I-GMAP is collaborating with the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities to implement a three-year "Safer Havens" project. The project will bring state and
civil society actors in a productive and sustainable dialogue, with the goal of identifying
better policies for the protection of displaced persons from identity-based violence.
The inspiration for this long-term project was the conviction that the work of addressing
and reducing risk factors for mass atrocity crimes through cooperation between states
and civil society organizations faces obstacles that significantly reduce effectiveness
and chances for better outcomes. At the core of this project, three annual forums
(in Colombia, Kenya, and Romania) will gather AIPG and I-GMAP staff and state and
civil society representatives from countries showing significant obstacles to state-CSO
collaboration for protecting displaced persons, but also considerable promise. In
advance of each meeting, I-GMAP will conduct outreach and in-depth interviews with
potential CSO partners, and will include them in each respective event. Each event
will generate a comprehensive, country-specific policy document with concrete recommendations
for stakeholders and additional follow up including coordination and support for post-forum
collaborations. A final comprehensive policy document on better policies for the protection
of displaced persons from identity based violence, including a detailed roadmap for
sustaining the networks of professional cooperation that have been established, will
conclude the three-year project.
October 3-4, 2024: Naivasha, Kenya Safer Havens
I-GMAP's Safer Havens workshop in Naivasha, Kenya on October 3-4 was a resounding
success. Over the course of two days, over thirty representatives from the government
of Kenya, civil society groups, and international organizations met to collaborate
on better protection from identity-based violence for the hundreds of thousands of
forcibly displaced persons in Kenya. Several representatives from refugee-led organizations
were welcomed to the workshop, where they had a seat at the table to discuss their
hopes, fears, and ambitions for the future of their communities with government officials.
As the Kenyan government plans to move forward in its long-anticipated plan to begin
the closure of the two "mega-camps" in Kakuma and Dadaab, the need for protection
as refugees begin integrating into their local communities will become even more pressing.
The frank conversations, good ideas, initiatives for collaboration, and other outcomes
of our 2024 Safer Havens workshop left all, organizers and participants alike, gratified
and energized. A comprehensive report, following the initial Safer Havens report on
Venezuelan refugees in Colombia, will be forthcoming early in the new year.
