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Research and Evidence Facility

Funded by the EU Trust Fund for Africa

In support of the EU Trust Fund, which was set up in November 2015 to address challenges of instability and migration, a Research and Evidence Facility (REF) has been created to collate and produce evidence and policy relevant knowledge

In support of the EU Trust Fund, which was set up in November 2015 to address challenges of instability and migration, a Research and Evidence Facility (REF) has been created to collate and produce evidence and policy relevant knowledge. Such knowledge is expected to include (but not be limited to) information on the drivers of migration, dynamics of cross-border economies and centre/periphery relations, the features and limitations of government migration management systems and social service provision, drivers of radicalism and violent extremism, and opportunities for strengthening resilience in the greater Horn of Africa. This includes Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. The aim of the REF is to inform EU policy towards the region, particularly focusing on how migration from the region can be reduced.

The research will explore the similarities and distinctions between the needs and experiences of different types of migrants, including regular migrants (e.g. through labour migration, student migration, family migration), irregular migrants, trafficked persons, unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable persons, refugees and asylum seekers, and internally displaced people (IDPs). In particular, it will explore the connections and distinctions between regular and irregular migration and displacement on one hand, and conditions of conflict, insecurity, and underdevelopment on the other.

The REF brings together a team with extensive experience in the fields of migration and development, security analysis, and political economy analysis, both from within the region of focus as well as comparative experience from other regions. The key expert team comprises of leading figures in the fields of Migration, Conflict, Development, Political and Security Analysis, and Communications. It is led by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London and partners with the University of Oxford’s International Migration Institute (Oxford/IMI) and Sahan Research (based in Nairobi, Kenya).

Our team

  • Oliver Bakewell
    Oliver Bakewell

    Senior Lecturer at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester

Related research themes

Development processes shape human mobility in fundamental and often counter-intuitive ways. We examine how internal and international migration is driven by wider social, economic, technological and political transformations. Our research challenges assumptions that development will reduce migration and the sedentary foundations of much research and policy.
Drivers and dynamics