"Clearly, policy designs can look great on paper but their ultimate success is shaped by many factors. Unlike in Western Uganda, the government does not own the land in the West Nile region. The land belongs to local communities. As a result, the government relies on the willingness of host communities to make land accessible to refugees." Elsemarie Jorissen, MSc. Student, UNU-MERIT
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Are farmers willing to accept payments for ecosystem services? If so, what should be the mode and timing of payments? A new article examines the case of climate-smart agroforestry in Ethiopia. What is the best blend of policies to promote innovation among SMEs in traditional industries? A new article based on data from 300 SMEs in seven European regions says policymakers should promote variety in firms’ innovation efforts and capabilities. What’s the real background to the oil curse? A new...
Migration scholars Dr. Marieke van Houte and Prof. Arjen Leerkes authored a report on how different Western European countries deal with the deportability and effective non-deportability of rejected asylum seekers. The report, which was commissioned by the Van Zwol committee appointed by the Dutch government for advice on its return policies, shows that deportability depends on several factors of which host state policy is only one among many others. The authors argue that non-deportability shou...
“What I discovered about myself during the Europe For Citizens conference in Malta is that I actually know something about migration,” said Adam Hussain, a British student on our Master’s programme at UNU-MERIT. “I was able to spread the knowledge that I have acquired to people who do not study the subject. It was a fulfilling experience to move away from theory and to see that my studies have a real-life application.” For his fellow student Julia Pohl, a German-Turkish national, it was he...
With the post-world war international institutions eroded and under threat, a “strong and united Europe” standing alongside the United Nations, has never been more essential, said UN chief António Guterres in Germany on Thursday. The Secretary-General was in the ancient continental capital of Aachen, close to the French border, where he received the Charlemagne Prize, awarded each year since 1950, for services towards European unification. UNU was represented at the event by senior officials fro...
Uganda’s refugee policy is praised worldwide as it is different from other hosting countries: refugees can stay in settlements or they can decide to move to a city. In both cases, they can seek employment anywhere. Yet, only in the first scenario do they receive humanitarian assistance and a piece of land to farm. Nakivale refugee settlement, approximately 200 km away from Kampala, is one of the oldest settlements in the country. It currently hosts 119,587 refugees from the Democratic Republic o...
Charlotte Mueller’s PhD research focuses mainly on the African nations of Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Somalia — and she has travelled to all these countries over the last three years to collect data. Yet, as a European researching African issues, she is acutely aware of various Eurocentric assumptions, and that African development is still frequently discussed from an external, third person perspective. In this post, Charlotte argues that the 2030 Agenda will only succeed across Afric...
In increasingly diverse societies, teaching must recognise the importance of affirming students’ cultural backgrounds in all aspects of learning. Shutterstock A joint post by Prof Louis Volante, Dr Christopher DeLuca, and Prof Don A. Klinger Classrooms in many parts of the world are increasingly diverse. International migration patterns have significantly changed the cultural make-up of many industrialised societies and, by extension, their school-aged populations. Such changes are particularl...
My session with the MPP students focused on IOM and the data work that we do at the Global Migration Data Analysis Centre in Berlin, including on migration governance indicators. We also had the opportunity to discuss how their degree could help them find internships and jobs at IOM and other international organisations. Migration is an increasingly central topic for public policy at all levels, so I would not be surprised if one or more of the students joined IOM in the future. I wish them good...
Throughout this series we have highlighted the importance of social protection for forced migrants, despite the political and economic effects surrounding its provision. In so doing, we have now built a guidance framework on how to adapt humanitarian relief into social protection, as part of a long-term effort to ensure a sustainable level of well-being for all. What is ultimately needed is a system that is not only protective but holistically transformative – and this is all the more critical a...