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 With new global records of displaced people set every year, foreign aid falling and an expected surge of climate refugees on the horizon, forced migration shall be heightened in the years to come. In response to the world's global education emergencies, the University for Sustainability is developing an International Students-at-Risk Network (ISRN) enabling conflict- and violence-displaced and refugee students to connect with educational opportunities so they may continue formal post-graduate studies with member institutes of the University for Sustainability. For the world is witness to an unprecedented level of displacement with nearly 20 people being displaced every minute. Among them hundreds of thousands of post-graduate students seeking to reconnect to their studies. Increased collaboration among public and private sector stakeholders is needed to respond to higher education emergencies and ensure that students displaced by crises, violence, and armed conflict obtain the education they deserve to lead independent and self-determined lives.

Sustainable Development Goal 4 ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. This will not be achieved if  refugee education is not prioritized. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR) of the world’s more than 65 million people displaced by war,  conflict and violence attend university and fewer than that to post-graduate programmes.  The International Students-at-Risk Network (ISRN) gives at-risk and conflict and violence-displaced students a chance for post-graduate education abroad. Post-graduate education is strongly linked to increased opportunity, strengthened economic development, improved public health, and safer communities. It offers young people hope and a path towards a sustainable and independent future.

Governments, NGOs, foundations and volunteers are undertaking great efforts to assist displaced and refugee students but are often unaware of parallel or similar initiatives in the field. Students find out about scholarships and other opportunities through coincidence or word of mouth and often lack the resources and knowledge to navigate the application processes. To bridge this gap, ISRN is creating a platform that offers a database with post-graduate opportunities and additional resources for students. ISRN engages with the University for Sustainability's member institutes to build capacity within the ISRN and create new opportunities for collaboration among the University for Sustainability's participating member institutes. 
By 2025, the ISRN shall help ensure that 10 per cent of refugees have access to tertiary learning. This shall be achieved by:

• Post-graduate scholarship programmes in the first country of asylum;
• Connected Learning programmes: a blended learning approach in partnership with the University for Sustainability's ecosystem of accredited universities;
• Establishing complementary pathways to protect refugees through higher education opportunities in third countries; and,
• Advocacy with ministries, universities and academia to expand access for refugee students to universities and to mitigate barriers that prevent refugees from enrolling in university.

Eligibility
In order to be eligible, a candidate must:

• be a refugee with UNHCR-recognised refugee status;
• have successfully completed an undergraduate course of study to a high standard;
• have no other means of support for post-graduate studies; and,
• not be older than 28 years at the beginning of post-graduate studies.

The ISRN shall:

• Offer a database with post-graduate opportunities and additional resources for students;
• Engage with the University for Sustainability's member institutes to build capacity and create new opportunities for collaboration among participating member institutes;

• Not jeopardize the legal status or negatively affect the protection space for refugees in the refugee country;
• Negotiate availability of places in member institutions in host countries with Ministries of Education and other competent bodies to secure host country agreement and support, and so as not to overload host institution capacity;
• Assure accreditation and programme equivalency recognition is arranged with the member institutes and host country authorities to ensure that at-students obtain a widely recognized and transferrable degree upon completion;
• Negotiate the lessening of  documentation requirements for admission to a course of study to avoid putting at-risk candidates whose documentation may not be readily accessible; and,
• Seek to provide financial support to families of at-risk students that are found to be socio-economically vulnerable or where students’ enrolment in a full-time course of post-graduate study will impact family stability.