Hend Alqawasma is a Ph.D. candidate and a teaching assistant at McGill university School of Social Work. She completed a MSW from McGill university with a focus on migration, health and wellbeing of refugee children and their families. Her main research interest is refugee children and resettlement. She joined CRCF in May 2018 as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Nicole Ives. Her latest research explores the sense of belonging and integration among refugee children, upon arrival in a new country. Currently, she focuses on identifying the needs, vulnerabilities, and strengths of newcomers in the face of the pandemic. The study supported by the SSHRC-funded Child & Youth Refugee Research Coalition under the supervision of Dr. Nicole Ives. “COVID-19 and Refugee Families in Montreal: Strategies for reaching hard-to-reach populations in health emergencies”. She organized events that promote right based practice and women empowerment through ICAN-McGill, thus interacting and connecting with different Montreal communities. She has been part of ICAN’s research team, conducting interviews and using her greater understanding of the culture being studied, whether it is the refugee community in Montreal or Palestinians in the West Bank, to ease the recruitment process of participants and promote their involvement in the research process. She has played a key role in the coordination of ICAN’s International Fellowship program for the seventh cohort of Graduate Fellows in cooperation with the Fellowship Coordinator. She has supported the integration process of the Fellows enrolled in the MSW program and mentored them on issues relating to social work in Canada. Hend has also been acting as liaison with some of ICAN’s governmental and institutional partners like the Palestinian General Delegation in Canada and An-Najah University in Palestine. She supervises social work undergraduate and qualifying year social work students for WUSC (world university service Canada). Through WUSC program, she helps and supports WUSC’s new students in resettling and integrating in Montreal.
Contact: hend.alqawasma [at] mcgill.ca (Email)
CV: pdf