As students in an innovative Pardee School of Global Studies course last spring on the challenges of forced migration learned, sometimes even the most overwhelming situations can be improved by simple, but powerful solutions. In what became a semester-long exercise leading to the creation of a smartphone app for Syrian refugees in Jordan. 

How do Ukrainians and Armenians who live around the world contribute to the communities where they have settled? How do they engage with their countries of heritage? If your family originally came from Ukraine or Armenia, share your stories by joining a webchat with others like you and with top U.S. diplomats. The chat will be held on September 8 at 9 a.m. EDT.

Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made a statement on the United States reaching President Obama's stated goal of increasing the number of Syrian refugees permitted to resettle in the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admission Program.  Secretary Kerry noted, "A year ago, President Obama set the goal of welcoming at least 10,000 of the most vulnerable refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria to the United States. 

The leaders of Italy, France and Germany have been meeting on board the Italian aircraft carrier ‘Garibaldi.’ The trio planned to discuss several topics such as the migrant crisis as well as securing Europe’s internal and external borders following a string of Islamist militant attacks.

In late 2015 and early 2016 a series of 39 training courses were organized all over Mexico by UN Women in partnership with five civil society organizations, including Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Matías de Córdova [...[ I.A.P. The trainings in the southern border area brought together local organizations, migrant women and civil servants to discuss ways to address migration, gender and development.

There were controversies in terms of migration created by individuals outside of the official “Vote Leave” campaign. Yet, contrary to a widely held belief, migration was never the primary issue: the economy was a greater concern. The aforementioned ORB poll showed that 52% of respondents believed the economy to be more important than immigration.

Some 130 youth representatives from 51 Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) countries, including Malaysia, will attend the five-day 7th Model Asem in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Themed 20 years of Asem: Partnership for Future through Connectivity, participants will address inter-regional issues on politics, economic and socio-cultural between Asia and Europe. Asean members such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore are expected to discuss on migration, health, environment and education.

Global health diplomacy has been gaining importance and its negotiators need to be well-prepared. Some countries have added a full-time health attaché to their diplomatic staff, in recognition of the importance and complexity of global health deliberations.