Creating Sustainable Livelihood and Social Inclusion Opportunities through Skills Development for Urban Refugees
Published: 1 October 2021
This study addresses inequality in education and livelihood, particularly for refugees. This marginalised population requires equal opportunities for quality education to build a life they desire in their host countries.
By Preeti Dagar (School of Education)
The purpose of this research is to investigate various factors that affect the perception, engagement and participation of refugees in the skills and vocational training; and whether and how the available learning and skills acquisition programmes lead to further opportunities of sustainable livelihood and social inclusion.
The research is a comparative case study of refugee participants from Afghanistan, Myanmar (Rohingya and Chin), Tibet and Somalia in three big cities in India: Delhi, Hyderabad and Jaipur. The study employs semi-structured interviews, focus groups and participatory drawing with 66 participants. Looking through the lens of capabilities approach and intersectionality, the study explores the effect of intersecting gender, class, ethnic, racial and religious identities of refugees on their employment opportunities, social freedoms and livelihood outcomes. It further examines the interactions of global strategies and targets with national policies and local realities at the state and regional level.
This research will be of considerable interest to policymakers, adult educators, community organisations, and related practitioners especially in the context of learning cities and reducing inequalities in lifelong learning and education. The benefits of this research include providing evidence-based policy recommendations to make the vocational and skills training programmes more useful and connected to the livelihood of urban refugees. The researcher is at the writing up stage of her PhD and looking for further opportunities for multidisciplinary research in education, lifelong learning, gender, and migration.
First published: 1 October 2021
