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By Jacob Warn and Tanya Murphy
Over the past years, the Across Borders cohort has not only focused on good practice in providing direct support to displaced people. The cohort has also led conversations on how to shift power to those with lived experience of forced migration: ensuring those voices that can best identify the challenges faced and articulate the solutions are part of the decision-making and story-telling. This led to the Asylum Speakers podcast series in 2022 and the Re-Rooted Exhibition in 2023.
Indeed, practical support and story-telling are fundamentally connected. Story-telling has the power to build empathy and encourage action. These acts of solidarity in turn write new stories that inspire further change.
In November 2023, the Across Borders cohort gathered in Athens for an international Summit to develop a collective strategy for centring lived experience. Over three days, these organisations collaborated to define key actions for funders and civil society organisations. These actions were focused on the steps those working in the migration sector must take to better recruit and support people with lived experience, design more impactful programmes, and ensure they are properly resourced.
Key Actions for Funders and Civil Society to build a migrant-led movement by 2030
Civil society organisations and Funders commit to recruiting and supporting more people with lived experience to build inclusive organisational cultures that are led by lived experience.
Civil society organisations commit to inclusive co-design and delivery of programmes and to acknowledging refugee and migrant-led organisations as equal partners.
Funders commit to fund inclusively refugee and migrant-led organisations to build a stronger lived experience-led civil society sector.
Six months later, the cohort met again in London to share good practice through workshops, performance and discussion. Guests heard from an international array of organisations practising innovative approaches to inclusivity and power shifting, from recruitment to co-production, funding to public speaking.
Great Ideas Talks
Empowerment and Trust - Gabriela Bucher(opens in new window)
Why not hire someone with lived experience – Abdulrahman Bdiwi(opens in new window)
Good Practice Stories
To accompany these videos, the Across Borders cohort is also delighted to be releasing seven Good Practice Stories. These are carefully selected instances of international good practice within organisations seeking to centre lived experience in their work. You can read and share each of the stories here:
‘Telling my story again, and again - co-creating a Community Speaker Policy
- European Network on Statelessness
‘And the Bafta goes to…’ - Opening Doors for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
- Good Chance Theatre
‘Based on a true story’: authentic representations in Film and TV
- Counterpoints Arts
Embedding Lived Experience through Traineeships
- Medical Justice
Getting funding to refugee-led organisations in Lebanon
- Choose Love
From Beneficiaries to Global Leaders: towards a Refugee-Led Leadership Model
- StARS
Eyes Open - is this the next leader of your organisation?
- Velos Youth
Together, all these Across Borders videos and stories provide some of the building blocks we need - the ideas, early-stage proofs, and the inspiration - to build an inclusive movement that leads with empathy, expertise and equity.
Funded by Comic Relief, the Across Borders programme(opens in new window) is a group of civil society organisations who are working to develop routes to safety for refugees. This cohort has been transforming lives together since 2020, and is set to continue its work until 2025. During this period, information-sharing, innovative practices and enhanced collaboration puts the Across Borders cohort at the cutting edge of a modern refugee response.
