case study — Publications

Equal Partnerships: African Intermediary Cities as Actors and Partners in Urban Migration Governance. City Report: Sfax, Tunisa

November 2023

The Equal Partnerships project led by Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg, Research on Migration, Displacement, and Integration (MFI), United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and Samuel Hall with support from Robert Bosch Stiftung explores the opportunities and challenges of collaborative, urban migration governance in African intermediary cities.

As part of this project, Samuel Hall developed a city report exploring urban migration governance in Sfax, Tunisia.

Tunisia’s second-largest city, Sfax is an important economic centre connecting the north and south of the country. While the city experiences rural-urban, inter-regional, and international migration; the increasingly difficult socio-economic situation, financial constraints, gender dynamics, the absence of a national migration strategy as well as the politicisation of mobility issues has resulted in unique implications on migration dynamics in Sfax.

To create an overview of activities, partnerships, and cooperation gaps, the Equal Partnerships project developed participatory field research and organised a local workshop with the support of the municipality of Sfax in January and February 2023.

The case study situates Sfax in the national and regional migration context, presents the outcomes of the stakeholder mapping, identifies opportunities and challenges of cooperative action on migration and concludes with concrete policy recommendations for strengthening multi-stakeholder action on urban migration and displacement.

Read the city report here
Find other city reports, developed as part of this project here.

Read our policy paper here.

ODI - Public narratives and attitudes towards refugees and other migrants

October 2021

Engaging public narratives and attitudes towards refugees and migrants within their host communities is an increasingly important task. There is however a lack of understanding and data on these narratives and attitudes. This is particularly the case for countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This ODI project, supported by the IKEA Foundation, aims to address this gap. Through a series of activities, dialogues, and innovative communication and outreach initiatives, the project is mapping recent research and evidence on public attitudes toward refugees and other migrants in several countries in Africa and Europe.

Samuel Hall lead interviews in Nigeria and Ethiopia and contributed to the writing of these new reports. ODI have also carried out similar research in Germany, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, the US, Kenya and Uganda.

Nigeria country profile
Ethiopia country profile
Project page

West & Central Africa, Europe, Global, ResilienceSamuel HallNovember 1, 2021Nigeria, Ethiopia, IKEA, refugees, migration, case study, report

ILO/IOM - We are in this together: Labour Migration Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe and North Africa

July 2021

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has shaken up existing labour migration trends. This is particularly true on both sides of the Mediterranean, where the presence of the virus has profoundly slowed, if not halted, human mobility, and where it is increasingly likely that population movements will be restricted in the coming months and years.

In light of this, and in preparation for the first THAMM (Towards a Holistic Approach to Labour Migration Governance and Labour Mobility in North Africa) Regional Conference, this discussion paper on labour migration responses to the COVID-19 crisis in Europe and North Africa is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the key trends that are currently shaping labour migration governance in a time of crisis. The paper is authored by Samuel Hall co-founder Hervé Nicolle.

Download Executive Summary (English)
Download Report (English)
Download Conference Report (English)
Watch Regional Conference (English)

Download Executive Summary (French)
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Watch Regional Conference (French)

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Europe, Middle East &North AfricaSamuel HallSeptember 22, 2021labour, labour migration, migration, Europe, north africa, africa, report, case study

ICMPD – Study on Return, Readmission and Reintegration Programmes in Africa

April 2021

ICMPD commissioned Samuel Hall to examine existing return, re-admission, and reintegration (RRR) programming in Africa. This study involved 1. Overview analysis of legal frameworks at regional, continental, and international levels. 2. An in-depth review of RRR initiatives and programming in 10 African Union (AU) member states. 3. Identification of lessons learned from countries of return, including RRR best practices, standards and procedures. It presents recommendations for sustainable RRR programming to the African Union Commission (AUC), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and individual AU member states, and will directly inform the development of a continental policy on RRR.

