Meet Refugee Education Council Members
Cohort 2021-2022
Istarlin Abdi – South Sudan/Somalia
Istarlin is a single mother of two girls, an advocate for human rights, a storyteller and a photographer. She has worked with Filmaid International and Refunite as a content creator and photographer. In 2017, Istarlin co-founded Dream Studio, a refugee based media company focused on creating space for fellow refugees to tell and share their own stories with the rest of the world. She has also worked with Windle International Kenya as a community worker for 5 years, working with vulnerable schoolgirls, parents and the community at large. As a refugee from Somalia who has experienced displacement for over 20 years, Istarlin has long struggled with her sense of identity, self-worth and belonging. She fears that her daughters, caught in the same circumstances of displacement, are beginning to struggle with this too. Istarlin believes that education is a great equalizer. She has joined the Council to help break the generational curse of displacement by making education a global priority.
Qais Ghasan Abdulrazzaq – Jordan/Syria
During the Syrian civil war, Qais and his family fled their homes in search of safety and opportunity. The journey to Jordan was not easy and things didn’t get much easier once he arrived at the refugee camp they would call home. Qais quickly recognized the unique importance of education for refugees who are already at a disadvantage in their host communities and often faced with low job prospects and high rates of unemployment. Qais saw education as a means to empower himself to support his family and his community. He studied Press and Media at Amity University, and, from there, joined the Zaha Cultural Centre as a Robotics trainee through World Vision’s Youth Career Guidance project. Now, while still living in a refugee camp in Jordan, 24-year-old Qais has improved his technical skills and is teaching other youth as a robotics trainer. He is a life-long learner and is passionate about seeking out opportunities that will continue to help him learn more, grow, and enrich his community.
Bikienga Amdiatou – Burkina Faso
Bikienga Amdiatou is from the Center-North region of Burkina Faso. Fragility and insecurity in her area has led many students to drop out of school due to classroom closures. In fact, Bikienga herself almost dropped out of secondary school due to lack of funds. Luckily, Bikienga received support from organizations such as Plan International which enabled her to continue her education. Now, at 20-years old, Bikienga is a second year university student in Human Resources. She is the former fellow of the Promoting Equality And Safety in Schools (PEASS) project, the winner of the Excellence Award of the President of Faso and among the top five highest academic achievers nationally for her grade level in 2019. Beyond excelling in her own studies, Bikienga wants to make sure that more girls are able to become their best selves despite conflict and internal displacement. She is an active member of a number of school and community initiatives that are concerned with issues related to access to education and hopes to advocate for girls who have had to drop out of school on a global stage.
Suleman Arshad – Pakistan
Suleman is a visually challenged, youth activist from Pakistan who advocates for the rights and development of his community. At 12 years old, Suleman started to lose his sight and was enrolled in a school for people who were visually challenged. In his community, children and youth with disabilities are discouraged to get education alongside able-bodied children and pushed aside in society. Suleman has been working to fight the stigma and challenges faced by marginalized students. He founded School of Inclusion, a youth led organization which promotes inclusive and quality education for youth with disabilities. He is also a member of the Commonwealth Children and Youth with Disability Network, which seeks to provide quality education to the children and youth with disabilities and, in 2016, he won the Commonwealth Youth Worker Award. As a member of a host community, Suleman has also witnessed the challenges and hostility faced by refugees from Afghanistan. He hopes to leverage his experience and skills to make schooling more inclusive for refugees, especially refugees with differing abilities.
Laura Barbosa, Colombia/Canada
Laura is an educator, a community worker and a human rights advocate. She was born in Colombia, a country with limited access to education, and where forced displacement by the military is a long-standing issue. When she was 12 years old, her mother was murdered by members of the illegal armed groups and her father disappeared soon after. At 18 years old, Laura fled to China, looking and hoping to build a better future.
Now, Laura works to encourage those who are afraid or disheartened by their circumstances to be brave and fight for their dreams. She has volunteered with refugee children from Myanmar who had been recently displaced to Malaysia. She has worked as a Spanish teacher; facilitating classes, mentoring students, reviewing lesson plans and using Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Currently, Laura works as the program coordinator at Students Offering Support, a student-led charity that strives to create positive learning environments to help youth reach their full potential. Laura is passionate about community development and wants to support safe and sustainable environments for youth facing forced displacements.
