Chapter 8 examines the role of humanitarian organisations, in particular the Jesuit Refugee Service, in assisting refugees and displaced people. It aims to provide the students with a sound understanding of what refugee agencies do and how effective they can be.

The first activity of the chapter presents two photos of refugee camps in Africa and asks the students to examine the photos and to imagine what life is like for the refugees in the camps, and what basic necessities they imagine the camp to be in need of.

It is quite clear from the photos that the camps are very overcrowded, that the dwellings are very small and makeshift in nature and that there is a near total lack of amenities for the refugees. Often the refugees are confined to the camps, forbidden from leaving to find work or to attend markets. In several camps throughout Africa, tens of thousands of refugees have been languishing in similar camps for as long as a decade, unable to return to their own war-torn countries, though prevented from living normal lives in their host country.

Possible further questions for the students.
Are there schools or hospitals in the camps?
Where do the young refugees play sport?

Activity
Matching the photo captions to the photos is an exercise which lays out various forms of assistance provided to refugees by humanitarian organisations, from the provision of emergency assistance, such as food and health care, to education support and regeneration projects.

Answers

Photo A = Caption 4
Photo B = Caption 5
Photo C = Caption 1
Photo D = Caption 6
Photo E = Caption 3
Photo F = Caption 2

Activity
Open Discussion

The Open Discussion is aimed at the older students, and focuses on the complex issue of where a humanitarian organisation fits into the institutionalised structure of providing assistance to groups and individuals – a role often played by governments. The question asks the students what they think a humanitarian organisation’s role is and if humanitarian organisations are necessary or if they merely do the work that governments should undertake.

This is a complex and real debate, though with the absence of effective state structures in many developing countries, humanitarian organisations can mean the difference between life and death for a great many people.

A further question asks the students where humanitarian organisations receive their funding. In most cases funding will come from a combination of individual donations (from private individuals and also from interested organisations and foundations) and funding from state bodies and governmental organisations, such as national governments or the European Union.

Jesuit Refugee Service
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international Catholic organisation with a mission is to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. JRS undertakes services at national and regional levels with the support of an international office in Rome. Founded in November 1980 as a work of the Society of Jesus, JRS was officially registered on 19 March 2000 at the Vatican State as a foundation.

JRS programmes are found in over 50 countries, providing assistance to refugees in refugee camps, to people displaced within their own country, to asylum seekers in cities and those held in detention. The main areas of work are in the field of Education, Advocacy, Emergency Assistance, Health and Nutrition, Income Generating Activities and Social Services. In total, more than 376,000 individuals are direct beneficiaries of JRS projects.

Over 500 workers contribute to the work of JRS, the majority of whom work on a voluntary basis, including about 100 Jesuits (priests, brothers and scholastics), 85 religious from other congregations and more than 300 lay people. These figures do not include the large number of refugees recruited to take part in the programmes as teachers, health workers and others.

JRS is also very much concerned with Advocacy and Human Rights work. This involves ensuring that refugees are afforded their full rights while in exile and during repatriation as guaranteed by the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and working to strengthen the protection afforded to Internally Displaced people (IDPs). It extends to lobbying for and promoting greater international protection and human rights legislation, either through participation in international campaigns and coalitions or through membership of international fora such as the UN Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC).

The main JRS projects are in the field of:

• Advocacy (includes human rights advocacy, case work, legal advice) - over 10,000 beneficiaries.
• Education (includes formal classroom education, scholarships, literacy courses, teacher training, skills workshops, agriculture formation and peace education) - over 115,000 beneficiaries.
• Emergency Assistance (includes emergency food, shelter, and medical assistance) - over 45,000 beneficiaries.
• Health and Food (includes assistance to clinics, hospitals, dispensaries and occupational therapy, food supplements) - approximately 130,000 beneficiaries.
• Income Generating Activities, (includes farming, craft shop and agricultural projects, small business ventures, and loan and grant schemes) - more than 4,500 beneficiaries.
• Social Services (includes community development, peacebuilding and conflict transformation, communications projects, counselling, pastoral care, leadership formation, recreation, and social welfare) - approximately 70,000 beneficiaries.