Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER)

The Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) Project is a consortium of Canadian and Kenyan universities and NGOs that aims to make educational programs available where refugees need them. Millions are displaced as a result of war, persecution, violence, instability, drought and environmental disasters in a world that is increasingly hostile towards refugees and asylum-seekers. Many are caught in displacement, often for ten years or more. Attending university or accessing other tertiary degree programs is nearly impossible with only 3% of refugees in the world able to access higher education (UNHCR 2019). Our aim is to provide accredited university programs to working, untrained refugee and local teachers in situ in Dadaab, Kenya, one of the world's largest and long-standing refugee encampments. By building the capacity of refugee and local teachers, they themselves are able to increase and improve education in the camps and local community. The BHER Project believes that the provision of quality higher education to refugees and locals will contribute to the conditions for justice, sustainability, and peace in Kenya, Somalia, and the surrounding region.