Projects | University of Westminster, London

The Peripheral Populations and their Integration Research Group has conducted research into the following areas:

Addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of Rohingya women in Penang, Malaysia

Figures estimate that approximately 22,000 refugees are registered with the UNHCR in Penang, Malaysia. Of these, 75% are Rohingya. In paving the way to more comprehensive research, we undertook pilot work with 20 Rohingya men and women in Penang in April 2024, to identify barriers and challenges to SRH management encountered by Rohingya women.

Barefoot entrepreneurs: Struggles of waste pickers in the Colombian informal economy during the COVID-19 pandemic

This project was funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme and the ‘Research Communities Funding Call COVID-19 Response’ by the University of Westminster It focused on the informal entrepreneurial activities of marginalised waste pickers in Colombia and followed a four-year timeline to study the formalisation of waste pickers and institutional entrepreneurial struggles in Colombia.

Piloting Health Interventions to advance the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women Migrant Workers in Malaysia

This project, funded by the British Council Newton Fund Impact Scheme (2020), enabled us to implement three interventions to support the sexual and reproductive health needs of factory women migrant workers in Malaysia. The research team was previously commissioned by the United Nations Gender Theme Group, Malaysia (2017) and UNWOMEN, Bangkok (2019) to develop recommendations, in collaboration with local stakeholders, for addressing these needs, which resulted in a SRH toolkit for use by these stakeholders, and a Strategy Paper which was disseminated to the Malaysian government to inform the drafting of its twelfth national development plan.

Gender empowerment in social enterprises in the UK

This knowledge exchange and participatory project was funded by the University of Westminster (Research England, Participatory Research Fund) to support the gender empowerment practices of social enterprises in the UK. Following a participatory research approach, the project co-created, together with social enterprises, their women beneficiaries and Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), a Gender Empowerment Guide for use by social enterprises to empower the women they employ.

Improving resettlement planning for Syrian refugees in London

This project, funded by the University of Westminster Strategic Priorities Fund (2022), investigated how resettlement planning for Syrian refugees in London can be improved. Over four months, we engaged a range of community sponsorship groups in London currently hosting Syrian refugee families to determine a set of issues considered crucial to take into account when addressing refugee social integration.