In April 2021, ICDSS organized, together with SRCD, an online Preconference Event funded by Jacobs Foundation on the topic “Development of Refugee Children and Youth Living in Camps during COVID19”. 

Chairs of this preconference event were: Frosso Motti-Stefanidi, President of ICDSS, and Velma McBride Murry, President-elect of ICDSS.

This event took place online due to the pandemic in April 2021 one day before the SRCD conference.

The first part of the event includes presentations by experts in the field focusing on the challenges and resources for refugee youth living in camps in the context of the pandemic.

 The presenters and the title of their presentations were:

  1. Professor Dr. Suha Al-Hassan, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Jordan
    “Life of children and youth in refugee camps: The case of Syrian refugee children in Jordan”
  2. Professor Dr. Michael Pluess, Queen Mary University London, UK.
    “Predictors of risk and resilience in Syrian refugee children living in Lebanon”
  3. Professor Dr. Susan Branje, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
    “Risk and resilience in youth adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic”
  4. Professor Dr. Hirokazu Yoshikawa, NYU Steinhardt, USA
    “New approaches to considering culture and human development in work with refugee populations in the Middle East and South Asia”

The second part of the event consisted of the poster symposium. For this part ten (10) young scholars were paired with a colleague to engage in a capacity building event. The 10 young scholars presented a poster focusing on different aspects of the topic of the preconference event (refugee status, COVID 19, and/or policy implications). The pairs of scholars worked together on the preparation of the poster and on a brief oral presentation of the work presented in the poster.

In June 19-23, 2022, ICDSS will host at the 26th ISSBD conference, together with ISSBD, events on the topic of climate change and development.

The conference will take place on the Island of Rhodes in Greece.

The website of the conference is: issbd2022.org

Two of the events that have already been announced are:

A keynote address on the topic: “The Implications of the Climate Crisis for Human Development and for Developmental Scholars” presented by a world expert in the effects of climate change on developing individuals, Professor Ann V. Sanson, Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne, Australia

A roundtable discussion between scientists and a young activist on the topic “Climate Change and Youth Development” organized by an expert on the topic, Professor Sander Thomaes, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.