Publications
Mercy Corps – Driven to Leave
Our report ”Driven to Leave” questions the efficacy of traditional development investments that seek to deter migration from countries lacking basic rule of law and security; and questions the impact of job training and skills building on migration intentions. It is based on 12,200 surveys conducted from 2014-17 in Afghanistan and Somalia, and in-depth interviews with Somalis and Afghans at home and in Italy and Greece from 2017.
Dubai Cares – Watoto Kwanza: Final Evaluation
The importance of early childhood education (ECE) to a child’s life has recently been gaining in prominence worldwide, including Zanzibar. The present study assesses the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the Watoto Kwanza project, designed to address some of the key challenges facing Zanzibar’s ECE sector as of 2013. With funding by Dubai Cares, the Aga Khan Foundation, the Madrassa Early Childhood Programme – Zanzibar and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training jointly implemented the Watoto Kwanza project from 2014 to 2017 across Zanzibar’s two main islands, Unguja and Pemba. In addition to evaluating the three key project elements of Watoto Kwanza – Training and Professional Development of Teachers; Conductive and Constructive Teaching and Learning Environments; and Support Systems and Networks – the research situates these within the currently changing landscape of ECE in Zanzibar and looks ahead to the future of the project’s outcomes. Finally, it proposes recommendations based on these findings at three levels: specific to Watoto Kwanza, specific within the ECE sector, and broader sectoral recommendations.
Download the full report (English)
UNICEF/MoLSAMD – Child Marriage in Afghanistan
Child marriage in Afghanistan persists at rates that suggest at least one in three young girls will be married before they turn 18. However, it is not a well-researched phenomenon in this context, and gaps in knowledge regarding prevalence, practice and drivers remain. The primary objective of this report, prepared on behalf of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s Ministry for Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and the Disabled (MoLSAMD) in collaboration with UNICEF Afghanistan, is to provide contextualised analysis in the knowledge, attitudes and practices of communities in order to inform the development of future programming to either mitigate the impacts of child marriage or prevent further engagement in child marriage across Afghanistan.
Syria’s Spontaneous Returns
This study seeks to provide an analysis of the current returns to Syria. The ongoing armed conflict in Syria has displaced millions of people inside and outside the country sparking an international humanitarian crisis. Since 2011, over 6 million Syrians have sought asylum outside Syria’s borders, and an additional 6.5 million people displaced internally. There is no clear picture of the number or conditions in places of return. This research contributes to filling this gap.
Returns to Syria should neither be promoted nor facilitated, as the focus must remain on investing in the preservation, and expansion, of protection space in host countries.
UNICEF/UNESCO/SH-A Global Initiative on Out-of-School-Children
The Global Initiative on Out-of-School-Children led by UNICEF and UNESCO aims to understand the situation of out-of-school children in each country studied, including the barriers to education faced and gaps in current approaches to addressing them. Samuel Hall has prepared this Afghanistan Country study with the Afghanistan Ministry of Education and UNICEF in order to provide recommendations to key stakeholders on how to address this significant – the report finds that an estimated 3.7 million children aged 7-17 are out-of-school in Afghanistan – challenge.
IOM / Migrant Smuggling to Canada
The study focuses on assessing migrant vulnerabilities, protection needs and exposure to exploitation
before migration, during their transit and upon arrival through a qualitative research based on migrants’
experiences of irregular migration to Canada, with a focus on Afghan and Syrian migrants.
DEMAC / Creating Opportunities to Work with Diasporas in Humanitarian Settings
Diaspora organisations (DOs) are newly recognised actors in the humanitarian space. DOs respond to crises such as those in Syria, Somalia, and Nigeria, which have shown the limitations of the traditional humanitarian sector. Their contributions to emergency response are under-studied and, as our research shows, often misunderstood due to a gap in knowledge about their work. This report contributes to filling this gap. It sets out to understand how DOs contribute to strengthening humanitarian response in crisis settings. We explore opportunities to work with DOs in humanitarian action through six case studies of DOs operating in Somalia and Syria. Fieldwork was conducted in seven remote sites of humanitarian intervention, including in Nigeria, where DO actions are still limited. A context analysis for Nigeria provides an entry point into understanding the potential for DOs to contribute in the northeastern region.
