Bagelman, Caroline and Bagelman, Jen (2025) Birthing Beyond Borders: The Role of Comics in Dadaab Refugee Camps. In: Comics and the Global South. Leuven University Press. (Accepted for Publication)
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Dadaab is host to one of the worlds’ largest and longest-standing refugee camp complexes in the world. 1 Located in Northeast Kenya in Garissa County, the camps were
constructed in 1991 as a ‘temporary’ shelter for the thousands of Somali refugees fleeing civil war which bear the indelible mark of the region’s former colonial powers who imposed boundaries which became the fault lines for conflict. While humanitarian funding into Dadaab has eroded, alongside threats of imminent demolition, the camp and its residents – who cannot be repatriated due to ongoing conflict – remain there indefinitely. In this space women face enduring challenges in maternal health care due to protracted conflict, intersecting issues such as climate change, and culturally unsafe care in clinics. Through our collaborative project Birthing Across Borders it was found that high levels of maternal and neonatal death rates result not simply due to a lack of medical care, but in large part due to the lack of culturally relevant care
(Bagelman, Gitome, 2021). Midwifery has recently been added to UNESCO’s 2023 ‘Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’, which is a recognition of the
societal importance of the diverse range of culturally specific practices and knowledge it encompasses, and the need to safeguard this (UNESCO). In practice, however, Traditional Birthing Attendants (TBAs) are not only lacking in appropriate safeguarding, they are actively outlawed in Dadaab in favour of clinical care. This chapter examines the innovative use of comics to address some of the repercussions of this landscape.
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Faculty / Department: | Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education |
| SWORD Depositor: | eprints api |
| Depositing User: | eprints api |
| Date Deposited: | 21 May 2025 14:20 |
| Last Modified: | 21 May 2025 15:20 |
| URI: | https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4660 |
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