Lori, Kelberer Awarded Initiative on Cities Grant
Noora Lori, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, and MA candidate Vicky Kelberer received a grant from the Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) for research on the refugee work permit program in Jordan.
The $10,000 grant, supplemented by the Boston Consortium for Arab Regional Studies (BCARS), will fund the research collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), with the research focusing on the refugee work permit program for Syrians in Jordan.
According to Kelberer, the research will evaluate the work permit program’s effectiveness and propose revisions to increase refugee work permit access, create jobs and capture benfits for the host and refugee communities.
“The IOC grant specifically funds the research trips to Jordan in the next year to conduct focus groups, interviews with key stakeholders and to advocate with relevant government agencies and organizations,” Kelberer said. “It also supports a research assistant to help us evaluate the mountains of data we’ll now have access to through UNHCR.”