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Glossary

Accountability:

Practice of applying power responsibly, taking account of and aligning with the feedback of those who are affected by our ideas and actions.

Agency:

A sense of freedom that allows for direct engagement and inclusion in decision-making to shape one’s actions.

Asylum Seekers:

People who have already fled their homes because of fear of persecution and seek international protection in another country. Their claim for asylum may or may not be accepted by the country in which they have submitted their application, which is why not every asylum seeker can be recognized as a refugee.

Belonging:

A feeling of connection, acceptance and inclusion as a member, affiliated with or part of something.

Care:

Concern, regard and importance towards someone or something ensuring sufficient provision for their health, welfare, and protection.

Collaboration:

To enable us to learn from each other and achieve a shared purpose by bringing our diverse experiences and expertise together.

Community:

A group of people that form a collective, sharing a common identity that binds them based on geographical, economical or social parameters.

Community Ownership:

The act and degree of responsibility and accountability taken by community members towards programs and activities to lead, solve challenges and strengthen the system.

Conflict transformation:

A process to alter the various characteristics and manifestations of violence and transform the negative aspects of the conflict into positive ones, while dealing with the deep-rooted issues to facilitate society’s holistic growth.

Conflict-sensitivity:

An approach to analyze conflict from multiple dimensions, including the divisive and connecting issues, in order to prevent further division and contribute to strengthen social cohesion.

Creative Strength:

Ability of an individual or mind to think differently, outside-the-box and the agility to tackle a pertaining situation through an unconventional and fresh perspective.

Creativity:

Allows us to imagine and perceive the world in new ways, to tap into our hidden potential and generate new connections, possibilities and realities.

Dignity:

Our inherent worth and irreplaceable value as human beings with the right to be treated with respect.

Disaster:

A calamitous event, human-made or natural, which occurs suddenly and causes great damages, losses and destruction. It significantly disrupts the functioning of the community and undermines its ability to cope with its consequences.

Displaced People:

People who have to flee their homes due to conflict, natural disasters, human rights violations, emergency events or other threats.

Displacement:

A movement of people from their original position to a new environment, out of fear, force, compulsion, need or coercion.

Empower:

To enable people to channel their inner strength, capacities and confidence to express their rights, responsibilities and build a better future.

Empowerment:

A process that enables and fosters power in people to shape their own lives, communities and society by acting on that which they hold as important.

Entrepreneurial Skills:

A broad range of both hard and soft skills that are essential to the growth and success of entrepreneurs. This set of practices and competencies supports the development of technical capacities, leadership, business management, educational, communication and creative entrepreneurship.

Expressive Arts:

Applying a combination of modalities such as visual arts, movement, storytelling, music, theatre and creative outlets to enhance individual healing, exploration and development.

Fleeing:

To remove oneself, family or a group of people from a place or circumstance, often for safety and security reasons.

Human Trafficking:

A crime that involves transportation of people against their will, through the use of force, fraud or coercion, to obtain some type of labor or exploitation.

Human-centered:

A practice to cultivate deep empathy with people to understand their core issues and design solutions keeping them at the center.

Humanitarian:

Someone who actively engages in promoting human and social reforms to reduce suffering and improve everyday lives through human dignity.

Humanitarian Crises:

An event or series of events that represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or well-being of a community or group of people. May arise from conflict, natural disaster, human rights violations, forced economic and social migration or environmental conditions.

Humanitarian Principles:

A set of principles, namely, humanity, neutrality, independence and impartiality, that guide humanitarian responses to ensure access to marginalized people most affected by natural or human-made emergencies.

Inclusion:

Inclusion is the process of improving access and terms of participation of all members of the society, especially those marginalised.

Integration:

This is a dynamic, two-way process in which newcomers, marginalized, displaced people and their receiving host communities work together to shape the social fabric, while building secure and cohesive societies.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs):

Persons who are forced to flee their homes because of armed conflicts, natural disasters, human rights violations and other emergencies, without crossing the national borders and staying within the country where they reside.

Local Agency:

The practice of opening up the space where solutions for local needs are found locally.

Migrants:

People who move away from their area of origin, temporarily or permanently, either in search of better opportunities (voluntarily) or out of fear and unrest (involuntarily).

Participatory Action Research (PAR):

A process where community participation and action are the main forms of conducting research and evaluating data with a commitment to share results with community members.

Peacebuilding:

A long-term process to build sustainable harmony through transforming the root causes of structural, geopolitical and social issues that trigger violence or unrest.

Photovoice:

A practice to mitigate inequalities of voice, education, economy, access and enable communities to share their own stories with the help of photos or videos as their medium.

Psychosocial:

An approach that involves the intersection and combination of psychological factors and the external social environment on the physical and mental well-being and wellness of individuals.

Refugees:

People who have sufficient fear of persecution for reasons of nationality, religion, race, ethnic, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, owing to which they are forced to cross national borders and find protection in another country.

Resilience:

A tendency to work through adversity with a capability to “bounce back”, while recovering, adapting and evolving through tough circumstances.

Safe Spaces:

An environment, physical or virtual, that invites people into non-discriminatory participation to express their identity, share resources and other forms of support, to provide emotional security, protection and respect for each other.

Simulation:

An enactment or make believe experience that is created to project and share an actual event, performance or idea.

Skill Sets:

A useful range of capabilities and capacities to carry out various tasks throughout life.

Smuggling:

A situation that involves the facilitation of a person’s illegal entry into a country, for financial, material or other benefit.

Social Cohesion:

A set of social processes that instill a sense of belongingness, connection and solidarity among different groups and enable all to feel recognized as members of that community.

Social Impact:

To take initiative and prioritize programs, projects and practices that systematically and sustainably address systemic social issues and disparities.

Social Mapping:

A community-centred exercise to gather information through a representational map of a range of issues, risks, resources and networks existing in a given social infrastructure with its various structures.

Stakeholders:

Entities who are involved and play a role, while complementing each other, in a particular program, situation, community or activity.

Stateless person:

A person who is not considered as a national of any state or country.

Storytelling:

The art of interactively using words, images, body language and actions to encourage the active imagination of the listener.

Sustainable Network:

A community that cares about each other’s needs and uses its existing ideas and strengths to build on resources and thrive together.

Transnational Networks:

Interactions, coalitions, compliances, movements and support shared between different actors extended beyond existing national borders.

Trust:

The faith you have in yourself and in those around you built through consistent practices, enabling a sense of reliability, security and connection with each other.

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