A Nordic Network for Research on Refugee Children was created at
NHV; The Nordic School of Public Health, Göteborg, Sweden. The
network has received funding from FAS; Forskningsrådet för
arbetsliv och social vetenskap, for the years 2008-2010, to create
this network.
The aim is to promote research on health and well being of refugee
children in the Nordic countries. All the Nordic countries are
represented in the network and in it's steering committee.
Web-site: www.nordicrefugeechildren.org
Most of the health studies of newly settled refugee children
tend to focus on factors associated with the country of origin
(i.e. trauma, ethnicity). There are few studies on the effects of
the reception programs and other interventions that are implemented
in the countries of reception. There is a need to describe what
effects such interventions may have on health and well-being, as
well as to develop guidelines of good practice that can be expected
to have considerable impact on refugees' health.
The Nordic countries have many similarities, but also important
differences that can be useful to analyze when developing policies
and guidelines of good practice and which could be overlooked in
studies involving countries with wider differences in other
aspects.
During the years 2009-2010 there have been four conferences with
different topics;
- Research on refugee children, Oslo June 2009
- Psycho-social interventions, Helsinki January 2010
- Follow-up studies, Copenhagen June 2010
- Research on Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in Europe, Göteborg
December 2010
Nordic Network for Research Cooperation on Unaccompanied
Refugee Minors (NordURM)
In 2011 a new network was created by members of the Nordic Network
with funding from NordForsk: Nordic Network for Research
Cooperation on Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (NordURM). The aims of
this network are to encourage and consolidate Nordic collaboration
on research on URM, to enhance the understanding of URM's diverse
and complex needs and various national responses to these, and to
develop themes for joint research projects.
The two networks work closely together and have related
conferences. Six common conferences are planned for the years
2012-2014, often encompassing both a PhD workshop and a Network
Meeting. The first was held in Oslo 29.2.-1.3.2012.
Publications
Can be downloaded from www.nordicrefugeechildren.org:
Jessen, T. & Montgomery, E. Reception of asylum seeking and
refugee children in the Nordic countries. The Danish report
(2010).
Pastoor, L. de Wall, Eide, K. & Mekonen, L. Reception of asylum
seeking and refugee children in the Nordic countries: The Norwegian
report (2010)
Brendler-Lindquits, M & Hjern, A. Reception of asylum seeking
and refugee children in the Nordic countries - The Swedish report
(2010)
Julusdottir, B. & Gunnlaugasson, G. A Nordic comparison of
reception of asylum seeking and refugee children in a public health
perspective - Iceland (2010)
Contact: Edith Montgomery