International Development and Research Centre (IDRC), Women and Citizenship Programme - CONTINUING

www.iss.nl/idrc

Thanh Dam Truong co-ordinates a an IDRC-funded programme, supported by other ISS staff members that will connect communities of researchers and practitioners in different research centres around the world. Structured contacts between ISS researchers and IDRC research partners will promote a more holistic understanding of, and concerted action on, the diverse realities and disciplinary entry points into migration research and especially policy research on women's rights in migration, which often lacks a systemic perspective.

IDRC-funded migration research projects under the IDRC Women and Citizenship Programme (2006-2009) cover several regions and provide an excellent opportunity to build connections and make collaboration beneficial to policy. This project uses an interdisciplinary approach to connect the different facets of gender in migration addressed by the IDRC projects. Its primary aims are: 1) to support IDRC-funded research projects in deepening the analysis of data gathered and insight gained, and to compare realities manifest in the regional contexts; 2) to discern differences and commonalities with regard to political and cultural configurations of identities in migration, institutionalized rights violations, measures of negotiation and rights claims and 3) to translate research findings into policy briefs and educational materials. Through knowledge exchange and the sharing of practical experiences (methodology of research, advocacy and rights-claiming action) the project also seeks to foster cross-regional collaboration in the long-term.

Centre for Migration Research in Ghana - CONTINUING

The ISS has joined forces with The University of Nijmegen and the Management Foundation for Development in a project funded by the NUFIC, which involves institution-building and a substantive component for developing PhD research and MA curriculum development at the CMS in Ghana. Mahmood Messkoub has led the co-ordination of this project from the ISS side, supported by other ISS staff members. Two key themes of policy concerns to the project are: (1) migration of health care personnel, (2) remittances and local development.

Completed projects

Human (In)Security in the Networks of Global Cities - COMPLETED

Prompted by the Report of the Commission of the United Nations, Human Security Now (2003), especially its chapter on 'People on the Move', this research project tried to capture the experiences of human insecurity in different regions. It brought to light different forms of insecurity that are deeply embedded in the multilocal livelihoods of the migrants, as they move from city to city in search of more secure and rewarding livelihood options.

• Chubu University, Nagoya Japan, coordinated the project involving five research teams: Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok, Thailand);
• the Collegio de Mexico (Mexico City, Mexico);
• Third World Forum (Dakar, Senegal);
• the American University (Washington D.C., the USA);
• the Institute of Social Studies (The Hague, the Netherlands).

Human Security in Global Cities: An examination of Social Quality in the Municipality of the Hague - COMPLETED

As increased migration especially in global cities has led to an increased cultural diversity where migrants with diverse cultural, ethnic, religious and social backgrounds share living space, many questions with regard to social conflict, cooperation and quality of social life have emerge. These questions formed part of a social quality project initiated by the European Foundation of Social Quality whose members approached the ISS for cooperation, with funding possibilities from The Hague Municipality. Rachel Kurian led this initiative from ISS side and co-constructed a project with EFSQ.

Gender and Sustainable Development: Natural Resource Management, Migration and Multi-local Livelihoods - COMPLETED

In 2006, the European Commission approved the project “Gender and Sustainable Development: Natural Resource Management, Migration and Multi-local Livelihoods” under the EU Asia Link. Led by Thanh-Dam Truong and Marlene Buchy, the project developed a range of collaborative activities involving South-South and North-South flows to strengthen collective institutional capacity in higher education to integrate gender, resource management, and migration studies. Activities included two International Conferences in 2007 and in 2010, curriculum development, training and skill-transfer, and dissemination through training workshops. The ISS combined forces in a consortium with Andalas University in Indonesia, the Asian Research Centre for Migration of Chulalongkorn University and the Asian Institute of Technology, both in Thailand, and Brighton University in the United Kingdom.

The main project objectives were to (a) bring the links between gender, natural resource management, migration and the formation of multi-local livelihood strategies to bear in systems of research and policy intervention, and (b) improve PhD and MA students’ quality in the EU and South East Asian institutions through faculty visits, student exchange programmes and training workshops.

In order to deepen the cooperation between European and Asian academic institutions for an enhancement of human resource capacities (teaching, research and policy advice) on gender and sustainable development, the project produced: (1) jointly develop policy-related modules for academic training as well as the training of mid-career professionals; (2) jointly supervised several PhD and MA students in the EU-South East Asian institutions through faculty visits and student exchange programmes; (3) improved skills in academic writing, research methods through training workshops and improved didactic skills through hand-on cross-cultural comparison of learning processes; (4) fostered linkages between EU and the partner countries in higher education by encouraging and enabling South East Asian students to complete postgraduate studies in Europe; and (5) increased networking and institutional co-operation in fields of mutual interest, allowing the students from both regions to appreciate each other’s rich cultural heritage and co-learn and make innovations. The three-year project started in May/June 2007 and ended in June 2010.