The Centre for Migration Studies (CMS) at the University of Ghana, Legon, has initiated an IDRC project aimed at enhancing knowledge, evidence utilization, and leadership in the Global South regarding forced displacement, with a specific focus on Anglophone West African countries, including Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The overarching objective is to establish interdisciplinary evidence and generate a substantial body of knowledge to contribute to a better understanding of forced displacement, livelihood opportunities, and access to economic and social services from a gender perspective. The project seeks to inform the development of new gender-sensitive approaches or the strengthening of existing frameworks to effectively address forced displacement in Anglophone West Africa.
Professor Mary B. Setrana, the IDRC Research Chair and Director of CMS, highlighted that as of the end of 2022, an estimated 108.4 million individuals were forcibly displaced from their homes, according to the UN Refugee Agency. She emphasized that the majority of these displacements were caused by factors such as violence, conflicts, human rights violations, climate change, and the lack of political will to relocate, resettle, or compensate affected victims, particularly in cases involving the construction of infrastructure like roads and shopping malls. Professor Setrana cited the ongoing disaster at the Centre, where offices and classrooms have been affected by heavy rains since June 2023, with no resettlement package or compensation provided, as an example of forced displacement.
She underscored that the current estimate of forced displacement represents a doubling of the 42.7 million displaced persons recorded a decade ago and is the highest since the Second World War. Notably, women and children are the most affected populations in forced displacement scenarios, with women facing limited alternatives and often finding themselves in vulnerable situations.
Despite the increasing numbers, there remains a lack of sufficient knowledge and interventions regarding the intersection of gender with the drivers of displacement, livelihood opportunities, access to economic resources, and other essential services.
Professor Setrana expressed optimism that the IDRC project would facilitate knowledge production, inform policy-making processes, and offer valuable lessons for addressing forced displacement in West Africa and globally.