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Quirky Kid co-founder Leonardo Rocker took part in a community development project in New Delhi connected with a major UNHCR and University of New South Wales dialogue with refugee women and communities.
The 2010 work formed part of Leonardo's internship with the UNSW Centre for Refugee Research while completing postgraduate study in international social development. It included engagement with Burmese, Somali and Afghan refugee communities living in India.
UNHCR's official account of the New Delhi dialogue records more than 120 women and girls and 70 men taking part in the four-day gathering, jointly organised by UNHCR and the UNSW Centre for Refugee Research.
Community development alongside humanitarian research
Leonardo's role included participation in consultations with refugee women and community leaders, alongside practical community-development work focused on local priorities and organisational capacity.
Quirky Kid's historical record also notes workshops with Burmese refugee community organisations aimed at identifying local livelihood priorities and strengthening proposals for future community projects.
Why the project mattered
The UNHCR dialogue was designed to give refugee women and girls a stronger voice in identifying protection concerns and influencing responses. UNHCR later used the New Delhi gathering as the starting point for similar regional dialogues in other countries.
For Quirky Kid, the project reflected an early part of the organisation's history in which child and family wellbeing was considered alongside community development, human rights and the social conditions surrounding families.
Leonardo Rocker's current Quirky Kid profile records his internship with the Centre for Refugee Research in New Delhi and his participation in the UNHCR Dialogue with Women and Girls.
Part of a broader community-development history
The India project preceded Quirky Kid's later consultancy work with STARTTS and the Communities in Cultural Transition program in NSW.
Read more about Quirky Kid's later community-development work with STARTTS.
Together, these projects document an important strand of Quirky Kid's early history, combining social development, psychology and practical support for communities experiencing displacement and transition.
