IDRC to support research chairs on forced displacement in South and Southeast Asia and Central and South America

Close to 80 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced because of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, economic hardship, climate change, and prolonged instances of political instability.

Eighty percent of the world’s forcibly displaced are hosted in countries in the Global South. Yet almost all the research that influences policy and practice on forced displacement originates from Northern countries. To generate more national and local policy-relevant knowledge, IDRC will support for up to five years the establishment of up to two university research chairs in South and Southeast Asia and two university research chairs in Central and South America.

The research chair positions will:

• empower institutions in these regions to define research agendas
• lead on practical solutions that transform unequal gender relations and promote social, economic, political, and health rights among forcibly displaced persons and their host communities
• amplify the voices and perspectives of forcibly displaced persons and host communities in local, national, regional, and global arenas

This call for proposals is part of a broader IDRC contribution to localize research on forced displacement, which includes a recently closed call for proposals to establish research chairs in the Middle East and East Africa.

IDRC’s Strategy 2030 aims to contribute to more inclusive, accountable, and transparent governance for people — especially women and children. Our efforts to improve governance for people who are forced to migrate, and the communities that host them, contribute to the greater use of data, evidence, and research for inclusive decision-making, a key enabler for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information, and to apply, please go to our call for proposals page.

The deadline for the call is September 30, 2021 (4 p.m. EDT).