Mo Hamza
Researcher
Approaches to strengthen the Social Cohesion between Displaced and Host Communities.
Author
Summary, in English
A cohesive society is not only characterised by the availability of basic services and facilities, but also promotes economic equality and inclusion, democracy, and social solidarity. Forced displacement due to disasters and conflict constantly disrupt the path to a sustainable and cohesive society. Displaced communities often struggle with a lack of access to livelihood and a lack of financial independence and social and family stability. With these challenges, a lack of provision of basic services and facilities will create a competition for housing, health, and education between the displaced and host communities. Additionally, the economic competition for jobs and the role of international aid in terms of fairness create social tension between the displaced and the host. Likewise, multiple aspects weaken the social cohesion between displaced and host communities. Within this context, we investigated approaches to enhance social cohesion following disaster-induced and conflict-induced displacement. With the identification of this research need, the research team of the project titled REGARD (REbuild-inG AfteR Displacement) conducted 47 in-depth interviews in four partner countries (U.K., Sweden, Estonia, and Sri Lanka) with community representatives, social support networks, agency networks, officials, etc. Moreover, focus group discussions were conducted with community members in Sri Lanka. The collected data were analysed through a qualitative data analysis procedure. The findings present eight approaches to strengthen the social cohesion between displaced and host communities. These eight approaches include the adequate provision of basic services and facilities without limiting the capacity of the host, support services aimed at local integration, economic integration between the displaced and host, and social cohesion through the built environment.
Department/s
- LU Profile Area: Human rights
- MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World
- Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety
Publishing year
2022-03-14
Language
English
Publication/Series
Sustainability (Switzerland)
Volume
14
Issue
6
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
MDPI AG
Topic
- International Migration and Ethnic Relations
Keywords
- Social Cohesion
- Conflict-induced displacements
- Disaster-induced displacements
- Resilience
- Resettlement Planning
Status
Published
Project
- Rebuilding After Displacement
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 2071-1050