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Conference Summary (PDF)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Context and why this was important
This hybrid conference took place nine months into Russia’s war with Ukraine and at least a year into an unfolding famine in East Africa. As well as refugees, the war has created blockades and disruption to trade in wheat, grain and fertilisers from Ukraine and Russia, impacting on many East African countries. With much of the world’s attention on war in Europe, the growing food crisis in East Africa has not got the public attention needed to drive an effective humanitarian response to avert a large-scale famine.
Why is it so difficult to capture the world’s attention when famine is looming? Why is media interest dormant until a famine is unfolding, and people are dying? These questions framed a one-day workshop held jointly with Oxfam GB the previous week (4th October 2022) as part of Oxfam’s commemoration of its 80th anniversary. Food insecurity: predict, prepare and share to avoid sleepwalking into future crises, asked why famine prevention is so difficult when measures that must be taken to save lives are known.
The workshop highlighted the way in which media reporting has changed, so that social media engagement and multi-media story telling is now a major part of global public communication. Have the major (now ageing) humanitarian charities kept pace with this evolution in modern media communication? The discussion raised questions about whether the institutional architecture of humanitarian and disaster relief remains fit for purpose. The concept of charity itself as a core response to disaster seems wholly inadequate in the modern world. And the distinction made between money for humanitarian relief vs funding for development was described as limiting.
The world responded to tackle the Covid 19 virus with huge investment in vaccine programmes and action was taken to support Ukrainian refugees in Europe. But it seems the world cannot act collectively to prevent famine in East Africa. Nor can it prepare for a likely increase in refugees and for changing patterns of migration in response to crises wrought by climate change, more conflict and economic disruption.
The World Food Programme estimates that the numbers of people facing acute food insecurity, on the edge of famine, have risen from 135 million before the pandemic to 345 million in 2022. For this conference, A Hungry World on the move: the impact of the food crisis on migration and how we must respond (13-14 October), food insecurity was a way in to a discussion of the deeper trends and longer-term impacts of global migration.
People
With around 40 participants, some online and others in person, this hybrid conference gathered a wide range of different perspectives on migration including academic and demographic expertise from the UK, US, Australia, France and Germany; those working with migrants for various NGOs and UN agencies; serving politicians from the UK and Italy; a city official from Poland; thinktank specialists, businesses, consultants, agencies supporting migrant recruitment, and journalists.
Analysis
With thanks to Meghan Benton – Conference Rapporteur
This conference began with a discussion of the connection between food insecurity and migration. Historically, famine can be seen to have triggered movements of people where mobility has been an adaptive medium-term response to food insecurity and drought, and where food insecurity has multiplied other displacement factors such as economic collapse, corrupt governance, failing healthcare and conflict. Climate change is a new and ‘mega backdrop’ to all these factors, intensifying their impacts and combining to produce complex timelines of short-term symptoms and longer-term dangers. The impact of climate change on both food insecurity and migration will dominate and necessarily inform the full scope of policy action in the coming years. Dealing with climate impacts could though change perspectives away from a prevailing north/south dichotomy. All countries have a stake in managing food and water security, migration and climate impacts, and combining all three in policy.
This north/south divide has shaped a public and political debate in which the interests of the global north have tended to determine perspectives on migration. To date, food insecurity and famine has not attracted enough media attention (to drive global action). In contrast, illegal immigration is prominent: border crises, migrant camps and boat crossings dominate the headlines. Failure to control illegal migration is destabilising and over-determining the political and public debate excluding other ways of considering the future of migration, i.e. in response to labour market need in relation to energy transitions or to future food production. Discussion of migration could be better tailored to relate to different interests whether policy makers, private sector and public audiences. But debate also needs to be more honest about where universal human rights and burden-sharing arguments lead and their limits. Are there moments during which public opinion shifts, for example did the huge response from citizens across Europe to the plight of Ukrainian refugees and the hosting of refugees in homes mark a change in public attitude? Similarly, a strategic response to migration in terms of wider geopolitical or security policies would also recast policies towards migration and draw in new policy perspectives and sources of funds. Does the current moment of labour shortages in developed economies provide an opportunity to rethink approaches to migration with the private sector, leading to new kinds of labour pathways? Examples of successful local bottom-up responses at city level highlighted new approaches in which communities (rather than governments or UN agencies) took the lead and determined for themselves both the scale of support they could offer refugees and how it was done.
There was debate about terminology and definitions (refugees, asylum seekers, migrants) and whether the current global protection system is fit for purpose especially in recognising the multiple factors that cause human displacement. What is emerging is a huge grey area of protection needs. Some advocate for the category of ‘climate migrant’ or refugee but there was also concern that this would dilute the legal protection of refugee status and risk further political backlash. Others pointed to the innovation that there has been in large-scale temporary protection in Europe and South America and community sponsorship-like schemes in the US and UK. There was no clear view as to whether the response to Ukrainian refugees marked a change and a potential blueprint for future reform. But the response, especially from neighbouring countries to regional migration, was seen by some as a gateway, opening up new avenues for community action, employer sponsorship and the direct integration of refugees into delivering their own systems support.
