VULNER Webinar - Contested Vulnerabilities: Refugees' Experiences of Humanitarian Programs

Humanitarian programs in the Global South are in place to support the immediate needs of the “most vulnerable”, with the aim of “leaving no one behind”. This includes asylum seekers and refugees, to whom the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) targets aid and services. For this, UNHCR and its partners use standardised vulnerability categories and an Age Gender and Diversity (AGD) approach. These standardised vulnerability assessments are used globally. They help, among other uses, determine who is eligible for resettlement: to be moved from refugee camps in poorer, refugee hosting countries like Uganda, to countries in the Global North.

This workshop draws on recent ethnographic research conducted in a refugee settlement in Uganda in the context of the European Union‘s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Project, “VULNER: Vulnerabilities Under the Global Protection Regime.”

How do the vulnerability categories work in situations of resource limitations? What are refugees’ concrete experiences of vulnerability in Uganda? How do migrants negotiate, resist, or contest vulnerabilities categories? How effectively do humanitarian aid programs address the protection needs of refugees in general?

Scholars and practitioners share insights that respond to these questions from their respective fields.

Introduction and moderation:
Marie-Claire Foblets | Director, Department of Law and Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

Speakers:
Henok Ochalla | Head of Office, UNHCR, Tanzania
Sophie Nakueira | Senior Research Fellow, Department of Law & Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Julie Berg| Director, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Centre, University of Glasgow
Larissa Vetters | Senior Research Fellow, Department of Law & Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Closing Remarks: Catherine Brun | Deputy Director for Research at the Centre for Lebanese Studies