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[Project] Protected rather than protracted—Strengthening refugees and peace

• The majority of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) find themselves displaced for more than five years—either in their own or in neighbouring countries. Of the three durable solutions for these so-called protracted refugee situations—local integration, resettlement in third countries and repatriation—the latter is still considered to be the best option by most stakeholders. Yet, due to the increasing prevalence of protracted conflicts worldwide, voluntary return often is not possibl...

[Publication] Incorporation of defense expenditures into public expenditure work

• The following short case studies will present and discuss readily available information on deficits in the planning, programming implementation and control of military expenditures in the East- African countries of Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The case studies are structured as follows: first, general information on the military sector, especially size and meaning of the armed forces and military expenditures, is presented. Second, to the extent that information co...

[Press] International research project TRAFIG \ Launch of Website

• TRAFIG (Transnational Figurations of Displacement) is an EU-funded Horizon 2020 research and innovation project. Recently, the project launched its website (https://trafig.eu/), which informs the public about key insights of its work.
• Wednesday, 10 April 2019: “TRAFIG aims at generating new knowledge on protracted displacement to develop solutions that are tailored to the needs and capacities of persons affected by displacement”, Benjamin Etzold, the project’s scientific coordinator at BICC, explains. The project looks specifically at how displaced people use transnational and local networks as well as mobility as resources to manage their everyday lives.To do so, from 2019 to 2021, 12 partner organisations will investigate long-lasting displacement s...

[PDF Document] paper35.pdf   (220.66 KB)

[Publication] Governing protracted displacement: An analysis across global, regional and domestic contexts (TRAFIG working paper 3). Bonn: ...

• This working paper explores the governance of protracted displacement across global, regional and domestic levels in the context of the project “Transnational Figurations of Displacement” (TRAFIG). The multiple contemporary crises that have led to forced displacement show not only the limits of a tight definition of ‘refugee’, but also highlight the gaps in international protection frameworks. A significant number of those forcibly displaced are in protracted displacement situations.This paper i...

[Press] New publication \ Pastoralists, politics and development projects

• In BICC Working Paper 7\ 2019 the author Kennedy Mkutu, United States International University, Nairobi, in the framework of the research project “Future Rural Africa” explores the complexity of existing conflict in Isiolo and the emerging effects of new plans and land claims.
• Tuesday, 10 September 2019: Pastoral counties of northern Kenya are expected to undergo massive change in the  coming years due to the government’s ambitious infrastructural development agenda.  However, the area frequently experiences violence as a result of conflict between pastoralist communities, and also due to ethno-political contestations. Isiolo County is one  such place where planned development projects and conflict risks coincide, making it  an important case study for understanding how the f...

[Press] TRAFIG Synthesis Report \ Understand the needs of displaced people and identify solutions that last

• Across the world, 16 million refugees and an unknown number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) experience long-lasting conditions of economic precarity, marginalization, rightlessness and future uncertainty. Their needs and preferences are widely ignored. The EU-funded project TRAFIG (Transnational Figurations of Displacement) investigated such protracted displacement situations and developed alternative solutions that are tailored to the capacities of displaced persons. In a “Synthesis Repo...
• Wednesday, 29 June 2022: “To address the problems of protracted displacement we need to better understand the factors shaping these difficult situations for refugees and IDPs. People must then stand at the heart of states’ responses”, Benjamin Etzold, coordinator of TRAFIG explains. The findings of TRAFIG’s empirical study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Tanzania, Jordan, Pakistan, Greece, Italy and Germany show that besides humanitarian aid and protection also the relations between...

[Staff] Karl Wagner

• Technical Advisor
• BA HONS in Development Studies and Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of LondonMPHIL in African Studies, University of LeidenProject Management Intern, Management Systems in International (2011)International Volunteer at Search For Common Ground, Tarime and Kahama, Tanzania (2011-2012)Programme Manager and Small Arms Expert at the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa, Lomé, Togo (2012-2015)

[Press] Obituary Elke Grawert (13 November 1958 - 5 March 2021)

• On 5 March, after a short and severe illness, our much-appreciated colleague Elke Grawert passed away at the age of 62. She was taken from us much too early.
• Wednesday, 10 March 2021: Elke, born in Bremen in 1958, studied Political Science in Münster and Hamburg. Elke completed her doctorate in Economics and Social Sciences in Bremen in 1995 on "Making a Living in Rural Sudan. Food Production of Women, Labour Migration of Men, and Policies of Peasants' Need". In 2006, she habilitated with a thesis on "Departures from Post-colonial Authoritarianism. Analysis of System Change with a Focus on Tanzania" in Political Science—also in Bremen. Elke ca...

[PDF Document] paper38_english.pdf   (793.3 KB)