Amman- 26 April 2018
April 18th – 22nd 2018 Dr. Sahar Al Makhamreh, Head of Social Work Department at the German Jordanian University and a member of a Founding Committee, 'MENA Civil Society Network for Displacement –UNHCR, has been invited as a key note speaker at the European Social Work Research Association (ESRWA) conference at University of Edinburgh.
Al Makhamreh stressed on the Researching Social Work in Situations of Conflict: Transitional Challenges and Opportunities, she explored from a researcher’s perspective issues relating to refugees and displacement, and who are in a country of transit/final destination. Al Makhamreh also discussed the researchers’ skills and roles – as an insider/outsider, and the sensitivities and challenges present; as well as wider opportunities when addressing notions of refugee hood.
Al Makhamreh highlighted that it is imperative that social workers respond as a profession, creatively and humanely to the needs of refugees in terms of policies and practices underpinned by solid research and evaluation.
Researching social work in situations of conflict offers opportunities to reinforce the identity of social work at the national and global level that is respectful and acceptable to indigenous cultures.
Conducting research in this context needs to be more sensitive, and considerate in the design, and collecting and analyzing of the research data.
Researchers of social work have to work towards what she called a 'social work citizenship' focusing on solidarity to help in the maturation of social work research identities.
Dr. Rawan Ibrahim, Assistant Professor at Social Work Department also attended the conference and presented a research paper on research ethics in developing-economy countries “Navigating local and North-South Power Relations: Experiences of a female Jordanian researcher” as well as participating a pre-conference workshop on research with children and relevant collaborative meetings.
Both Professors stressed on localizing the practice and do no harm when working with refugees and to accept and to respect the experience of each other locals and international researchers in social work field.
T.S