Translator: Imane Elaouam Checker: Riyad Almubarak
Most of the refugees in the world are invisible
First invisible because,
Contrary to what we often think,
Most refugees do not live in Europe.
When we look at the numbers,
We recognize that 86% of the refugees are currently
Living in the South,
Often in countries close to conflict zones.
They are also invisible
Because most of them have no refuge in the humanitarian camps in these countries,
But much more in cities.
Thus, far from humanitarian assistance,
Far from media attention.
In every new refugee crisis,
On television we see pictures of these camps,
Tents that house children, women,
Men, older people.
However, these images only partially reflect
On the reality of the current displacement of the population.
When we look at the numbers,
We realize that 58% of the refugees today live in cities,
Not in humanitarian camps.
In fact, when we look at it closely,
It is not surprising as it may seem from the first glance.
You have to imagine …
Think about the age you have at the moment,
I add 17 years.
17 years,
Is the average time spent by refugees in exile.
So you have to imagine yourself living for 17 years,
In a camp, I mean under a tent,
Without getting the education that deserves the name,
Without access to the labor market,
In precarious conditions,
Depends on humanitarian assistance for its survival and its relatives.
Will you stay in a refugee camp for 17 years?
What is certain,
Is that most refugees
Prefer to go to cities,
With this hope of rebuilding their lives,
To restore the natural appearance.
the problem,
Is that most of the time in the South,
Means living in a precarious situation,
With very little humanitarian support or no humanitarian support at all,
In a very complex case,
In short, in the greatest invisible.
Now, we can not help those who do not see them.
Method 1 To resolve the problem,
Is to see it first.
So I participated in the establishment of urban refugees in 2012 with David Delafali,
With this simple idea:
Make visible what is invisible,
Drawing attention, humanitarian assistance,
To these millions of urban refugees in the South.
In urban refugees, three areas of action were identified.
the first,
Is the political call.
This means attracting the attention of policy makers,
The international community,
The importance of assuming responsibility for urban refugees,
But also on the need to develop alternatives to refugee camps,
Because camps can not be a systematic response to crises.
In practice, this means that we,
We meet with political decision-makers,
We sit in a United Nations working group.
It is a long-term action,
But they are necessary if we want these things to change on a large scale.
While
That the political side is important,
It is also necessary to assist non-governmental organizations, the humanitarian community,
To develop programs for urban refugees.
This is the second axis to work on.
It must be understood that 50 years ago
Humanitarian camps are the preferred method
To manage refugee crises.
However, as one suspect,
Going to support refugees in cities,
Requires experience which is completely different.
For example, we will have to
To negotiate with municipal authorities;
It will be necessary to identify the refugees
In very large urban areas.
We must also succeed in supporting them
Without igniting tensions with the local population,
Which is often exposed to crises.
So,
There is a real challenge at present,
In the area of adaptation to the humanitarian community and to non-governmental organizations
In order to meet this adaptation challenge,
We created a network
Mutual assistance and exchange of good practices among non-governmental organizations.
clearly,
At present, we have a network of 80 NGOs in 40 countries,
Help each other to develop and research programs
Of urban refugees, who work.
To give you an example,
At present,
We are helping a non-governmental organization in Jordan
To develop a community center for urban refugees,
By linking them to a non-governmental organization in Indonesia,
Which has very strong experience in this field.
But of course,
Politicians and humanists have their role,
Most importantly, at least in our view,
Most effective,
Will be supported by urban refugee initiatives themselves.
It must be understood that throughout the world,
The refugees have established self-help groups,
To support their communities.
It’s kind of like, all here, we were displaced tomorrow,
We became refugees and we were going to asylum in Morocco.
The first thing we do is help each other among the French people,
We will certainly establish a cooperation group for French refugees in Morocco.
Urban refugees do this all over the world.
I can see with my own eyes
The effectiveness of these collaboration groups,
When I was working in the Middle East, before the establishment of urban refugees.
The organization I was working with,
Has seen the arrest of Omar, a Sudanese refugee,
Through a group of Sudanese refugees in the country,
Who informed us that he had disappeared.
So they are groups play a key role,
But the problem is that these groups are often informal.
Their skills, and their resources, are very limited.
To correct this problem,
We set up a nursery program.
A six-month program,
Where we offer courses (drills) in an intensive manner,
To refugee leaders in these organizations,
So they can make their organization
A solid organization.
And so the same way
Owned by McKinsey,
Urban refugees have urban refugees and we have an incubator.
We use the same methodologies from these consulting firms.
For those who are familiar with terminology,
We do change management and audit practices.
And so on,
We help these self-help groups improve their structure.
At present,
We work with a group of Afghan refugees in a country in Southeast Asia,
At the end of our program,
This organization
You will be able to provide good services to its community.
what does it mean?
This means that they can contact the United Nations,
When one of its members is detained,
Ie they will be able to teach the classroom
For children who can not join the education system,
They will be able to provide access to health care,
Because refugees have no access to the health system
In the country where they live.
This means that they will also be able to call for defense
On their rights, in particular with the United Nations.
There is a big dream, in fact, behind this project.
The establishment of a global refugee organization.
Will be organized for all these refugee assistance groups
World-class that will carry all their votes.
I told you that in urban refugees, we had three axes of action,
In fact, we have a fourth.
This fourth axis is you.
Without you, these groups, these refugees, will remain oblivious.
You can now engage with associations like us.
We have skills needs, volunteer needs,
You can change the situation, and we will not be able to do it without you.
every day,
New refugees leave for cities,
And thus to forgetfulness.
It is time to turn what is visible to invisible.
