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Entrepreneurship in Forced Migration; International Private Sector Development Policies that Work

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Center for Migration and Refugee Studies

About the Course

This course examines from a critical perspective the support of private sector development policies and projects through entrepreneurship initiatives that seek to enhance refugees’ self-reliance in host countries. It suggests tools of analysis to adopt a "research into action" approach by utilizing both concrete entrepreneurial refugee projects, as well as a theoretical framework borrowed from political science and sociology to evaluate the socio-economic transformations that took place in their forced migration trajectories. The goal is to suggest looking at forced migrations from a bottom-up approach, looking at refugees’ different capabilities and assets that allow them to engage in entrepreneurship successfully or not. As various international organizations, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Bank have increasingly been considering entrepreneurship as a solution to assist refugees in their forced displacement trajectories in host countries, this course explores scientific tools to analyze refugees’ self-reliance through entrepreneurship. It also suggests situating international public policies that support entrepreneurship in host countries within international relations dynamics, to better examine their impact, including from the host countries' and refugees’ perspectives. 

This course is designed for professionals and researchers who aim to deconstruct policies and instruments put in place in the international development sector. It is based on Chehade’s practical experience as a consultant for international organizations, and her research using different case studies of Syrian refugees in the Mashreq region. The course also opens the discussion on refugees from other nationalities, focusing on their entrepreneurial trajectories in the MENA region through the sociological notions of social, cultural, economic and symbolic capital.

 

Duration 

February 16 - 20, 2025

 

About the Instructor

Maya Chehade is a doctor in political science at the University of Sciences Po in Paris. She brings a dynamic and multifaceted professional background to the table, characterized by her experience as an affiliated researcher at the CEDEJ in Cairo, and CERI at Sciences Po Paris, as well as her track record working in international development. Chehade’s experience working directly with the private sector and international donor organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa and the MENA region enables her to adopt a “research in action” approach. Since the completion of her thesis on Syrian refugees’ entrepreneurial trajectories in Egypt and Jordan between 2011 and 2023, Chehade has been advising governments and international organizations on migration issues in the MENA region. She also teaches at The American University in Cairo and the University of Geneva, offering a critical perspective on the current development policies and projects that encourage entrepreneurship for refugees. Her seminars and courses provide additional tools of analysis through social science that are applicable to private-sector development projects and policies that target refugees.