Dr Valentina Baú at the EuPRA Conference, November 2024
Associate Research Fellow to the UNESCO Chair, Dr Valentina Baú, has recently published a new article, titled Communicating Social Cohesion in Forced Displacement: A Framework for Protracted Situations of Encampment This paper addresses the role that communication and media interventions can play in fostering social cohesion among displaced populations in camp settings through a review of both practical and theoretical notions in this area. The multiple definitions available in the literature on social cohesion do not come to a consensus on what this concept means. Yet, despite this lack of substance, reflecting on social cohesion in contexts of displacement has been a prevalent topic. Horizontal social cohesion, which is critical in protracted situations of encampment, is defined by UNHCR as the bond that ‘hold(s) people together within a community’. While a number of studies have focused on the social connection between host and displaced people, scarce attention has been paid to the dynamics and social fractures among displaced communities themselves. Yet, tensions both within and between groups of displaced people may be equally, if not more important to social cohesion than relationships with other groups. In order to begin to address this gap, a communication-based framework for humanitarian and development work on social cohesion in refugee camps is presented. Ultimately, the aim of this article is to offer a starting point for humanitarian agencies working in refugee camps to articulate the adoption of a communication-driven approach in their social cohesion programming. Dr Baú also delivered a keynote presentation on her work, titled Community Development and Peacebuilding: the role of communication in a changing world at the 2024 European Peace Research Association (EuPRA) Conference, held at the University of Pisa this month (November 2024).