Malual Bol Kiir – South Sudan/Canada
Malual is a South Sudanese Peacebuilder and a former two times refugee. He co-founded the African Youth Action Network, a leadership and peacebuilding organization which recruits youths to work together as agents of peace and conflict prevention. Malual is a committed advocate dedicated to promoting refugee education and a member of the Refugee Advisory Network. Malual is a founding member for the Search for Common ground’s Global youth leadership Council. He was a member of the advisory panel of experts to the United Nations (UN) Secretary General on the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) mandated progress study on youth, peace and security with the final report “the missing peace”. Malual is an Honoree for the Women’s Refugee Commission’s 2017 Voices of Courage Award.
Nhial Deng – South Sudan/Ethiopia
22-year-old Nhial moved to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya in 2010 after fleeing an armed attack on his village in Ethiopia. Nhial heads the Refugee Youth Peace Ambassadors, a refugee youth-led initiative in Kakuma that works towards promoting peaceful co-existence between different communities in the camp and empowering young people as peace-builders and social entrepreneurs. He is also an Education Consultant for Kakuma Innovation Lab School and a member of the Amala’s Youth Advisory Group. He firmly believes that education enables young refugees to secure a more hopeful and brighter future, not only for themselves but also for their communities and the communities that host them. Nhial does a lot of advocacy on refugee issues and has spoken at several forums including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 12th High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges. He has also been involved in a number of youth network and initiatives including the Global Changemakers, ONE Campaign Champions for East Africa, and Women Deliver Young Leaders Program.
Amelie Fabian – Canada/Rwanda
Amelie is completing her Master of Public Policy and Master of Global Affairs as part of a dual-degree program between Sciences Po Paris and the University of Toronto. Her main passion is in education policy and its role in facilitating the inclusion of marginalized communities such as refugees to reduce inequality. She previously conducted research for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and continues to pursue her passion for refugee education through advocacy with organizations such as the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). Fearing persecution following the Rwandan genocide, Amelie’s family fled Rwanda and she lived as a refugee in Malawi from the age of 6 to 18. She came to Canada in 2014 through WUSC’s Student Refugee Program to complete an undergraduate degree at McGill University. Since arriving in Canada, Amelie has been dedicated to improving access to education. She has volunteered as the co-chair of WUSC’s local committee, a member of the WUSC Board of Directors and as a member of the Canadian International Education Policy Working Group’s youth council. Amelie has met with Canadian MPs and policy advisors to advocate for the prioritization of education and has participated in speaking engagements on refugee education such as the 2018 UN General Assembly and on a roundtable with Minister Gould on the impact of COVID -19 on refugee education. Amelie hopes to leverage her education, lived experience and connections to help more refugees and displaced youth obtain an education.
Moriom Khatun – Bangladesh
Moriom Khatun is a sixteen-year old student and a leader in her community in Bangladesh. She is a member of her local adolescent club and the Community Based Child Protection Committee. Moriom has a deep understanding of issues related to child protection related and she plays an active role in advocating against matters that are harmful to children, adolescents and her community at large. In 2020, after receiving training from World Vision, Moriom led initiatives to disseminate life-saving information about COVID-19 to adolescents in her community.
Nabaloum Pascaline – Burkina Faso
Nabaloum is a 22-year old young woman who is acutely aware of the challenges faced by young people navigating fragility, uncertainty and displacement. In 2019, Nabaloum was internally displaced from her home in Burkina Faso in 2019. Not long after, Nabaloum lost both of her parents and so she, her sisters and her brothers began living with their grandpa. At the beginning of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nabaloum joined an initiative with Fondation Hirondelle to receive training and raise awareness in her community about the virus. As part of the project, Nabaloum conducts interviews with different stakeholders in the community that are broadcasted across radio programs. As a result of her work, Nabaloum has developed strong communication and advocacy skills that she hopes to use to continue to connect with other advocates from around the world and uplift her peers who have been forcibly displaced.
