Refugee integration through inclusion: a whole-of-society approach to fighting cultural divisions

Shaza Al Rihawi is a human rights activist and Syrian refugee based in Germany. With first-hand experience in dealing with refugees and cases of sexual and gender-based violence, she previously worked for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria, as well as with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Centre for Strategic Studies in Syria. Al Rihawi is a leading member of a number of refugee- and migrant-led organisations, including the Network for Refugee Voices, the Global Refugee-led Network (GRN) and the European Migrant Advisory Board, an initiative of the EU Urban Agenda’s Partnership on Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees. She also works at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories for a project on refugees in the German educational system.

Jenny Hornisch’s current work focuses on strengthening the resilience of refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities. She has spent the past eight years working with GIZ in crisis- and conflict-affected contexts across the Middle East. Hornisch’s recent work in Palestine focused on protecting and promoting women’s rights through increasing female representation in socioeconomic decision-making and local government, as well as raising awareness of gendered issues at the municipal level. Her areas of expertise include good governance, fragility and conflict, migration and displacement.

Yasmine Ouirhrane is the co-founder of We Belong, a platform and podcast that amplifies the voice of the New Daughters of Europe. She also served as an appointed expert for the European Union and the African Union and she delivered dozens of recommendations to international institutions, including the World Bank, Foreign Affairs Canada and Wilton Park UK Foreign Office. She provided workshops on access to education, equal opportunities and social entrepreneurship for Tony Blair Institute, Change.org, EM Business School and WISE Qatar, among others. She was recognised Young European of the Year 2019 by the Schwarzkopf Foundation, EDD Young Leader by the European Commission, Women Deliver Young Leader and she is a member of the Gender Innovation Agora at UN Women.

With the aim of combining her academic background in interior design with her passion for remedying societal issues, Rozina Spinnoy founded BIDs Belgium, an organisation bringing public-private partnerships to specific areas within municipal districts. The organisation focuses on championing the value of inclusive education and ‘designing’ inclusive communities. Spinnoy’s work also includes the social and digital inclusion project Analogue to Digital, which has a focus on vulnerable and neuro-diverse youth. Her design management experience overlaps a wide variety of sectors, including education, equality, inclusion, women’s issues, mental health, urban place-making and civic participation.