MIT ReACT Summit 2022

Konexio moderates a panel on cross-sectoral collaboration, with representatives from RefugePoint, Ikea Foundation, and US PRM

Konexio is delighted to have participated in this year’s Migration Summit, organized by the MIT Refugee Action Hub (ReACT), a month-long global event designed to build bridges between diverse communities of displaced learners, academia, private sector, government, and philanthropy around the key challenges and opportunities for refugee and migrant communities.

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Konexio’s Executive Director and cofounder, Jean Guo, moderated a panel discussion on the topic of Multi-Sectoral Approaches: How to Create Collaborative and Innovative Projects, which brought together representatives from development agencies, funders and NGOs to discuss existing approaches. The representatives included:

• Simar Singh, Senior Programs Manager at RefugePoint
  
• Rediet Kasaye, Programme Manager, Refugee Livelihoods Initiative at Ikea Foundation
  
• Anna Nicol, Policy Officer at U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
  

Together, the participants discussed possibilities for innovating livelihood programming where they brainstormed the possible collaborations across initiatives, broadening impact through the “train the trainers'' program, and aligning impact evaluation. According to Anna Nicol, only one in three refugees will return home within ten years, so long-term solutions are needed that enable refugees to rebuild their lives. Simar Singh highlighted that Self-Reliance Index is a critical framework for building futures for displaced communities, and gives responders a common frame of reference, used by Ikea Foundation and others to collaboratively tackle challenges. Participants were then invited to join to learn more about concrete tools and methodologies and brainstorm potential ways to leverage them.  
Overall, our takeaway is that collaboration greatly enhances the sustainability and success of refugee programming, and that tools - especially digital tools - are continually being developed and deployed to make collaboration easier.