Diaspora Advocacy Project
Project Host
World Humanitarian Action Foru
Revenue
£165,020
Charity Number
1130399
Project aims
This project aims to address the economic and racial injustices faced by diaspora led humanitarian organisations, through a series of sustained conversations, workshops and jointly decided activities.
Project description
In 2023 WHAF held a consultation on the role of diaspora actors in humanitarian sector reform efforts (e.g. localisation) resulting in the identification of a number of key roles and areas of importance. One being that local humanitarian actors wanted diaspora actors to play a bigger role in advocacy: raising awareness of needs, the role of local actors and support for the same, but also, invariably, on the root causes of humanitarian crisis.
At the same time, diaspora humanitarian actors in the UK, particularly those with a Muslim identity, experience a mix of both economic and racial injustice – through racially applied bank de-risking measures that make their ability to transfer funds overseas extremely precarious. Furthermore, since October 2023 the environment in the UK has become increasingly hostile for Muslim voices and organisations, leading to a culture of self-censorship and reluctance to engage in advocacy initiatives seen as likely to lead to greater financial restrictions and further hamper their humanitarian work.
We want to explore these compounding issues head on, yet through a considered approach that consults with the diaspora actors in our network to develop a safe space to hold these discussions, provide workshops and identify collective actions.
Contact name
Fatima Hersi
Phone
07510276953
Email
fatima@whaf.org.uk
Website
www.whaf.org.uk
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