Africa (sub-Saharan): Research
Many migrant-origin countries are developing policies and institutional structures to support their returning nationals, driven by safety concerns, emergencies, and in some cases pressure from destination countries. This policy brief examines these developments and identifies opportunities to better align local services, national policies, and donor support to strengthen international cooperation on migrant returns and reintegration.
As the scale and costs of climate change and environmental disasters grow, so do their impacts on migration and displacement. Tackling climate mobility will thus require well-designed investments. This issue brief examines the landscape of bilateral government funders and multilateral funds working to address this challenge, how funding is being used, and opportunities to grow the resources available for climate mobility solutions.
Climate change can affect human mobility in many different ways. Designing policies and programs that reflect local conditions and affected communities’ priorities and needs is key to effectively addressing this diversity. This issue brief examines what localized solutions look like in the climate mobility space, why they matter, and how to overcome common obstacles that can keep local actors from playing a bigger role in their development.
When drought, floods, and other climate impacts force people to move internationally, do they qualify for refugee status or other form of protection? This issue brief explores the lack of consensus around what status and rights climate-displaced people should have and suggests options for diversifying the policy toolkit beyond the international protection system.
In the global race for talent, governments in Europe and beyond are exploring ways to attract workers with needed skills. At the same time, some lower- and middle-income countries are seeking to expand their nationals’ access to economic opportunities abroad. This policy brief examines employment- and skills-based mobility projects that seek to facilitate the movement of workers with in-demand skills, including their unique value-add and common challenges.
Remittances are a vital lifeline for migrants’ families around the world and an important source of revenue for many low- and middle-income countries, especially in times of crisis. As more people turn to digital financial technologies for these money transfers, this shift holds the potential to shake up the rigid remittance industry and boost development benefits. But it also brings new challenges, as this report explores.
Small and mid-sized cities are some of the fastest growing in many parts of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa. Yet life in these cities can present a variety of challenges for migrants and displaced persons. This report examines these challenges in secondary cities in Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda, and how local, national, and civil-society actors are working to address them.
Reintegration after return is often a challenge, and doubly so for migrants returning to communities affected by climate change and environmental degradation. This brief explores the emergence of "green" approaches to providing reintegration assistance, including project types implemented to date, common challenges, and strategies for building a stronger case for climate-responsive reintegration programming.
When migrants return to their countries of origin, their reintegration is often most successful in communities that are welcoming, have functional public services, and where livelihood opportunities are available. In recognition of these facts, there has been a growing push to connect reintegration assistance programs with efforts to support local development. This issue brief explores common approaches to building such links.
One promising—but often underutilized—element of addressing the world’s urgent humanitarian protection needs is meaningfully engaging refugees in policymaking processes. As this report highlights, consultations, advisory roles, and leadership and staff positions can help ensure refugees’ knowledge and expertise are reflected in policy responses to displacement. The study also examines common limitations and ways to make engagement more impactful.
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