LEERN is a seven years project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada with Partnership Secretariat based at Carleton University, and programs developed and implemented by Geographic Working Groups in Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon and Tanzania, along with Thematic Working Groups focusing on Protection, Solutions, and Diversity/Intersectionality. The project involves a team of researchers and practitioners committed to promoting protection and solutions with and for refugees. The core goal is to ensure that refugee research, policy and practice are shaped by a more inclusive, equitable and informed collective engagement of civil society. Through collaborative research, training, and knowledge-sharing aimed to improve the functioning of the global refugee regime and ensure more timely protection and rights-based solutions for refugees. LEERN is focused in the global South, which hosts 85% of the world’s refugees, and responds to the needs and opportunities identified by our partners in major refugee-hosting countries.
The project is articulated in three components: Research, Training and Capacity-Building, and Knowledge Mobilization. Namely, comparative research on the politics of refugee protection and solutions in national contexts is conducted in partnership with NGO and academic institutions in each identified country, with the aim to understand the challenges associated with the implementation of global refugee policy in national and local contexts. NGO and academic bodies would enjoy of workshops, exchange opportunities, and the development of training materials on the topic by enhancing the capacity of civil society actors, including refugees. Results will be disseminated also through outreach activities with global policy actors in New York and Geneva to ensure that local realities better inform global policy discussions. Within LEERN the CSS hosted the Civil society and the global refugee regime: Understanding and enhancing impact through the implementation of global refugee policy – Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LEERN) workshop who gathered together international NGOs, refugee representatives, policy and decision makers, academics and diplomats strongly engaged in refugee response.
 
Donor: Carleton University/CanadaYear: 2020