Forskningsprojekt

New research project on diaspora groups as humanitarian actors

Exploring how Somali diaspora groups mobilize, channel and deliver humanitarian assistance

Diaspora groups are among the first to assist in acute emergencies and remain engaged during protracted displacement and conflict. Their remittances reach remote areas and hard-to-reach populations, surpassing humanitarian aid sent to fragile states six times. Analyzing and theorizing diaspora humanitarianism is therefore vital to understand the dynamics of humanitarian crises comprehensively and enhance collaboration between international humanitarian agencies and diaspora actors.

A new collaborative research project, Diaspora Humanitarianism in Complex Crises (D-Hum), brings together DIIS, Somali and Kenyan researchers to do just that. Focusing on Somalia, D-Hum will explore how Somali diaspora groups mobilize, channel and deliver humanitarian assistance to Somalia through various humanitarian infrastructures that facilitates or constrains it. It will further examine the effects of such assistance, including how it reproduces or overcomes social divisions in Somalia, and the involvement of youth in the diaspora and locally.

The D-Hum research project is organized in a consortium that comprises DIIS; 'Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi; Rako Research and Communication Centre in Hargeisa; and Rift Valley Institute in Nairobi. It is funded by a grant from the Danish Consultative Research Committee (FFU) as part of the development research funding provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. It is coordinated by DIIS senior researcher Nauja Kleist.

Region
Kenya Somalia

DIIS Experts

Nauja Kleist
Migration and global order
Senior Researcher
32698667
 Peter Albrecht
Global security and worldviews
Senior Researcher
+45 3269 8772