Thank you so much.
(clap)
Most of the refugees in the world are invisible
First invisible because,
Contrary to what we often think,
Most refugees do not live in Europe.
When we look at the numbers,
We recognize that 86% of the refugees are currently
Living in the South,
Often in countries close to conflict zones.
They are also invisible
Because most of them have no refuge in the humanitarian camps in these countries,
But much more in cities.
Thus, far from humanitarian assistance,
Far from media attention.
In every new refugee crisis,
On television we see pictures of these camps,
Tents that house children, women,
Men, older people.
However, these images only partially reflect
On the reality of the current displacement of the population.
When we look at the numbers,
We realize that 58% of the refugees today live in cities,
Not in humanitarian camps.
In fact, when we look at it closely,
It is not surprising as it may seem from the first glance.
You have to imagine …
Think about the age you have at the moment,
I add 17 years.
17 years,
Is the average time spent by refugees in exile.
So you have to imagine yourself living for 17 years,
In a camp, I mean under a tent,
Without getting the education that deserves the name,
Without access to the labor market,
In precarious conditions,
Depends on humanitarian assistance for its survival and its relatives.
Will you stay in a refugee camp for 17 years?
What is certain,
Is that most refugees
Prefer to go to cities,
With this hope of rebuilding their lives,
To restore the natural appearance.
the problem,
Is that most of the time in the South,
Means living in a precarious situation,
With very little humanitarian support or no humanitarian support at all,
In a very complex case,
In short, in the greatest invisible.
Now, we can not help those who do not see them.
Method 1 To resolve the problem,
Is to see it first.
So I participated in the establishment of urban refugees in 2012 with David Delafali,
With this simple idea:
Make visible what is invisible,
Drawing attention, humanitarian assistance,
To these millions of urban refugees in the South.
In urban refugees, three areas of action were identified.
the first,
Is the political call.
This means attracting the attention of policy makers,
The international community,
The importance of assuming responsibility for urban refugees,
But also on the need to develop alternatives to refugee camps,
Because camps can not be a systematic response to crises.
In practice, this means that we,
We meet with political decision-makers,
We sit in a United Nations working group.
It is a long-term action,
But they are necessary if we want these things to change on a large scale.
While
That the political side is important,
It is also necessary to assist non-governmental organizations, the humanitarian community,
To develop programs for urban refugees.
This is the second axis to work on.
It must be understood that 50 years ago
Humanitarian camps are the preferred method
To manage refugee crises.
However, as one suspect,
Going to support refugees in cities,
Requires experience which is completely different.
For example, we will have to
To negotiate with municipal authorities;
It will be necessary to identify the refugees
In very large urban areas.
We must also succeed in supporting them
Without igniting tensions with the local population,
Which is often exposed to crises.
So,
There is a real challenge at present,
In the area of adaptation to the humanitarian community and to non-governmental organizations
In order to meet this adaptation challenge,
We created a network
Mutual assistance and exchange of good practices among non-governmental organizations.
clearly,
At present, we have a network of 80 NGOs in 40 countries,
Help each other to develop and research programs
Of urban refugees, who work.
To give you an example,
At present,
We are helping a non-governmental organization in Jordan
To develop a community center for urban refugees,
By linking them to a non-governmental organization in Indonesia,
Which has very strong experience in this field.
But of course,
Politicians and humanists have their role,
Most importantly, at least in our view,
Most effective,
Will be supported by urban refugee initiatives themselves.
It must be understood that throughout the world,
The refugees have established self-help groups,
To support their communities.
It’s kind of like, all here, we were displaced tomorrow,
We became refugees and we were going to asylum in Morocco.
The first thing we do is help each other among the French people,
We will certainly establish a cooperation group for French refugees in Morocco.
Urban refugees do this all over the world.
I can see with my own eyes
The effectiveness of these collaboration groups,
When I was working in the Middle East, before the establishment of urban refugees.
The organization I was working with,
Has seen the arrest of Omar, a Sudanese refugee,
Through a group of Sudanese refugees in the country,
Who informed us that he had disappeared.
So they are groups play a key role,
But the problem is that these groups are often informal.
Their skills, and their resources, are very limited.
To correct this problem,
We set up a nursery program.
A six-month program,
Where we offer courses (drills) in an intensive manner,
To refugee leaders in these organizations,
So they can make their organization
A solid organization.
And so the same way
Owned by McKinsey,
Urban refugees have urban refugees and we have an incubator.
We use the same methodologies from these consulting firms.
For those who are familiar with terminology,
We do change management and audit practices.
And so on,
We help these self-help groups improve their structure.
At present,
We work with a group of Afghan refugees in a country in Southeast Asia,
At the end of our program,
This organization
You will be able to provide good services to its community.
what does it mean?
This means that they can contact the United Nations,
When one of its members is detained,
Ie they will be able to teach the classroom
For children who can not join the education system,
They will be able to provide access to health care,
Because refugees have no access to the health system
In the country where they live.
This means that they will also be able to call for defense
On their rights, in particular with the United Nations.
There is a big dream, in fact, behind this project.
The establishment of a global refugee organization.
Will be organized for all these refugee assistance groups
World-class that will carry all their votes.
I told you that in urban refugees, we had three axes of action,
In fact, we have a fourth.
This fourth axis is you.
Without you, these groups, these refugees, will remain oblivious.
You can now engage with associations like us.
We have skills needs, volunteer needs,
You can change the situation, and we will not be able to do it without you.
every day,
New refugees leave for cities,
And thus to forgetfulness.
It is time to turn what is visible to invisible.
Thank you so much.
(clap)
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