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What would a gender analysis of refugee crises reveal if one expanded the focus beyond female refugees, and acts of physical violence? This paper draws on qualitative research conducted in Denmark, Greece, Jordan, and Turkey in July and August 2016 to spotlight the gendered kinship, hierarchies, networks, and transactions that affect refugees. The coping strategies of groups often overlooked in the gender conversation are examined throughout this study, including those of male refugees and those making crossings outside of the context of a family unit. The analysis is theoretically situated at the intersection of critical humanitarianism and the politics of vulnerability, and rooted in debates about the feminisation of refugees and corresponding protection agendas. A key contribution of this work is the ethnographic tracing of how refugees embody these politics along their journeys. In closing, the paper sketches out some implications of the findings for humanitarian practice and identifies avenues for further research.

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What assumptions do savings group advocates and practitioners hold about how groups work, and are they justified? As NGOs promote ever more savings groups, they cite a list of benefits: access to funds for emergencies and investments, profits on savings, and strengthened social ties. At the same time, they generally follow a set of "golden rules": pay out annually, charge interest, target women. Yet, the benefits are only realized when a number of factors fall into place, and the rules don't always make sense in different contexts. Savvy NGOs, promoters and group members are already questioning these assumptions and adapting policies to better meet their needs; more could do so. In this paper, we question some pervasive assumptions about savings groups, providing counter-examples and lessons learned from our own experiences, those of practitioners in the field, and published literature.