“Economic integration of refugees in Sudan” workshop
A 2-day policy workshop “Economic integration of refugees in Sudan” has been conducted in March 2023 by two experts from UNU MERIT, Maastricht University, Dr. Katrin Marchand and Dr. Elaine Lebon-McGregor. This workshop will introduce the topic of economic integration of refugees and will draw from various case studies to showcase what could be done to foster this process, e.g. through direct policies or by creating a favourable economic environment for both refugees and host communities. The aim of the lecture is to share lessons learned from other countries.
The aim of the workshop is to facilitate discussion among stakeholders while sharing knowledge on best practices. The workshop participants, through the group discussions, took a first step in creating shared objectives and assigning roles and responsibilities. The workshop was delivered remotely in a hybrid format while the group of participants was gathered in a location in Sudan.
Day 1
Knowledge sharing: Economic integration of refugees, lessons from other countries
This lecture will introduce the topic of economic integration of refugees and will draw from various case studies to showcase what could be done to foster this process, e.g. through direct policies or by creating a favourable economic environment for both refugees and host communities. The aim of the lecture is to share lessons learned from other countries.
Group discussion: SOAR analysis (strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results
The aim of this exercise is to stimulate discussion among stakeholders and to determine (potentially) shared goals and intentions. The groups will be divided into sub-groups of max. five individuals. The group discussion will be structured using a SOAR analysis, which is a strategic planning tool that can be used to create a common strategy in a brainstorming session. SOAR is an acronym standing for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results. Strengths and opportunities focus on the present situation, whereas aspirations and results focus on the desired future situation.
Strengths may refer to what is currently in place (in terms of collaborations, policies, initiatives, etc.) in the country context to facilitate refugee integration, and that can be leveraged and built on. Opportunities comprise the things that can be pursued to be more successful. What is currently lacking in this context to facilitate refugee integration? Aspirations refer to shared objectives – what do we want to achieve in the future? Results are the measurable achievements that show that you achieved your aspirations. In other words, how will we know that we achieved our ambitions? The group process can be interactive, using whiteboards and post-its. After the group discussion, the results of each group will be presented to the entire group.
Day 2
Knowledge sharing: Policy coherence and stakeholder involvement
This lecture will focus on the importance of horizontal and vertical policy coherence in creating migration or integration policy. What is policy coherence and how can it be achieved? How can different actors work together to achieve policy coherence? Again, the lecture will draw from case studies to showcase lessons learned.
Group discussion: Actor mapping and defining roles and responsibilities
During the exercise, the group is again divided into sub-groups. As a first step, the groups map all relevant existing policies (beyond refugee policy only), related to refugee integration in Sudan. This part will follow the knowledge sharing on the importance of policy coherence and builds on the exercise of Day 1. After that, each group does an actor mapping exercise. During this exercise, the participants are asked to identify all relevant actors in Sudan that could/should play a role in refugee integration. This can also be done in an interactive way, using post-its and whiteboards. After this mapping exercise, the participants are asked to assign roles and responsibilities to each actor (group) to achieve the intended results as identified in Day 1. After the group exercise, the outcomes will again be discussed in the plenary group.
About the project
MSM is cooperating with its local partner Sudan Urban Development Think Tank Organization (SUDTT) in implementing the TMT+ project: Strengthening the Capacity of MoLSD Staff and its Partners to Enhance relevancy, provision and Management of TVET Curricula and Programs for IDPs and Refugees. The project aims to strengthen the capacities of Ministry of Labour and Social Development (MoLSD) now known as the Ministry of Labour and Administrative Reform (MOLAR) and other stakeholders to economically empower Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and refugees among their host communities by improving their ability to find employment or establish and grow their business through expanding and improving market oriented, equitable and gender-balanced Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Module 1 of the TMT+ involved advanced Management skills specifically aiming at improving strategic leadership, project management, quality management and ICT integration. Module 2, focused on the socio-economic integration of refugees, Module 3 and 4 involved developing training curricula, training of trainers and piloting the delivery of training as well as exploring the involvement of ICT driven solutions.
Orange Knowledge Programme
This project is part of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) which is funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic. For more information click here.
MSM's Expert Centre on Emerging Economies
This institutional collaboration project is part of MSM's Expert Centre on Emerging Economies. The department is an expert centre on local economic development in emerging and developing markets. We capacitate managers and professionals from government, private sector, NGOs, and post-secondary education in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. We offer consultancy and customized training programs, and we manage complex projects in key sectors, e.g. water, agriculture and health. For more information click here.
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