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Download Executive Summary (French)

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ILO – Rapid assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on labour markets in Ethiopia: A case study of the Somali and Tigray regions

April 2021

The Somali and Tigray regional states of Ethiopia are among the country’s main regions where refugees have sought shelter, but both face various socio-economic challenges that undermine the livelihoods of both host communities and refugees. Commissioned by the ILO, Samuel Hall assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on displacement-affected labour markets in targeted PROSPECTS intervention areas in the Somali and Tigray regional states, to gather evidence on current local socio-economic environments and inform the design of relevant and context-specific measures.

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Watch Somali Summary Video

Watch Tigray Summary Video

AFI – Financial Inclusion of Forcibly Displaced Persons

December 2020

Forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) often lack access to finances – including savings accounts, transfers, loans and insurance. In support of AFI’s “Advancing the Financial Inclusion of FDPs: Putting Recommendations to Practice" , Samuel Hall created a guideline note on how to better include displaced people into National Financial Inclusion Strategies (NFIS) globally. In addition, Samuel Hall and AFI, with support from Strathmore University in Kenya, researched the financial inclusion of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to produce a series of case studies covering Afghanistan, Mauritania and Rwanda.

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ADSP - A Long Way Home: Obstacles and Opportunities for IDP Return in Afghanistan

January 2020

Building on secondary research and an ethnographic-based primary data collection, this research turns to IDPs in key provinces and districts of return to ask: which factors positively contribute to the ability of IDP populations to return to their places of origin in a manner which is sustainable and dignified? Samuel Hall answers this question by taking a case study approach, zooming in on 1-3 specific theme(s) in each of the areas studied, and building a narrative of local specificities raised by IDPs themselves in group and individual consultations, including interactions with other community representatives as well in the process.

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ReDSS - Devolution in Kenya: Opportunities for Transitional Solutions for Refugees

July 2015

This report examines the case studies of Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps while taking stock of the political and security context framing refugee affairs in Kenya.

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UNICEF – Social Protection System: An Afghan Study

September 2014

UNICEF is considering the development of a social protection programme with a specific focus on children, within the already existing framework developed by the World Bank and MoLSAMD. With the end goal of articulating children-sensitive programming with the World Bank’s own safety net programme in mind, the first step in this direction is for the organisation to launch a pilot programme in Balkh to test the best modalities of programming to cover children’s needs for social protection in the country.

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DFID - Mobile Cash Transfer for Humanitarian Action

May 2014

The objective of this study was to inform DFID about the effectiveness and value for money of setting up emergency short-term, cash-based projects for disaster affected populations. It contributes to DFID’s humanitarian knowledge base on the use of mobile technology for emergency food needs.

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IOM - IDP Movement Tracking, Needs and Vulnerability Analysis - Afghanistan

May 2014

This study presents the results of IOM’s IDP Movement Tracking and Needs and Vulnerability Analysis Exercise conducted in Dec 2013 by Samuel Hall. It seeks to provide IOM – and its migration and displacement partners – with field-based evidence of issues that negatively impact both conflict and natural disaster-induced IDPs in Afghanistan.

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DRC - AfPak Labour Market Assessment

September 2013

Samuel Hall researchers aimed to assist DRC in planning for its livelihoods programming by answering the following key research question: ‘What are the segments of the Afghan urban labour market with the biggest labour supply gaps and future opportunities for displaced populations?’

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Womanity Foundation - School-In-A-Box Midline Survey 2013

August 2013

This report examines the work of Womanity Foundation in 3 model Afghan schools in Kabul and Kapisa provinces. The ‘School in a Box’ initiative aims at creating model institutions for girl’s education that can function as learning hubs.

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Download the Executive Summary

MACCA - Reintegration of Former Combatants into Demining

September 2012

HALO Trust has reintegrated more than 300 former Taliban and Hezbi Islami combatants in Baghlan and Kunduz provinces into its demining ranks and trained them as community-based deminers. This case study examined the work that HALO Trust had done to support the APRP’s reintegration of former combatants.

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