Refugee Law Essay Competition Award Ceremony

One of key approaches in the important work the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung does through its offices across the world, is engaging youth in a wide area of issues related to social democracy and inclusive societies. In line with this approach, between February and May 2022 the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Flight and Migration Competence Center (FES-FMCC) held the inaugural National Refugee Law Moot Court Competition between eight universities in Ethiopia.

As a follow up to the successful moot court competition, the FES-FMCC and CSRC came to a consensus that it was necessary to sustain the engagement of participating students with the topic of refugee law. To this end, an essay competition was organized for the participants of the moot court competition on the topic “Socioeconomic Inclusion of Refugees: Access to Justice and Basic Services”. The participating students displayed immense potential, both in their writing skills as well as their ability to critically analyze national, regional and international frameworks for the protection and inclusion of refugees. During the award ceremony held on 07 March 2023, members of the jury, who were tasked to evaluate the submissions of participants, praised the essays as “beyond what can be expected from undergraduate students”.

The three winners of the essay competition were Yohannes Shimelis, Hemin Solomon and Yordanos Nega, respectively. During the award ceremony, the students were able share their individual experiences, as well as receive detailed feedback from the judges. FMCC and CSRC are currently in the process of finalizing efforts to hold a regional refugee law moot court in the final quarter of 2023.

Read the students’ papers here

Paper by Yordanos-Nega

Paper by Yohannes-Shimelis

Paper by Hemin-Solomon