Independent (Prashana Rampersad)

My work is rooted in the belief that refugees and asylum seekers are not passive recipients of aid. They are skilled professionals, innovators, and leaders whose talents are essential to building inclusive and resilient societies. For the past eight years, I have dedicated time to advancing the integration of displaced people in South Africa and beyond, with a particular focus on creating equitable access to education, employment, and professional recognition. I began this work as an employee within the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, where I helped design and manage programs that supported refugee professional development and qualification recognition( 2018 - 2022). Since 2022, I have been driving this work independently, expanding it through research, advocacy, and cross-sector collaborations that place refugee voices at the center. This shift reflects my mission: to dismantle systemic barriers that prevent refugees and asylum seekers from contributing their skills and knowledge, while simultaneously creating platforms that restore dignity and agency. From 2018 to 2023, I project managed the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) Pathways Pilot, a groundbreaking initiative that developed alternative pathways for the recognition of qualifications for refugees and asylum seekers. This was the first project of its kind in the country, creating mechanisms to validate professional experience even without complete documentation. The initiative enabled displaced professionals access skills recognition processes that they would otherwise not qualify for because of missing documentation.I coordinated implementation across three provinces, embedded trauma-informed processes to protect participants from re-traumatization, and ensured multilingual accessibility. This project became a practical example of how inclusive systems can balance rigor with humanity. In 2022, I deepened my commitment to this work through an MPhil in Inclusive Innovation at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. I was awarded a full scholarship from the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship to be able to access the degree. My dissertation explored the systemic exclusion of refugee and asylum seeker health professionals, drawing on interviews with 20 displaced health workers and institutional representatives, including SAQA, the Foreign Workforce Management unit, and the Western Cape Department of Health. To humanize these experiences, I used storytelling vignettes that highlighted both resilience and frustration. My vision is to adapt this research into visual and audio storytelling projects, ensuring that refugee voices are amplified in public discourse and policy spaces. At the global level, I have contributed to systemic dialogues on refugee education and mobility. As a consultant with the Groningen Declaration Network, I co-authored a discussion paper on establishing a secure digital mechanism to safeguard refugee educational credentials. This work responded to the urgent need for displaced people to access education and employment across borders, particularly during crises. Ultimately, my vision is to build systems where refugees and asylum seekers are not only included but recognized as co-creators of the societies they live in. I am committed to transforming exclusionary processes into inclusive innovations that restore dignity while harnessing the talents of displaced people for the collective good.