Call for Experts: Migration Governance, Global Governance Reform Initiative – The Hague Institute

Effective global governance is one of the defining challenges of our time. Too often, key stakeholders fail to agree on or engage in concerted action to address pressing cross-border problems successfully.

The Hague Institute and partners are currently soliciting applications from policy experts, academics as well as private sector and civil society professionals who wish to participate in the next phase of the Global Governance Reform Initiative. This project phase will focus on Migration Governance: Addressing the Challenges in Providing Protection and Human Security for the Most Vulnerable. The project includes a two-day workshop in The Hague on 1 and 2 December 2016 where experts will present their findings on selected policy-oriented research questions. Preference will be given to candidates who have at least three years of experience working on issues related to the governance of migration.

The Global Governance Reform Initiative (GGRI) is a collaboration between The Hague Institute for Global Justice, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation (New Delhi). Its primary goal is to analyze the deficiencies of the current international system and propose policies for improving global governance in select domains. The present focus of this project is on the (global) governance of migration.

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The Project
There are approximately 244 million migrants globally, prompting a variety of cross-border challenges. According to UNHCR 2016 Global Trends 65.3 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide of which more than 21 million are refugees and 10 million are stateless persons. For forcibly displaced people, who often find themselves in a vulnerable situation, migration is not (primarily) a matter of improving their economic situation, but a manner to escape persecution, violence and discrimination. Other particularly vulnerable migrants fleeing for reasons not (yet) well recognized in international law, such as deteriorating environmental and climate conditions, deserve urgent political and humanitarian attention as well.

On the other hand, receiving countries often face internal political difficulties rising from financial, security and socio-cultural challenges associated with the arrival of newcomers. In order to find policy-relevant solutions that meet these contemporary challenges pertaining to migration governance, a call for experts is being issued that focuses on three particular areas:

  1. Status and protection: International law, human rights, and vulnerable migrants;
  2. Regional collaboration: Institutional stepping stones addressing security, political, and socio-economic challenges in migration governance; and
  3. Human security through integration and participation at the local/urban level.

The Process
The participants will be required to prepare a draft paper of 4,000-6,000 words (including notes and references) on one of the three research areas listed above. Each paper will provide a competent analysis of the selected migration governance issue and contain clear, actionable policy recommendations for the effective governance of the movement and settlement of vulnerable migrants.

For the overall balance of the contributions, each issue area will be represented with at least two or three papers to enable a fruitful exchange. Moreover, paper contributors should not limit themselves to one of the focus areas, but are encouraged to address the intersections and trade-offs between them. The participants will consult their peers as they prepare their papers to ensure that their work takes into account different sectoral and regional or national perspectives.

The participants will convene at The Hague Institute in the Netherlands for a 2-day conference on 1 and 2 December 2016 to present working drafts of their papers to a select group of international migration governance experts and policymakers. This group will assess the substance and policy relevance of each paper. In order to guide the research, discussions at the workshop, and improve the substantive output, each issue area will be assigned a senior discussant, who will take part in the workshop and provide substantive feedback.

The participants will then revise their papers in accordance with this feedback, providing feasible policy recommendations for improving migration governance and identifying domain-specific and general lessons for good global governance. The final product, which will be developed in consultation with the project leadership, will take one of the following formats:

  • A Hague Institute Policy Brief or Practitioner Toolkits
  • Academic Article for a Special Section in peer-reviewed, policy-oriented journal
  • A Hague Institute Working Paper (potentially for subsequent publication in journals etc.)

Together with its partners, The Hague Institute will arrange for the publication and broad dissemination of these deliverables among policymakers and other key actors involved in migration governance efforts.

Candidates’ expenses related to the workshop in The Hague will be borne by The Hague Institute and its partners.

How to Apply
Please send a completed application package consisting of

  • a completed application form (see link to Research Questions and Form) and
  • a current CV

by 1 September 2016 to Ms. Manuella Appiah at: M.Appiah@TheHagueInstitute.org.