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Writer's pictureKyle Kvamme
5 days ago4 min read

ORAM’s LGBTIQ Humanitarian Inclusion Research Debuts in Berlin


Since its inception over a year ago, ORAM’s Humanitarian Inclusion Project has made remarkable strides in creating safe spaces and delivering inclusion training for LGBTIQ refugee support across the humanitarian field. This year, ORAM’s Inclusion team delivered training to 49 organizations and 109 individuals supporting LGBTIQ displaced persons across Poland and hosted a consortium with key stakeholders earlier this month. 


Building on this momentum, the team recently produced a comprehensive research report that highlights progress on LGBTIQ inclusion by showcasing positive practices from service delivery providers in Central and Eastern Europe while addressing the challenges that can hinder meaningful change. We based the research on 15 qualitative (analysis of non-numerical data) interviews with a diverse range of organizations supporting displaced LGBTIQ persons in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, offering a robust insight into the realities faced by these communities. By consolidating the best practices of refugee and humanitarian professionals in this region, the report provides actionable recommendations on how meaningful LGBTIQ inclusion can be implemented, with the hope of inspiring broader action across the sector. 


ORAM’s Inclusion Specialist, Adam McNally, recently presented the findings at an event in Berlin, hosted in partnership with the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM) at Humboldt University. “It was a collaborative effort to showcase the work that we're doing to support LGBTIQ refugees and asylum seekers in Central and Eastern Europe. By partnering with this institute, we aimed to showcase the importance of bridging theory and practice when it comes to queer feminist perspectives on migration and displacement,” Adam shared. 


Adam led the research alongside Dr. Mengia Tschalär, Professor of Anthropology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City of University New York, both of whom participated in a panel discussion joined by Dr. Gökce Yurdakul from INTERSECT, a project focused on supporting refugee women and children from Ukraine. The event also featured a roundtable discussion, facilitated by Dr. Tschalär, with representatives from three of the organizations that contributed to the research, Jana Bedaňová (SIMI), Tamás Dombos (Háttér Society) and Sarian Jarosz (Queer Without Borders). 


All 15 participating organizations were invited to attend the event, either in person or virtually, underscoring the importance of collaborative and regionally inclusive research. “ “We wanted to provide a space for key actors from that region to speak to the work that they're doing because, without these valuable contributions, there would be no report, nor would there be policy and programmatic recommendations which we hope can provide insights not only for direct service providers but also for donors, international humanitarian agencies and United Nations bodies working with displaced communities” 


The event saw diverse participation from international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), UN agencies, academics, and students. Adam noted that audience feedback honed in on the humanitarian system’s inclusivity or lack thereof, and the conversation sparked ideas for implementing the research recommendations to support proactive LGBTIQ inclusion. During these conversations, the audience emphasized that despite the recent increase in visibility and guidance for LGBTIQ inclusion, the humanitarian sector still often overlooks the unique vulnerabilities and needs of LGBTIQ forcibly displaced persons. Unfortunately, high-level commitments to address these issues have yet to materialize in the form of meaningful and long-term funding to support the integration of SOGIESC-sensitive policies and programming in humanitarian responses.   


Reflecting on the event, Adam highlighted the importance of engaging in this type of qualitative research. “When we are talking about research, there’s a pressure to focus on quantitative research - on numbers - to justify how many LGBTIQ refugees there are as a rationale for funding, as opposed to focusing on how we can cultivate an environment that allows for LGBTIQ refugees to have agency to freely and safely disclose  their diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).” Adam further explains that when working with LGBTIQ populations, it's crucial to be comfortable with the reality that many individuals in these communities might conceal their identities or that they might not fit neatly into rigid binary categories of identification within standardized data collection tools. While population data is essential for designing, implementing, and evaluating humanitarian activities, accurately collecting data on LGBTIQ individuals can be challenging. “Despite these challenges, deciding not to engage with LGBTIQ populations due to insufficient data only reinforces their ‘invisibility’ which leads to systemic underrepresentation. We need to recognize and address these issues with empathy and a commitment to inclusion, as this will enable transformational and meaningful change to occur over time,” Adam added.


While the research focuses on Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia as case studies, the recommendations offer flexible guidance that can benefit organizations worldwide working in similar spaces. “The policy brief is adaptable for a variety of organizations, providing proactive steps to support LGBTIQ displaced persons in different contexts,” Adam shared. 


ORAM extends its deepest gratitude to the 15 organizations (listed below) involved in this milestone research and Center for Disaster Philanthropy for their generous support in making this work possible. 


List of Participating Organizations:


Hungary


Poland


Czechia


Slovakia


Romania

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