Migrant Health and Resilience: Transnational Competence in Conflict and Climate Displacement Situations

In an era of escalating conflict-induced and climate-induced migration and cross-border interaction, transnational-competence (TC) preparation for displaced persons, members of their host communities, humanitarian responders, and health-care professionals is increasingly critical. Building on insights from those engaged with a range of humanitarian crises and global-justice contexts, along with multidisciplinary research findings, this cutting-edge volume provides practical guidelines for preparing stakeholders for effective short-term and long-term responses to challenges arising in the wake of population dislocation generated by armed conflict, persecution, and climate change.

Addressing the need to equip humanitarian care-givers and care-receivers with valuable skills for working together across barriers and boundaries, the guidance presented in the book enables educators, trainers, and field-based multinational and local responders to enhance and evaluate the quality and sustainability of humanitarian efforts that promote and bolster resilience and belonging and augment well-being, justice, and sustainable development. It features comprehensive TC-teaching and learning strategies coupled with tailored on-site and remote approaches and methods.

Authoritative and insightful, Migrant Health and Resilience will be essential reading for the staff of NGOs, international organizations, national and local governments, and professional bodies working in development and humanitarian-crisis contexts, as well as for students, higher-education instructors, scholars, and evaluators.

Peter H. Koehn is University of Montana Professor Emeritus in Political Science. He established UMT’s Migration Studies, Global Public Health, International Development Studies programs and co-founded its Climate Change Studies program. He is a Fulbright New Century Scholar and recipient of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU)’s 2011 Michael P. Malone award for international leadership. He has taught at universities and/or conducted research in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Nigeria, Namibia, China, Hong Kong, Belize, and Finland. He recently authored Transnational Mobility and Global Health: Traversing Borders and Boundaries in the Routledge Studies in Development, Mobilities and Migration series.

Phyllis Bo-yuen Ngai is Director of the International Development Studies and Migration Studies programs, Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Social Work, and Associate Professor NTT in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Montana. Dr. Ngai’s research interests lie at the crossroads of development studies, Indigenous studies, intercultural studies, and communication for social change. Her recent research explores culturally sensitive health communication for enhancing American Indian health, Indigenous-organization approaches to sustainable development, global discourses and local interpretations of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, and NGO approaches to Women’s issues in Southeast Asia. She is the author and co-author of numerous professional-journal articles, book chapters, and monographs on intercultural-communication training, social-justice education, partnerships with Indigenous communities, and rural development. Dr. Ngai has taught in the United States and Asia and conducted research and delivered guest lectures/workshops at universities in Norway, Finland, China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Canada.

Juha I. Uitto is Director of the independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the oldest public financial mechanism for multilateral environmental agreements, including conventions on biodiversity, climate change, desertification, and harmful chemicals. He specializes in evaluating the nexus between environment and development. Since 1999, he has worked as evaluator with the GEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where he served as Deputy Director of the UNDP-IEO and, prior to that, Evaluation Advisor. Throughout the 1990s, he was environment and sustainable development research and training program coordinator at the United Nations University. He has published widely on topics related to evaluation, sustainable development, and environmental hazards. A native of Finland, Juha Uitto was educated at the Universities of Helsinki and Lund. He holds a PhD in Social and Economic Geography from the latter.

Diana M. Diaków is a Polish multilingual psychologist specialized in trauma-informed and culturally responsive child and family mental health treatment and assessment. She has supported migrant and marginalized communities in refugee camps, outpatient clinics, schools, and non-profit organizations in Poland, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovakia, Croatia, Greece, Indonesia, Kurdistan, USA, and Colombia. Diana launched Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) programs in Ritsona refugee camp, Greece. She has conducted research and published internationally on topics related to resilience, trauma, school-based mental health treatment, social justice, and cultural diversity. After graduating from Kazimierz Wielki University in Poland, Diana gained academic and clinical training at Harvard Medical School, Utah School of Medicine, and the University of Montana where she earned her Ph.D. in Psychology. She is a recipient of the Art Nezu Dissertation Diversity Award and the P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship. Dr. Diaków also is a linguist, specialized in Arabic.

Susan Martin is the Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emerita of International Migration at Georgetown University. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Montana. She was the founder and director of Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of International Migration and Certificate Program on Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. Prior to joining Georgetown’s faculty, Dr. Martin was the Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, which was mandated by statute to advise the President and Congress on U.S. immigration and refugee policy. She received her PhD in the History of American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Martin has authored or edited more than a dozen books and numerous articles and book chapters. She serves on the boards of Rutgers University, the Center for Migration Studies, and Jesuit Refugee Service USA.