There was some discussion of the ways territorial asylum is being tested by initiatives like the UK-Rwanda deal and Title 42, but it was noted that that asylum is not a means of addressing food insecurity, given that only a minority can take advantage of asylum routes and that food insecurity can also lead to forced immobility. The greater need is to stretch the global protection system in ways that focus on broader displacement needs and expand opportunities for those locked in place or displaced within their regions.
Migration in the context of demographic change was raised and served to highlight the inadequacy of short-term crisis thinking. Where is the recognition of the impact of ageing and shrinking western populations? What is the consequence of not allowing people options of mobility? It was pointed out that population growth has been less than the growth in global food output: distribution is therefore the major challenge. A focus on immediate crises must go hand in hand with the development of better systems to withstand future shocks. Uses of technology and data are already a part of systems of early warning of food insecurity and will have a greater role in the development of resilient supply chains and food production. Technology innovations in border controls and people tracking are liable to be deployed for more sinister purposes by governments.
Alongside demographic change and uses of technology are the largescale changes in the labour markets of developed economies and in the future of work. Significant labour shortages in developed economies are manifest at the same time as the geography of work is undergoing a shift. It is now possible to find work abroad without the need to relocate, i.e. opportunities to migrate without moving. This new reality presents a new lens for migration policies to connect thinking about remote livelihoods and skills training with new kinds of refugee labour pathways and, for example, mobility agreements within regions and within a south-south context. The mindset shift required is to move away from a paternalistic response - how do we help people? - to a response that is more about empowerment - how can people regain agency and autonomy? Instead of the current humanitarian approach in which ‘people are treated as a compilation of their vulnerabilities’ how can a system better invest in people’s agency in support of their own solutions and livelihoods?
Despite the range of expertise, much of the discussion in this conference focused on European or western preoccupations. There was not much discussion of by far the largest migration trends and impact of the mega refugee camps found in places such as Jordan, Kenya, Bangladesh, Sudan and Turkey which hold many millions of people.
FULL REPORT
What is going to be the impact of the growing food crisis on migration? How can we prepare in order to mitigate suffering and disorderly migration?
Inevitably the conference began with a discussion of definitions and the recognition that the generic term ‘migrant’ does not cover the multiple motivations for migration, including the impact of food insecurity. There is no terminology to cover migration for survival in the face of, for example, food shortages caused by slower onset climate impacts such as underlying drought. However, new definitions were considered to risk diluting the legal protections and status afforded to ‘refugees’. Instead of new categories between ‘migrants’ and ‘refugees’ a concept of ‘displacement’ was put forward. This would help to recognise people who are forced to move for reasons beyond their control. Forced displacement as a result of climate impacts is a growing phenomenon and the world is witnessing new levels of human displacement.
Food insecurity is a driver of migration but there are two caveats: firstly, food insecurity can also lead to forced immobilisation and secondly, global food production was said to have outpaced global population increase. These observations, if true, throw into sharp relief the challenges of local production of food to meet the needs of people where they are, food distribution, and the capability of institutions and global governance to enable the world to respond effectively in times of crisis.
Historically, people have always moved as a means of adapting to changes in environment. In response to failed harvests for example, pastoralists moved on. From this perspective, national borders can be seen to run counter to ancient, traditional and successful ways of life. In addition, competition over land-use is coming from new directions. Moves towards reforestation in support of carbon offsetting, for example, can conflict with a need for arable land for food production. In other words, there are risks that some mitigation and adaptation measures the world wants to see could have negative effects for the poorest.
Inevitably again, the conference Terms of Reference were challenged, the charge made that migration was presented as unavoidably problematic. Instead, the positive case for migration and the contribution migrants make to all developed democracies was emphasised. However, there is a yawning gulf between positive assessments and the political and public concern over irregular migration. The political salience of the issue adversely impacts on an open, honest and strategic assessment of future migration trends and what policy responses will be. There was some consensus that an expansion of legal migration would solve some of the problems of illegal migration, but also a recognition that the scale and shape of future migration may render the current approaches obsolete whether these are by national governments, humanitarian and NGO-led or development based. The raw politics speaks to genuine fears of future challenges.
Conference working groups discussed three areas: humanitarian responses: current approaches and future need; the economics of migration and North/South relations and the politics of migration, with the question of how to work on the politics being pivotal to solutions in the first two.
Humanitarian responses: current approaches and future need
The vulnerability of the global food system to shocks has been demonstrated. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent shortages in supply are exacerbating starvation risks and have revealed the brittleness of the system. As well as meeting emergency needs, the challenge for humanitarian responses is to also support longer term development goals. Can food systems be made resilient to shocks and increase food security longer-term? The effectiveness of the current mix of global institutions and NGOs were challenged. What form will a next generation of institutions that prevent famines and dangerous food insecurity take? Where will the moral leadership come from? Strong arguments were made for new legal pathways to support displaced people to receive forms of official recognition and entry to formal labour markets. Humanitarian support along migration routes would help to provide for basic needs as people travel.
