Deadline: 20 July 2016
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in collaboration with Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is launching a call for innovative, interdisciplinary projects focusing on the Forced Displacement due to poverty, war, conflict, persecution or human rights violations. The project is being funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).
The aim of this call is to demonstrate the capability of the UK research community to respond to pressing international crises, and to build interdisciplinary capacity to address complex challenges. The duration of the project will be between 6 and 24 months.
Project Priorities
The project priorities include the following:
- the experiences, vulnerabilities and survival strategies of different people whilst on the move (eg women, children, elderly and disabled), as well as those based in different types of settlements for varying degrees of time (this might, for example, include vulnerabilities and strategies for preserving health, wellbeing, identity, culture, and heritage etc)
- understanding the dynamics of the operational response including the challenge of inter-agency co-operation across humanitarian, development and human rights organisations
- specific strategies for reaching out and providing support for marginalised and hardto-reach people (and particularly the most vulnerable in this category) living in urban and rural areas
- understanding the opportunities and limitations of re-engaging people in economic, social, and cultural activities and contributing to host communities – for example by enabling self-reliance, education and employment among the forcibly displaced
- the relationships between displaced people and host populations including the roles of various actors involved in promoting trust, tolerance, integration, intercultural dialogue and social cohesion
- new interventions in relief and protection – educational, vocational, artistic – aimed at promoting the dignity, human rights, and empowerment of displaced people
- understanding the international legal and political frameworks designed to give protection to the forced displaced – how they currently operate in practice and gaps in provision
- how we can help humanise refugees and other forced displaced – challenging the construct of displaced people simply as beneficiaries or recipients of aid and resources
- approaches for building capacity in host communities to ensure adequate infrastructures are in place to meet the needs of forced displaced and their integration process -for example social service provision, cultural translation, education, language acquisition, re-skilling etc
- addressing policy concerns through contextualising the contemporary debate on forced displacement considering the cultural, theoretical and historical framing
- considering how experiences of forced displacement and theoretical framings from the global south might address the more recent concerns of citizens and governments in the global north in making sense of the contemporary situation
- what is the contribution of established communities/diasporas in receiving countries to support positive responses to needs of refugees from their countries of origin?
Funding Information
The proposals are invited for up to a maximum funding amount of £300,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Proposals are invited from ROs eligible for ESRC or AHRC funding across the UK.
- Academic researchers (at PhD or equivalent status) from established overseas Research Organisations of comparable standing to ESRC-eligible UK Research Organisations are eligible to be listed as international co-investigators under this call.
How to Apply
All proposals must be made through the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system.
Eligible Country: UK
For more information, please visit ESRC-AHRC Forced Displacement Grants.