World Refugee Day
The JINA Project
36 million refugees
There are an estimated 110 million people who have been forcibly displaced worldwide, 36 million of those are considered refugees. (Source UNHCR & Refugee Council)
World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It is an annual celebration of the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.
UNSW is committed to supporting equity and diversity
UNSW is a vibrant, multicultural campus with students and staff from over 120 different nationalities. We believe our diversity is one of our main strengths, as it exposes us to alternative perspectives and experiences in our working, learning and research environments.
We are deeply committed to building an equitable and inclusive environment for students and staff so they can participate fully, share their lived experiences and create a safe campus, free from harassment, bias or prejudices.
Justice Inclusion Access (JINA)
Equity, diversity and inclusion are essential to the continued success and impact of UNSW. Aligned with these values, EDI recently funded a pilot project to understand the higher education and career development challenges of women from forced migration (including refugee) backgrounds studying at UNSW. The pilot project also received matching funding from UNSW Medicine & Health.
The JINA project is designing a well-connected ecosystem of support for women from forced migration (including refugee) backgrounds who are pursuing higher education at UNSW, with tailored mentorships, career advice, scholarships, leadership training, access to UNSW systems and programs, and networking opportunities.
The pilot project is a cross-university initiative led by Dr Parisa Glass from UNSW Medicine & Health, Dr Elnaz Irannezhad from UNSW Engineering and Sherine Al Shallah a HRD student at UNSW Law & Justice affiliated with Kaldor Centre and associated with the Australian Human Rights Institute.
If you would like to find out more about the JINA project, partner with us or make a financial donation, please contact Parisa at p.glass@unsw.edu.au or fill out this form.
Meet the team
Dr Parisa Glass PhD MBA GAICD
Director of Operations, Clinical Research Unit, UNSW Medicine & Health, and Director, Innovation & Enterprise, The George Institute for Global Health.
Parisa has a PhD, an MBA, and over twenty years of experience across healthcare, medical research, and higher education. Over the course of her professional career, she has designed several collaborative programs and has built multidisciplinary teams to deliver impactful projects in medical research.
Dr Elnaz Irannezhad
Senior Lecturer in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering's Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation, UNSW Sydney.
Elnaz is a senior lecturer in Transport Engineering and serves as the EDI Officer at the School of Civil Engineering, as well as an Associate at UNSW’s Human Rights Institute. Her research is focused on advancing science in the cross-disciplinary fields of freight transport and logistics engineering, addressing the challenges within this predominantly male-dominated area of research.
Sherine Al Shallah
PhD Candidate at UNSW Law & Justice, Affiliate at Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Associate at Australian Human Rights Institute
Sherine is a refugee cultural heritage researcher, solicitor and teaching fellow with over twenty years’ international experience in senior policy roles. She has completed human rights course work at Aarhus University and has research experience in refugee and human rights law with the Kaldor Centre, UNSW, Australian Human Rights Institute and National Justice Project. She has also worked as a refugee caseworker and job advisor with asylum seeker centres and Talent Beyond Boundaries.
Samah Shda
Postgraduate Researcher at UNSW Sydney, CEO and Founder of Unbound Stories
Originally from Baghdad, Samah pursued undergraduate studies in the United States before migrating with her family to Turkey and resettling in Australia through the humanitarian settlement program in 2019. Bringing over a decade of expertise in international development and advocacy with a focus on refugee education,Samah leads a pioneering project on the information journeys of refugee background students. She has worked with the United Nations and non-profit sectors, specialising in refugee and forced migration protection.
Maryam Zahid
Founder of Afghan Women on the Move.
Maryam is an award-winning Afghan-Australian human rights champion, artist, and entrepreneur. She founded Afghan Women on the Move, a non-profit for women survivors of war and trauma, and leads Women Empowerment Pty Ltd, a consulting firm specialising in cultural diversity and women's issues.
Maryam promotes gender equality and women's rights, focusing on refugee backgrounds, and has expertise in policy consulting, stakeholder engagement, and media communications.