Dr. Cheng Boon Ong


Affiliated researcher

Research group(s):
7. Social Protection

Educational Background
Cheng holds a PhD in Public Policy and Policy Analysis from Maastricht University. Her interdisciplinary background also includes a MSc in Social Policy Analysis (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), BA in Politics and International Relations (University of Essex) and Diploma in Economics (London School of Economics and Political Science).

Professional and Research Interests
Cheng's research lies at the confluence of social protection, voluntary and forced migration, and applied statistics. Her doctoral research focused on housing and school segregation among migrant-origin households in the Netherlands. Currently she is an Economic Security Data and Analysis Specialist with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

She has worked as a humanitarian assessment officer for Yemen (at REACH Initiative), a monitoring expert on internal displacement (at the Norwegian Refugee Council's Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre) and an international consultant working on social protection in ASEAN countries (under an ILO/Japan-ASEAN multilateral project), labour statistics (ILO Asia Pacific's Regional Economic and Social Analysis Unit), and post-shelter livelihoods and location choice of Myanmar refugees (UNHCR Thailand). She has also extensive teaching and coordination experience in the training of policymakers, practitioners, and public policy graduate students.




Selected publications by Cheng Boon Ong


UNU-MERIT