Virtual Workshop Series | Developing a Research and Policy Agenda for Addressing Displacement and Migration in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change in Africa

March 8, 2021
Events

Virtual Workshop Series

Developing a Research and Policy Agenda for Addressing Displacement and Migration in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change in Africa

April-June 2021

Natural hazards, disasters and climate change are among the leading drivers of human mobility across Africa. Yet, lawful pathways for those who move across international borders in this context remain limited, and often uncertain.

The PDD is honored to organize a Virtual Workshop Series over the course of April – July 2021 together with the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW; International Organization for Migration (IOM); UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD); Refugee Rights Unit, University of Cape Town; Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria; and University of Nairobi, to bring African scholars together to develop a research and policy agenda for addressing displacement and migration in the context of disasters and climate change in Africa.

The series is generously funded and supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM); UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); and Africa-Australia Universities Network (AAUN).

This Virtual Workshop Series will provide an opportunity for academics and policy experts working across Africa and beyond to engage in discussion, form networks and plan future research on topics related to disaster and climate change-related displacement and migration.

Through a series of online presentations and discussions, the Virtual Workshop Series will identify:

Opportunities for addressing displacement and migration in the context of disasters and climate change within regional and sub-regional law and policy frameworks in Africa; and
Key knowledge gaps that need to be addressed for these opportunities to be more fully realized.

Workshop participation is open to interested scholars from Africa working on climate change, disasters, migration and displacement across law, policy and other disciplines; as well as representatives of key regional, sub-regional and civil society organizations. It will focus on opportunities for addressing displacement and migration in sub-Saharan Africa, including the ECOWAS, IGAD and SADC sub-regions, facilitating analysis of each sub-region as well as the sharing of examples and perspectives across sub-regions.

The Virtual Workshop Series will include Opening and Closing Plenary sessions, plus Thematic Working Group sessions for each of the following fields of law/policy:

Environment, climate change and disasters;
Migration and free movement;
Refugee and human rights law;
Protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and planned relocation.

The series will be run in English and French. Interpretation will be provided for all sessions, and key workshop materials will be available in both languages. An agenda will be made available in due course.

View the full CONCEPT NOTE.

APPLY here to participate.

Applications close Monday 19 April 2021. Please share this information widely in your networks and contact the PDD Secretariat if you are interested to learn more about/ support this Virtual Workshop Series (info@disasterdisplacement.org)

View the Kaldor Centre Call for Participation in En/Fr HERE

View the IOM Call for Participation in En/Fr HERE