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InZone is a programme of the University of Geneva that explores, develops and tests innovative approaches to higher education in communities affected by conflict and humanitarian crises, particularly among refugees and other displaced people. By expanding access to higher education, InZone seeks to strengthen people's agency, equip them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to shape their own futures, and foster leadership within displaced and host communities.

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Why higher education matters?

1,488 students reached in 2025 across Jordan, Kenya, Niger and Bangladesh. Expanding access to higher education, one student at a time.

FTI FAPSE Faculty of Medicine
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Why higher education matters?

Global displacement has reached an all-time high, with over 122.6 million people forcibly displaced due to conflict, climate change, and economic instability. Among them, millions face significant barriers to accessing higher education (HE), despite the myriad of benefits it has been found to offer displaced people, including enhanced skills and job opportunities needed for all durable solutions (host-country integration, third-country resettlement, and repatriation), social inclusion into their host communities, and long term resilience and hope for the future, among many others. Currently, only 7% of refugees worldwide are enrolled in higher education, which is a direct result of structural challenges such as high costs, legal restrictions on access to education, HE administrative barriers, and inflexible programme formats and structures that fail to adapt to the specific needs of displaced learners.

Existing higher education initiatives for displaced populations, ranging from scholarships to online or blended courses, have made significant progress in expanding access to quality learning opportunities through innovative design and implementation strategies. While scholarship programmes such as UNHCR's DAFI initiative and many others have provided much needed opportunities to thousands of displaced learners, they still reach only a fraction of those in need. Online and blended learning models have connected millions of students worldwide to higher education, and several programmes have successfully designed innovative ways to offer crucial elements, such as personalised academic and psychosocial support, peer and group learning, and relevant methods and content (e.g. culturally, linguistically, and trauma-informed), among others. InZone is one of the most prominent of those.

 

 

OUR VISION

Building on more than a decade of experience, InZone focuses its work on three strategic priorities:

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By investing in education, research and innovation, InZone aims to expand opportunities for learning in communities affected by conflict and crisis. Through partnerships with universities, humanitarian organisations and local actors, we seek to reach new learners, strengthen educational pathways and extend our work to new contexts and countries.

 

STUDENT STATISTICS (Annual Report 2025)

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GLOBAL UNIVERSITY ACADEMY

Through its InZone programme, the University of Geneva has been a pioneer in developing high-quality higher education opportunities for refugees and other displaced people.

Building on this experience, InZone is committed to expanding its reach and impact. Together with the University of Oslo, it is a founding member and co-lead of the Global University Academy, a virtual university for refugees that already brings together more than twenty academic and humanitarian partners worldwide.

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Annual Report 2025

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