Mercy Corps-NWO / Aspirations and Youth Programming in Somalia and Afghanistan
Commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Mercy Corps and Samuel Hall undertook data analysis in and primary data collection in Afghanistan, Somalia, Greece and Italy to understand the commonalities and differences in the decision-making process – whether to migrate or to stay – amongst youth in conflict-affected settings. This research fills identified knowledge caps on the decision-making process of youth migrants and the influence of interventions on these intentions. This research adds a comparative dimension to the understanding of mixed migration dynamics in contexts such as Afghanistan and Somalia and allows for improved support for youth in these environments.
Download Aspirations Research Brief Download Youth Employment Research Brief
ReDSS: LOCAL INTEGRATION FOCUS-REFUGEES IN ETHIOPIA
Commissioned by The Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat (ReDSS), and Conducted by Samuel Hall, this report provides recommendations on how to improve local integration and self-reliance programming. The study assessed the level of local integration in Gambela (Gambela city and Pugnido Camp) and Somali regions (Jigjiga and Kebribeyah Camp) for refugees who have lived in Ethiopia for 20 years or more by comparing their situation to the host communities, as per Pledge 6 commitment.
Download the Executive Summary here
Download Publication
NRC – A RESEARCH STUDY ON THE CHALLENGES OF IDP PROTECTION IN AFGHANISTAN
This report – based on research from Samuel Hall and commissioned by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre – follows on from a 2012 study of displacement patterns and the challenges inherent in protecting internally displaced people (IDPs) in Afghanistan. This new and updated analysis focuses on assessing the causes of prolonged and multiple displacement and seeks to present the key protection challenges still confronting displacement-affected Afghans today. Combining the voices of IDPs with analysis of primary data collected from IDPs and secondarily displaced returning refugees across Afghanistan, the study reveals major gaps in access to key humanitarian services as well as a set of persistent and entrenched vulnerabilities that blight the lives of IDPs.
IOM – Setting Standards for an Integrated Approach to Reintegration
The report, prepared and conducted by the Samuel Hall think tank under the IOM DFID-funded MEASURE Project, outlines recommendations to support sustainable reintegration of migrants who return to their home countries in the framework of AVRR programmes.
British Council – Youth Employment in Kenya
In 2017, as part of the British Council’s Next Generation series, Samuel Hall conducted a rigorous and systematic literature review on the topic of ‘Youth Employment in Kenya’, funded by DFID. Following DFID’s ‘strength of evidence’ approach, the landscape of available literature on the topic was reviewed, assessed and analysed, and existing knowledge and data gaps were identified – with a total of 432 documents reviewed and 143 referenced in the study. Based on the findings of the study, Samuel Hall provided the British Council and other interested stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the current employment challenges and opportunities for Kenya’s 10 million youth. In addition to clear and evidence-based policy recommendations, the final report also featured precise suggestions for future research endeavours, which informed subsequent actions of the Next Generation project in Kenya.
IDMC/NRC – Going “home” to Displacement
The data presented in this case study is drawn from 2017 research on IDPs’ protection needs carried out by Samuel Hall for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). A large quantitative survey was conducted in Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Kunduz and Nangarhar provinces, where data was collected in rural, peri-urban and urban areas. Of 2,580 respondents, 1,161 were returnee-IDPs and 1,420 other IDPs. The sample data is neither representative nor random, but combined with focus group discussions with displaced people and other community members, the research captures their narratives, protection needs and experiences.
IKEA Foundation – Coming Together: Family Tracing & Reunification
In 2017, Samuel Hall conducted a study on key issues, actors, and tools in the current global landscape of Family Tracing & Reunification (FTR), commissioned by IKEA Foundation. Based on an extensive and rigorous literature review and 22 additional key informant interviews with FTR providers and experts worldwide, the study focused on the current landscape of FTR tools and methods, their respective actors and key challenges to accessing and providing the best FTR support services possible.
FTR was understood in this study as a holistic process, covering all formal, informal, individual and institutionalised efforts to overcome separation of family members; ranging from the separating event until reintegration. The findings and recommendations of the study are designed to enable the Foundation and other engaged donors to create evidence-based interventions intended to reshape the current FTR landscape, including: 1) Reshaping and optimising the FTR process and its tools; 2) Reshaping and optimising the FTR actor landscape; 3) Reshaping the legal landscape to allow separated persons to access reunification; and 4) Supporting separated persons’ futures through technology.
CiC – Hope behind bars: the boys of the Kabul Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre
Every province of Afghanistan is required by law to have a Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre (JRC) in its
capital city to house and rehabilitate children in conflict with the law sentenced to detention. An alternative to full detention is the Open JRC, where children spend daytime in rehabilitation and evenings and weekends at home. The Open JRC in Kabul nevertheless remains a detention facility.
