Working Groups
Working Groups:
International Refugee Law (IRL)
International Relations (IR)
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
Good Practices in Refugee Resettlement, June 2003 - September 2005, Closed
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Further to expressions of interest made by members at the IASFM 12 Nicosia conference to form a series of working groups, 3 disciplines were suggested by way of discussions. These included International Refugee Law (IRL), International Relations (IR), and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The initiative came under the purview of the Programme Affairs and Innovations Officers who in consultation with others interested drew up the below TOR with details stipulating the development, functioning, and outcome of the Working Groups (WG).
Working Group - General Terms of Reference
The purpose of the WGs is to allow for collaboration between IASFM members beyond its biannual conferences. Notwithstanding this purpose, WGs are encouraged (but not required) to organize panels and otherwise support the biannual conferences as part of their activities.
Proposals
Proposals for new WGs or the modification of the terms of reference of the WG should be directed to the Programme Affairs and Innovation Officer(s) on the Executive Committee. Proposals for new WGs should provide clear statement of the purpose and planned activities of the WG. Proposals should also indicate the coordinator(s) of the WG and provide evidence that at least 5 individuals wish to actively participate in such a WG. The Programme Affairs and Innovation Officer(s) will regularly consult with the Executive Committee on proposals received.
Creation and Membership
The creation of new WGs will be announced via the IASFM listserv. Members of IASFM may join the WG. Non-members of IASFM may join the WG but must take out membership in IASFM no later than the end of the next conference of the Association. For the purposes of determining interest in a WG, non-members of the IASFM who intend to take out membership no later than the end of the next conference may be counted.
Activities and Reporting
WGs should have a clear and measurable activity (or series of activities). The coordinator(s) of each WG must report on the membership and activities of the WG to the Executive Committee of the IASFM (via the Programme Affairs and Innovation Officer(s)) on a biannual basis (in advance of each biannual conference). Inactive WGs and WG with insufficient active members may be dissolved by the Programme Affairs and Innovation Officer(s).
Support
The IASFM will initially support the activities of the WGs through its listserv, newsletters, and website and by providing space and time at its biannual conference for WG meetings. The IASFM and each of the WGs will collaborate and work towards securing both general and project funding for WGs and specific WG activities.
The charter was presented to the Executive Committee of the IASFM and was approved. Both the IRL and IDP groups presented proposals for their clusters and were formally constituted into such workings groups with activities including organizing dedicated panels for the next conference, sharing information on research findings, sharing details on funding, promoting collaborations and partnerships, encouraging advocacy activities including workshops and publications, and providing feedback to each others concerning working papers and work in progress. The IRL and IDP working groups with their founding members are listed below.
With procedure needs concluded and the base set presently both the IRL and IDP groups are conducting internal discussions to finalize and move ahead with activities. By way of early external collaborations Forced Migration Online at Oxford has offered to host papers produced by the WGs in its website as well as podcasts of panels. The FMO Discussion List has also been made available for coordinators to disseminate notices and other information.
The IASFM encourages others to submit proposals (1 page) should they wish to form a working group or if they wish to join one that already exists. Note the IR group is yet to be formulated. All communications should be made to Martin Jones (email: martindavidjones-at-gmail.com) and Danesh Jayatilaka (email: daneshj-at-hotmail.com).
| IASFM-WG on International Refugee Law (IRL)
|
IASFM-WG on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) |
| Martin Jones, University of York, UK (Coordinator) | Danesh Jayatilaka, University of Colombo (Coordinator) |
| Alice Edwards, University of Oxford, UK (Coordinator) | Tamlyn Monson, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Coordinator) |
| Angus Francis, Queensland University of Technology, Australia (Coordinator) | Elizabeth G. Ferris, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Washington DC |
| Esra Kaytaz, University of Oxford, UK | Robert Muggah, Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva |
| Matthew Albert, University of Oxford, UK | Amrita Lamba, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi |
| Sam Cheung, UNHCR, Malaysia | Rajith W.D. Lakshman, University of Colombo |
| Sivitri Taylor, La Trobe University, Melbourne | Kopalapillai Amirthalingam, University of Colombo |
| Susan Kneebone, Monash University, Melbourne | Cathrine Brun, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim |
| Phil Orchard, University of Queensland, Brisbane | Jeff Crisp, UNHCR, Geneva |
| Shi Guoqing, National Research Center for Resettlement, Hohai University, China | |
| Jian Zhou, National Research Center for Resettlement, China |
