Leaders” Circle alongside the World Bank, USAID, Education Above All and Times Higher Education.

Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways

The Hubs are firmly positioned OSUN as a global player in terms of education for displaced populations. Because of the work of the Hubs, OSUN has twice been elected as the co-chair of the Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways and continues to play an active role in setting direction of the 15x30 strategy by leading in the drafting of key multi-stakeholder documents and the implementation of programming in collaboration with global partners. In 2022 alone, the Hubs led in the drafting of the Third Country Solutions for Refugees: Roadmap 2023; led the “Overseas & Program Infrastructure” drafting group for the US Pathways Initiative recommendation to the Bureau of Population, Refugees, Migration; collaborated with UNHCR on a panel for the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference related to the bridging programs and the Hubs key role in the space; acted as the only university network to be on a high profile panel at the Annual Tripartite conference on resettlement; and contributed significantly to drafting the UNHCR Tertiary Task Force Team’s Global Refugee Forum pledge. The Hubs have been asked to represent OSUN in the soon-to-launch UNHCR-founded Interagency “Global Leaders” Circle alongside the World Bank, USAID, Education Above All and Times Higher Education.