This research offers a pragmatic view of the lived experiences of children in the Kabul Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre (JRC) and situates detention within their life events, where neglected needs and incurred stresses impact their later adult lives and life opportunities. While strides have been made to improve this situation, the Kabul JRC is still short on consistent and quality rehabilitation programmes and reintegration support in line with national and international standards. Existing initiatives generally lack specifically trained staff, resources, management, and facilities.
This study employed child-sensitive qualitative and quantitative methods, surveying the majority of boys detained in Open and Closed Centres of the JRC (112) and triangulating and adding depth to findings with focus group discussions (2), case studies (4), and key informant interviews (15). The results underlined the diversity of backgrounds, ages and crimes amongst the boys. Furthermore, the results highlighted the many similarities shared between children inside and outside the JRC – calling for integrated approaches for existing and planned services.
EARF – Understanding intra-regional labour migration in the East Africa Community – Literature Review
This report investigates intra-labour migration in the East African Community (EAC) through a literature review of existing evidence. The aim of this study, commissioned by DFID and Sida and conducted by Samuel Hall, Maastricht University and the University of Oxford, is to generate new evidence to support government and development interventions aimed at eliminating poverty and reducing vulnerabilities in the EAC by exploring the potential of labour migration across five countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
World Bank – Subnational Doing Business in Afghanistan Study
Doing Business in Afghanistan 2017 is the first report of the subnational Doing Business series in Afghanistan. It measures business regulations and their enforcement in 5 provinces. The provinces are compared against each other, and with 189 other economies worldwide.
OCHA – February Humanitarian Bulletin
Conflict, disasters, and other humanitarian emergencies have broad reaching consequences, but often lost in emergency responses are the psychosocial impacts of these events. Yet such crises can have a detrimental effect on psychosocial wellness, as demonstrated by Samuel Hall research with urban youth in Kabul. 71 per cent of youth interviewed by Samuel Hall had experienced a traumatic event, with many reporting symptoms associated with trauma. Our data shows that the mental health of these youth should absolutely be considered a priority – the time for action is now.
Overseas Development Institute – Journeys on hold
Around 5,000 Eritreans leave their country every month. They go for a range of reasons, including compulsory National Service, political persecution, and a restricted economy that offers few opportunities.
Many travel directly to neighbouring Ethiopia, where there is an open-asylum policy for refugees, including an extensive camp-based system of protection, and a variety of interventions designed to both support people’s livelihoods and deter irregular secondary migration. But despite this humanitarian and development assistance, for many people, their journey doesn’t end in Ethiopia.
Samuel Hall supported ODI in the development of this working paper that sets out to better understand whether, by providing alternative options, it is possible for policy-makers to prevent or reduce irregular migration from countries- and regions-of-origin. It looks at two measures in particular: in-country livelihood support, such as vocational trainings and loans, and refugee resettlement programming. Findings draw on qualitative interviews with Eritreans in both the northern province of Tigray as well as the country’s capital, Addis Ababa.
The paper finds that Ethiopia is a vital country of asylum, offering the prospect of freedom and security. However, despite better prospects relative to Eritrea, many people continue to find it difficult to pursue decent, fulfilling and relevant livelihoods.
Evidence shows that in-country livelihood support is helping people get by and meet basic survival needs. But potential impacts are being undermined by the fact that refugees living in Ethiopia are denied the right to work.
Alongside this, refugee resettlement has the effect of slowing down irregular migration, particularly as it provides people with an opportunity to move onwards safely and legally. However, this effect appears to weaken over time as people’s trust in the formal system declines, resulting in a gradual deflection into irregularity.
In addition, readers can access a scrolling webpage, featuring additional stories, photographs, infographics and a short documentary.
Download the working paper here and the executive summary here.
HelpAge – Older People In Situations of Migration In Africa: The Untold Migration Story
Older people in Africa are involved in all aspects of the migration chain: they are voluntary or forced migrants themselves, they shape the migration experience of others by funding youth migration and being involved in the decision-making process, they also benefit from remittances. Yet, they remain invisible in migration policy, as well as aid and development planning. This briefing for HelpAge tells the untold story of older people in the migration ecosystem in Africa. It highlights the importance of including older people in migration policies and practice – whether they are left behind, on the move, or returning to their country of origin. It identifies the key challenges facing this generation, explores policy options and calls for more thorough research to improve understanding of the capabilities and needs of older people in situations of migration in Africa.