We are wishing you well and hope that you're managing this strange and challenging moment as healthfully and comfortably as possible.
We at the Migration Working Group have been carefully considering how we can best support our community and fulfill our mandate during this difficult global moment, and have determined that this necessarily means re-focusing our programming for the duration of this semester. We want to ensure that all SIPA students have access to our events, and we know that currently isn't possible given our varied stress, health, and energy levels, as well as our varied time zones. We therefore are postponing our events focused on climate migration, refugee resettlement in the US, and displacement in insecure contexts to the fall.
In their place, this semester we will instead be conducting activites that are of urgent relavence to the global pandemic. These will be related to supporting refugees and migrants in the time of COVID-19 and understanding how humanitarian and development work is shifting during this remote era. Below we're sharing three opportunities to engage with these topics, with more to come.
Wishing you health,
The MWG Team
Voices from the Ground: UN Interagency Cooperation to Support Migrants and Refugees in times of COVID-19
How does a UN-wide response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for vulnerable populations look? The United Nations Network on Migration is an interagency platform that coordinates the activities of 38 UN agencies and programs to ensure effective, timely and coordinated system-wide support to Member States. The 'UN MigNet' also brings the voices of civil society to discussions and program design by the Network's UN Members and Member States. The newly launched ‘Voices from the Ground’ platform on the UN MigNet’s COVID-19 website provides important insights into specific challenges migrants and refugees are facing and how civil society and other actors are addressing them. Jonathan Prentice, Head of the UN Network on Migration Secretariat and the Network's Civil Society Liaison Officer, Monami Maulik, will offer key insights into the work of the UN Migration Network and its civil society partners on the ground to understand multilateral efforts to address the effects of the public health crisis for vulnerable mobile populations. Moderated by IO/UNS Interim Director Daniel Naujoks.
Donate & Share: Providing Hygiene Kits to Women and Families at Moria Refugee Camp
The Humanitarian Affairs Working Team is raising funds with The Azadi Project to provide hygiene kits to women and families in Europe's largest refugee camp, Moria. You can visit their team fundraising page at: https://www.charidy.com/azadi/SIPA. You will note that this fundraising page is named "Columbia SIPA Students," this is because they do not wish to limit who shares this page. This effort goes beyond titles and who belongs to which student group, it is an act of solidarity to spread a little love in this troubling time. We understand that everything is a bit uncertain right now, and we ask that you do what you can and share among your circles.
Evacuation, Remote Work, & Humanitarian Aid
We're currently working with other student groups to coordinate a discussion with aid workers who evacuated and are now working remotely and out of country due to COVID-19. Do you know of anyone who is in this situation who may be interested in serving as a speaker for this discussion? Email Migration Working Group Co-President, Ari Schrier.
