Climate Change and Migration
Faculty Lead: Dr. Taylor Seybolt
During the 2017–2018 academic year, the Climate Change and Migration working group built upon its prior work to examine under what circumstances migration that is due to sea-level rise will lead to conflict or peaceful accommodation in communities that receive migrants. While research shows that it is likely there will be an increase in the number of vulnerable families who are forced to relocate due to climate change, there is not a good understanding of what is likely to happen in the receiving communities. To better understand this, the group measured rapid urbanization and climate change vulnerability in cities including Alexandria, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Lagos.
Gender Dynamics of Violent Extremism in Africa
Faculty Lead: Dr. Chris Belasco
The U.S. Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the Agency for International Development (USAID) have developed programming to counter support for violent extremism (CVE) in Africa. The working group examined gender-based drivers and identified gender-oriented efforts to mitigate attitudes that support violent extremism. The team initiated research projects in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State Diplomacy Lab initiative in 2016–17 and in Fall 2017. The working group concluded its work in Spring 2018.
Gender Equality in Public Administration
Faculty Leads: Drs. Müge Finkel and Melanie Hughes
In 2013, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched GEPA – a research and policy development initiative to collect and make available up-to-date information on gender equality in public administration. Beginning in September 2015, the Ford Institute for Human Security began hosting the GEPA student working group, partnered with UNDP. Led by Finkel and Hughes, working group members collected, evaluated, analyzed, and visualized data on women’s representation in public administration worldwide. For several years, the group has supported the ongoing development of a new global system to track and report data on gender equality in the civil service. In the 2017–2019 academic years, the group focused on the relationship between GEPA data availability and GEPA outcomes as they relate to conflict and peace processes in conflict-affected countries. The group has presented their research to the UN GEPA team in December 2015, May and December 2016, May 2017, November 2017, May 2018, and March 2019. The 2019 spring presentations were held over two days as a part of the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women at the UN Secretariat in New York.