Closing the Water Gap
Faculty leader: Dr. Marcela González Rivas
The COVID-19 pandemic brings renewed urgency to water access because of its direct connection to public health. Low income and Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and this is exacerbated by the fact that water affordability is becoming a major problem in many US cities, including Pittsburgh. The goal of the working group in 2020-2021 was to analyze programs designed to ensure water access and sanitation for BIPOC and low-income groups facing difficulties paying their water bills.
The first objective of the working group was to conduct a review of water bill assistance programs and classify them according to the level of protection offered (i.e. temporary public health related vs full protections covering economic effects of the pandemic). The second objective was to identify the leading affordability programs and their key characteristics (target beneficiaries, income eligibility thresholds, registration process, implementation challenges and financing, etc.). Students reviewed the academic, human rights and advocacy literatures on water access, as well as conduct research to identify bill assistance programs, classify them, and conduct in-depth interviews of program managers of the leading affordability water programs. By the end of the academic year, the working group produced a report and made a presentation to the Low Income Assistance Advisory Committee of the Pittsburgh Water and Sanitation Authority.
- Collin Farone (MPIA '22)
- Luciana Lemos (MPA '22)
- Anisha Mallik (MID '22)
- Kenneth Reilly (MPA '22)
Gender Equality in Public Administration
Faculty leaders: Dr. Müge Finkel and Dr. Melanie Hughes
In 2014, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) published a report that launched the Gender Equality in Public Administration (GEPA) project – a research and policy development initiative to collect and make available up-to-date information on gender equality in public administration. In September 2015, the Ford Institute initiated the GEPA working group in partnership with the UNDP. Over the past five years, students have collected and analyzed raw data on women’s representation in civil service jobs globally. They have presented findings at UN Headquarters in New York in May 2016, 2017, and 2018. In March 2019, the group was invited to present at the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women Meetings that took place in New York City at the UN Headquarters. More information can be found at www.girl.pitt.edu
- Sonya Akhgar (MID '21)
- I Younan An (MID '21)
- Juliana Bernardio (MID '21)
- Kayla Conforti (MPIA '21)
- Natalia Duarte (PhD Candidate)
- Leila Fadel (MID '22)
- Natalia Goodnow (MPIA '21)
- Rhea Henry (MPA '21)
- Rebecca Holland (MID '21)
- Brianna Howell (PhD Candidate)
- Caroline Kimbro (MID '22)
- Katrina Lenhart (MID '22)
- Rachel Licina (MPIA '22)
- Alexandra Long (MPA '22)
- Ihrar Muhammadi (MID '21)
- Alice Ngamije (MID '21)
- Lizz Piccoli (MID '21)
- Noelle Spencer (PhD Candidate)
- Yiyang Sun (MPIA '21)
- Gifty Owusu-Tawiah (MID '22)
Mapping EU Migration Policies in the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Sahel
Faculty leader: Dr. Gemma Marolda
This working group will assess the progress made by the EU and its member states on their plan of action to control migration from northern Africa. In 2015, the European Union (EU), EU Member States and African States adopted the Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP), making migration a responsibility shared between countries of origins, transit and destination. The JVAP is based on five goals: 1) address the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement; 2) cooperate on regular migration and mobility (legal pathways); 3) reinforce the protection of migrants and asylum seekers; 4) fight irregular migration, human smuggling and trafficking; and 5) improve cooperation on return, readmission and reintegration. Five years later, despite some progress on all five goals, the European response to managing migration remains mostly focused on fighting irregular migration.
The working group will design and build a GIS interactive map, including all the data collected. In the Spring semester, the group will prepare a poster on the project and present it to students and faculty at the end of the academic year. This group is a great opportunity for students seeking to learn and improve on research methods, data visualization and analytical skills.
- Asif Tazwar Amin (MPIA '22)
- Michael Grande (MPA '22)
- Laura Hagan (MPIA '21)
- Joyce Pagan (MPIA '22)
- Ben Saint-Onge (MPIA '21)
- Daniel Turillo (PS BA)
- Falon Weidman (MPA '21)
- Matthew Whalen (MID '20)
- Laura Wicker (MPA '21)
- Natividad Zavala (MID '22)
When Genocidal Violence Happens
Faculty leader: Dr. Taylor Seybolt
When genocidal violence happens, national governments have legal and moral obligations to act to stop it. Often, however, little effective action is taken. One reason for this failure of international governance is the potentially high cost of intervening. A second reason is the general lack of understanding of the complex processes that drive the escalation of violence against civilians. This working group will seek to specify as clearly as possible the conditions under which a situation of political instability and violence can suddenly become a mass killing event. A better understanding of the process of violence can help identify “interruption points” where intervention of various types might be effective. Working group members will produce a literature review and a case study of genocide or of an escalatory situation that did not reach the threshold of genocidal violence.
- Zeinab Abbas (MPIA '22)
- Asif Tazwar Amin (MPIA '22)
- Justin Bernstein (MPIA '22)
- Kate Greuel (MPIA '23)
- Grace Kintzinger (MPIA '22)
- Emily Magill (MPA '22)
- Chidinma Onuoha (MID '21)
- Joyce Pagan (MPIA '22)
- Gabrielle Sinnott (MPIA '21)
Working Group Archive
The 2020-2021 working groups included: Closing the Water Gap, Gender Equality in Public Administration, Mapping EU Migration Policies in the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Sahel, and When Genocidal Violence Happens.
The 2019-2020 working groups included: Closing the Water Gap, Conflict at Sea: Boat Migration in the Central Mediterranean and the War Against the NGOs, Floods and Social Equity in the Context of Climate Change, Gender Equality in Public Administration, Hacking4Humanity: Misinformation as a Cause of Violent Conflict, and Human Trafficking in Global Supply Chains.
The 2018–2019 working groups included: Climate Change: Water Resiliency, Gender Equality in Public Administration, Hacking4Humanity: Human Trafficking, Humanitarian Intervention, and Search and Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
The 2017–2018 working groups included: Climate Change and Migration, Gender Dynamics of Violent Extremism in Africa, and Gender Equality in Public Administration.
During the 2016-2017 academic year, the Ford Institute convened four working groups. The 2016-2017 working groups included: Climate Change, Corporate Social Responsibility, Gender Dynamics of Violent Extremism in Africa, and Gender Equality in Public Administration.