Capacity Building and Migrant Rights Trainings in Africa: Do They Work?

Wednesday, May  21st
Sciences Po, Salle d'Innovation
1, place Saint-Thomas 75007 Paris
12h - 14h

Abstract

In response to the 2015 migration ‘crisis’ in Europe, the European Union established the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) that promised €5 billion to support “partner countries to address the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement and will fully exploit the benefits of well-managed migration.” Much of the funding went to migrant rights trainings and capacity building workshops in the hopes of improving the lives of migrants and the rule of law in recipient countries in Africa. But little is known about the impact of the migration management aid or the trainings or workshops on the governance and domestic institutions in recipient states, in addition to the rights of both migrants and citizens. 

This seminar evaluates the impact and effectiveness of migrant rights trainings and capacity building workshops in the Horn of Africa with case studies in Kenya and Ethiopia. The seminar will describe the scope and aim of the trainings and workshops, their theory of change, in addition to the political economy of the policy interventions in each country, including national migration policies, and migrant rights violations. The seminar will situate the migrant rights workshops within the wider policy changes and human rights context for migrants in each country and conclude with specific recommendations for the government institutions and donor governments.

Speaker

Nicholas R. Micinski is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Maine. His research focuses on global governance, particularly how states and international organizations respond to refugees, migration, climate change, and peacebuilding. Professor Micinski is the author of two books: Delegating Responsibility: International Cooperation on Migration in the European Union (University of Michigan Press, 2022) and UN Global Compacts: Governing Migrants and Refugees (Routledge, 2021).

Previously, Micinski was postdoctoral fellow at Université Laval, ISA James N. Rosenau Postdoctoral Fellow, and visiting researcher at the Center for the Study of Europe, Boston University. Before academia, he worked in the NGO sector in London for five years on refugee policy and service delivery. Professor Micinski received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY).