The project, which started in July 2023, is financed by the BMZ and aims to answer the question: How is social cohesion affected in different contexts of displacement where there is wide demographic, cultural, religious, and political diversity?
Social cohesion is increasingly recognised as an important condition for the stability of societies, their ability to settle conflicts peacefully and the wellbeing of its members. Grounded in an understanding of history, regional narratives and national context, the project examines the contemporary mechanisms that influence social cohesion in communities hosting displaced people.
The project team, Dr Susan Ekoh, Dr Rose Jaji, Dr Jana Kuhnt, Dr Charles Martin-Shields and Musallam Abedtalas, will undertake empirical work with research partners in Ghana, Mozambique, Colombia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Indonesia to better understand how different contexts of displacement impact social cohesion in local communities and how actors can best engage to strengthen it.
The project builds on IDOS’s extensive research on social cohesion and integrates the conceptual framework developed by the Social Cohesion in Africa project. The project comes at a time when BMZ, the World Bank as well as other multilateral policy actors are increasingly focusing on social cohesion as part of their work on displacement and migration.
