The penultimate #FlorenceLive panel conversation focused on the human and economic impact of the pandemic on the emerging economies of Africa. Central themes were: the different dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis in Africa; EU-Africa relations and the return of geopolitics; multilateral support for developing countries in fighting the crisis; post-Corona economic prospects for Africa.

The event recording and key takeaways are available.

The Covid 19 pandemic is affecting the global economy and some predict it to be worse than the great depression. This webinar by the Global Governance Programme pondered the following questions: Is this crisis an opportunity to revisit the Trade & Development agenda? How will Africa and the Caribbean region adjust their trade strategy? What do they expect from their partners, particularly the EU? In this new context, should trade policy be used to achieve non-trade policy goals?

This roundtable by the Middle East Directions Programme in collaboration with the World Bank discussed the expected decline in MENA output - as an effect of the Covid-19 crisis and the lowering of oil prices - proposing a two-step approach to tackle both the health emergency and the associated economic contraction. The emphasis was on the importance of transparency on health and economic data, in order to foster long-term growth.

This webinar organised by the Migration Policy Centre was composed of three presentations, including “The effects of Covid-19 on Mobility in Africa and Citizenship”, by Mehari Taddele Maru. 

The coronavirus has now hit almost every country in Africa. Altogether there are more than 22,000 confirmed cases with 1,126 deaths on the continent. All African countries have introduced laws for the closure of borders and restriction on both internal and international mobility. 

A roundtable chaired by Virginie Collombier with speaker Robert Springborg, who provided the basis for the discussion by presenting his new book ‘Political Economies of the Middle East and North Africa’ (Polity Press, 2020), which focuses on national and regional politics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to explain why economies there are underperforming.

The two week-long academic programme was launched in 2005 and so far the Migration Policy Centre has welcomed a total of 415 participants from all over the globe, including civil servants, representatives from NGOs and other civil society organisations, journalists, policy analysts, and teachers. The 16th edition of the Migration Summer The 16th edition of the Migration Summer School will take place from the 22nd of June to the 3rd of July (2020). More information to follow.

A roundtable with journalist and field researcher Rebecca Murray, who will present insights from her recent fieldwork in Libya, focusing on the situation since the launch of the self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces’ campaign on the capital Tripoli in April 2019, and the proxy war that’s ensued.

On 25 October, HE Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, delivered the inaugural Distinguished Giorgio La Pira Lecture on 'Human Security, Sustainable Development, Education and Gender Governance in Africa and Beyond.' 

The MEDirections 2019 Annual Conference, focused on “Conflicts and Natural Resources in the MENA region and its immediate neighbourhood” (essentially the Sahel region). Participants included scholars and practitioners from North Africa.

See also previous Annual Conferences organised by the MEDirections Programme. 

This MEDAM conference launched the annual assessment report on asylum and migration policy. This year’s report is titled “Rethinking EU migration and asylum policies: Managing immigration jointly with countries of origin and transit” All its three chapters (1.Citizens’ attitudes towards the design of asylum policies; 2.Cooperation with third countries on migration; 3. Moving EU asylum and migration policy forward) were discussed at the conference

Live stream available. 

On 16 October, the Migration Policy Centre hosted the following presentations, as part of its seminar series:

• “Understanding Migration and Influencing Policy - Experiences from the African Migration and Development Policy Centre, (AMADPOC)” by Linda Oucho, Director of Research and Data Hub at the AMADPOC, Kenya
• “Application of new response frameworks to refugee crises: case study of refugee settlements in Zambia” by Annick-Laure Tchuendem, Policy Fellow, School of Transnational Governance

The event was live streamed on Facebook. 

The Migration Policy Centre's Annual Conference 2019 focused on the relationships between knowledge production, attitudes and governance on migration between Africa and Europe and the gaps between the worlds of research and policy. It addressed three broad questions: what is the use of research in public debates and policy-making on migration between Africa and Europe? Why are there such large gaps between migration debates and migration realities, and how can these gaps be reduced?

The School of Transnational Governance welcomed Meaza Ashenafi, the first woman appointed as Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia, founder and executive director of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association and prominent women’s rights activist.

The executive training seminar Global Quest for Investment Finance for Low Carbon Economy analysed the role of central banks and of state investment banks in the transition to low carbon economy, possible ways of scaling up climate finance in developing and emerging countries, as well as the different national paths to contribute to the Paris Agreement. In additon, participants gained an insight into the EU Emission Trading System.

The Cultural Pluralism in the Cities of the Global South Conference looked at cities that are emerging as regional centres of power in the ‘Global South’, focusing on the major urban centres in African, Asian, and Latin American countries at different stages of the nation building process. The aim was to unpack the power relations within the city and the ways in which the city projects itself beyond the national scale and positions itself both at a wider regional level and within global cultural hierarchies.