Yvana Portillo – Venezuela/Peru
Yvana is a fifteen-year old student, advocate and refugee. In 2017, faced with crisis in Venezuela, her parents sold their car and her family fled to Peru by bus. Yvana was forced to start a new school while navigating uncertainty, hunger and a lack of money. Despite this, Yvana quickly became a leader in her grade. Now, Yvana leads sessions in her classroom and is an emerging advocate for accessible and quality education. Yvana’s favourite subject is communications and she wants to continue to improve her capacity to express herself and ask for what she needs. As a team-player, Yvana hopes to learn from other members on the Council while offering her perspective on global education based on what she has seen and lived.
Anojitha Sivaskaran – Sri Lanka
Anojitha is a youth activist based in Sri Lanka. Growing up in the Northern part of Sri Lanka, Anojitha has directly experienced a number of challenges as a result of Sri Lanka’s long-standing civil-war throughout her lifetime including; displacement, food shortages, insecurity, injustice and inadequate shelter. Passionate about sustainable peace, Anojitha obtained her Bachelors in Peace and Conflict Resolution from the University of Kelaniya and has completed diplomas in human resource management and transitional justice. Currently, Anojitha works at the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka as a project officer on an initiative that works with students to raise awareness and positively influence the public discourse about Pluralism and Intercommunity Relations in order to strengthen the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka. She has worked with the United Network of Young Peacebuilders, Tomorrows’ futurism, AIESEC, the Inter-University Gender Festival and a number of other initiatives committed to conflict transformation. Anojitha strongly believes that including young people is a critical component of effective, wide-reaching and sustainable efforts to overcome conflict and fragility.
Foni Joyce Vuni – Kenya/South Sudan
Foni Joyce is an enthusiastic and open minded advocate and team player. She graduated top of her class from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology with a degree in Mass Communication and a major in Public Relations. Due to conflict and war in South Sudan, her family fled, and, for over 25 years has lived in Kenya, forced to navigate the stigma associated with refugees. Today, she uses her experience in communications to shift the narrative of refugees from beneficiaries to partners and encourage greater inclusion of youth, women and girls in the decision making processes that are important to them. She has advocated for refugee youth issues at UNHCR-NGO Consultations, the High Commissioner’s Protection Dialogue, the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, the UN General Assembly amongst others. Foni was also a member and a Co chair of the UNHCR Global Youth Advisory Council (2017-June 2020), that serves as a consultative group on issues relating to the protection and development of young people. She worked with other global youth leaders to amplify issues that were important for their community. Foni hopes to use her experience and expertise to offer her insight into how refugee education can be improved.
Christine Mwongera – Kenya
Christine is a high school teacher employed by Windle International Kenya, with 4 years experience working with refugees and teaching in an emergency setup. She is passionate about providing quality education for all children in her community, especially girls who are more vulnerable due to harmful cultural practices. She has helped bring girls who had been married off by their family members back to school, has worked with out of schoolgirls and teenage mothers and has challenged the stigma faced by girls who get pregnant while still in school. She has closely worked with the local radio station on several occasions to sensitize on girl child education and educate on dangers of harmful cultural practices. She started a girls’ mentorship program, a life skills club and a peer counselling initiative at the secondary school where she works to provide psychosocial support for all learners. She has experience in teaching, program management and advocacy and a deep understanding of girl’s education which she hopes to use to make education more inclusive.
Mohammed Rashel
Rashel is a student who was born in Myanmar. In 2017, the military torched Rashel’s home and his family hid out in a nearby jungle until things calmed down. Without any of their belongings, he and his family fled to Bangladesh by foot which took two days. Now, Rashel and his two sisters live with their parents in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. Despite his hardships, Rashel has not given up hope. He loves learning and enjoys reading books and having intellectual discussions with his teachers in the camp. Rashel dreams of becoming a journalist and wants the world to see the joy, culture and traditions of refugees instead of just their sorrows. He is excited to join a global platform where he can represent his community, support others in accessing quality education and be an example of the positive impact of education.
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