Durable Solutions for Refugees

WUSC’s Student Refugee Program (SRP) transforms the lives of many — especially formerly sponsored students. After their studies, formerly sponsored students (or SRP alumni as they are known) have gone on to do many diverse things in Canada and globally. These range from ordinary — working and supporting a family — to extraordinary — playing…

By: Arianne Leclerc, Local Committee alum, and Rhoda Philip, SRP alum Recently, WUSC representatives took part in the second annual event: Engaging Student Voices to Support the Global Compacts, held by the University Alliance for Refugees and at Risk Migrants UARRM at the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Student leaders, policy makers, practitioners, and post-secondary education leaders came…

Today, there are more refugees in the world than at any other time in history. The scale of displacement and the duration of displacement is also consistently increasing – from 43.3 million in 2009 to 70.8 million in 2018, a record high – according to UNHCR. WUSC is committed to supporting solutions and increasing the…

Introducing the new INEE Guidance Note on Gender by Nora Fyles & Dean Brooks This blog post was originally published by the Global Partnership for Education. As civil war engulfed her home country Somalia, eight-year-old Fatuma fled with her family to Dadaab, Kenya, site of one of the world’s largest refugee camps. With the support…

One of the most important innovations in anti-poverty policy in the last couple of decades has been the scale-up of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs. A typical CCT will transfer cash to a poor household conditional on children attending school and receiving health check-ups regularly. While CCTs have often been promoted as an effective means…

From July 2019 to September 2019, World University Service of Canada (WUSC) was contracted by Mastercard Foundation to conduct research into bridging initiatives and programs that support displaced youth, including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), in sub-Saharan Africa to access higher education and employment upon graduation. This mapping study, A Bridge to the Future:…

Every August, for the last four decades, WUSC community members have gathered at airports across the country. Together, with banners and smiles, they welcome newly arriving SRP students.  This year, 123 students arrived to start their new lives in Canada, where they will be empowered to continue their post-secondary studies in safe and supportive environments.…

The Humanitarian Education Accelerator (HEA) is an innovative, multi-donor fund that invests in research to help improve our collective understanding of how pilot projects can be transformed into scalable educational initiatives for refugees and displaced communities worldwide. The HEA is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development, UNHCR, and UNICEF. Our Education Advisor, Stephanie…

New Ways to Sponsor Refugees with WUSC The latest global trends report from UNHCR shows that the global refugee crisis continues to worsen, with a record high of 70.8 million people displaced around the world in 2018. With Canada being a world leader in refugee resettlement, new initiatives have been emerging across the country to respond…

Welcoming former refugees at airports across the country each August marks a significant milestone for our Student Refugee Program. Each student that arrives to begin their post-secondary education journey in Canada reflects the culmination of months of hard work among our Local Committee network and school administrations, and the generosity of our donors to create more…