Syrian refugees in Lebanon: the search for universal health coverage.

The crisis in Syria has forced more than 4 million people to find refuge outside Syria. In Lebanon, in 2015, the refugee population represented 30 % of the total population. International health assistance has been provided to refugee populations in Lebanon. However, the current humanitarian system has also contributed to increase fragmentation of the Lebanese health system. Ensuring universal health coverage to vulnerable Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian refugees will require in Lebanon to redistribute the key functions and responsibilities of the Ministry of Health and its partners to generate more coherence and efficiency

From perpetrator to peacebuilder: rethinking education in conflict-affected societies

This chapter explores the nexus between education and confict, positioning education as a contested domain that shapes, and is shaped by, a broad range of social, political, economic and cultural dynamics in confict-afected societies. On the one hand, violent conficts and structural violence have detrimental efects on educational processes and outcomes. On the other hand, education itself can (re)produce structural violence in society. Bringing together the felds of social science and cognitive neuroscience, this chapter provides a multi-faceted lens through which to address the challenges of education in diferent confict contexts from around the world, highlighting that the search for a collective peaceful future is complex

Learning in the chaos: A political economy analysis of education in Afghanistan

© 2018, The Author(s) 2018. Afghanistan is often characterised as a ‘failed’ or ‘fragile’ state in terms of state ‘functionality’, lacking in capacity to provide security and wellbeing to its citizens and failing to prevent violent conflict and terrorism. Since 2001, education has become a major victim of Afghanistan’s protracted crisis that involves international military interventions, fragile democracy and growing radicalisation. Drawing upon qualitative interviews with educational officials and practitioners in Afghanistan and critically examining the literature in education and conflict, we argue that Afghanistan’s education is caught in the nexus between deteriorating security conditions, weak governance and widespread corruption, resulting in rebel capture of educational spaces for radicalisation and violent extremism. More broadly, we contend that education faces the risk of capture for radicalisation in contexts where state fragility and fundamentalism intersect. Finally, we highlight some critical issues relating to educational programming in conflict-affected contexts

Academic mobility, language, and cultural capital : The experience of transnational academics in British higher education institutions

This article is concerned with the experiences of transnational academics teaching and researching in British higher education institutions (HEI). Although there is a plethora of studies related to the issues of international students and Western academics teaching abroad, very little has been written about the recent global phenomenon in which academics from non-English-speaking backgrounds move to English universities. This underresearched area is explored drawing on an in-depth study considering the cases of seven international academics in five different universities. The study identifies a range of their distinctive experiences which constitutes an exigent “field” in their struggle to adapt to the new cultural setting. The “logistic challenges” may exist but are transitory. Although providing an opportunity for professional development is helpful, “the offer of support” is a sensitive notion and may be perceived as a threat to both their status and identity

Education and conflict in Nepal : Possibilities for reconstruction

This paper analyses the nexus of the ‘People's War’ and education in Nepal and argues that education was one of the main causes of the violent conflict. Despite ‘modernisation’ efforts and increased participation, schools in Nepal continued to embody socially and culturally prejudiced values and institutionally legitimised the inequitable practices through the education system. Drawing on qualitative interviews with educational stakeholders from six diverse districts across the country, this paper shows how manifold deficiencies in the education system contributed to generate and fuel the ‘ideology-led’ Maoist rebellion and subsequently how schools thus became a key battlefield of the violent conflict

Post-conflict identity crisis in Nepal : implications for educational reforms

This paper is concerned with exploring tensions of national identity, as played out in the evolving context of post-accord transitional politics in Nepal. Drawing on a qualitative study of empirical research, situated at the nexus of education and violent conflict in Nepal, the paper employs close observations of recent social and political movements, especially the rise of ethnic politics following the peace agreement in 2006, and further analyses the historical antecedents aiming to create a unified national identity through language and education. It argues that educational reconstruction must deal with the notion of identity as part of a measured process to correct the legacy of ethnic, linguistic and caste-based marginalisation in Nepal

Educators for Change: Supporting the Transformative Role of Teachers in Contexts of Mass Displacement

Education in contexts affected by mass displacement is typified by political instability, the marginalization of refugee learners, and a lack of educational resources, including learning spaces, relevant curricular materials, and mechanisms for the accreditation of learning that takes place outside formal educational institutions. In these situations, teachers often become the students’ most powerful and inspirational education resource. This paper stems from a qualitative study of how Syrian refugee and Lebanese teachers understand “ future education” in the context of the protracted crisis in Lebanon. Drawing from Aronowitz and Giroux’s (1993) concept of transformative intellectuals, we argue that transformative approaches to professional development can enable teachers to capitalize on their local knowledge, professional abilities, and creativity to create spaces in which learners feel they have greater control over their lives and can envision a better future. We propose a transformative model for teacher professional development that is based on the ideal learning space envisioned by teachers in a refugee context and on a critical understanding of their existing learning environments. The intention is to support teachers as they reshape the learning environments in which they work to bring them closer to their imagined ideal. The use of available digital technologies enabled these teachers to create spaces in which they could harness and share the transformative education practices already in place and facilitate change through massive open online collaborations