From a humanitarian perspective, the mish mash of hesitant humanitarianism combined with poorly managed illegal migration combines to produce the worst outcomes for all. Unabashed, strengthened and newly imagined humanitarian responses including direct financing for refugees must be separated from state weakness over border controls, poor asylum processes and backlogs. For some, the concept of humanitarian relief now needs to be replaced with stronger goals based on a concept of global protection.
The economics of migration and North/South relations and the politics of migration
On the economic side, it was noted that human mobility is restricted whilst movement of goods as part of globalisation is less so (although this is changing). Freedom of movement as well as free access to goods and culture was part of the vision of post-war prosperity. Collective long-term prosperity requires greater mobility and the risks of labour shortages across developed economies were striking. The ability of some people to move is a mark of wider inequalities. The freedom of elites from both north and south to move, stands in contrast to those in both hemispheres who are less able to do so. New labour pathways have the potential to change at least part of the picture on migration. Remittances are a major part of the economics of migration and worth much more than development finance.
What changes are needed for multilateral institutions to support the provision of ‘global public goods’, i.e. goods beyond the scope of single countries and essential for both rich and poor countries: the natural environment; a stable climate; clean air and water – goods protected by multilateral institutions?
The politics of migration
The politics of migration is unbalanced with highly visible and emotive illegal migration outweighing the less visible and under-debated needs of labour markets. The crisis and failure of states to deal with illegal immigration has overwhelmed the wider political debate about what kinds of migration countries need. It has also made humanitarian responses more fraught. Despite some variation, there is a broadly non-partisan penalising tone in policy reflected in complex asylum and visa systems and severe backlogs in administration. Such bureaucratic friction has become normalised across many developed democracies. Disincentivising all processes for migration appears an inherent part of policy, whilst overseas recruitment drives for skilled staff for health and social care take place away from the media spotlight. Honest public debate is closed down by accusations of racism on one hand and disingenuous politics on the other.
Attitudes to migration are tied to perceived levels of prosperity. The arrival of 1 million refugees into Germany in 2015 was said to have had relatively little political impact and these refugees have largely been integrated into German society. The more recent acceptance of Ukrainian refugees in a context of rising energy and food prices and political tensions has caused more disquiet and yet there remain very significant shortages in the German labour market.
Effective bottom up, community and city scale response to migration was demonstrated by a city in Poland close to the border with Ukraine. The city delivered a local response to refugees from across the border not just to provide shelter to very large numbers but also to integrate refugees into the city whilst respecting identity and language. Refugee teachers were employed for children in schools. Public services such as libraries were adapted. School books were published and printed in Ukrainian and ways were found to support people to work. Local responses were based on communities determining their capacity for accepting refugees and the approaches to doing so. The city reported these achievements despite the lack of national government or multilateral support from UN agencies.
Climate change, demographics, labour markets and future of work, and north/south partnership
Climate change impacts on land, food and water will shape future migration and test the limits of humanitarian responses and global protection. Climate change forms the backdrop to much policy. At the same time, the limits to current humanitarian practices should be recognised and delivery reformed. Current humanitarianism does not equal global protection – can protection be extended and in what ways?
Labour market shortages and demographics change are combining to present economic and social challenges. The extent of labour shortages in developed economies is striking with, for example, the need for around 400,000 new workers a year in Germany.
However, assumptions that demographic mismatch can be addressed by meeting shortages in the global north with surpluses in the global south were described as mistaken. Current debates about migration are overwhelmingly presented with interests of the global north uppermost. The impacts of within-region migration (by far the largest form of migration) receive much less public attention. Assumptions that migration flows can be turned up or down to suit developed economies and that migrant labour will always be available when needed are too easy to make. Neither technological advances nor environmental resource constraints will be enough to counter the impacts of labour shortages caused by demographic change. The impact of too few workers will be felt especially in health and social care.
Africa is a continent rich in resources but with poor populations. Demographic transformations in Africa will also change the geopolitical map. It was suggested that Euro-centric approaches have much to learn from the experience of migration across regions within Africa. Like the example of the city in Poland, regional solidarity could possibly lead greater global solidarity. There must, in future, be much more north/south cooperation over the development of future labour markets. The prospects of new labour pathways, innovative training, skills development and cross border employment could change the landscape. Meanwhile, China’s development banks are lending more than twice as much for infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa than the US, UK, Japan and Germany combined. There is a deeper challenge here for western democratic nations.
Topics and issues to be carried forward at future Ditchley events:
• Global food insecurity; evolving production and distribution of food. Labour market shortages and consequences of demographic change – January 2023 conference on the nature of current economic change: A profound economic crisis.
• Changes particularly in Germany’s labour market, the impact of shortages and population change – March 2023 conference on Germany’s future: Zeitenwende: a new Germany?
• Uses of AI and data in technologies applied to migration (border controls / satellite analysis) – February 2023 conference on AI and creative destruction.
• The dominance of climate impacts across politics and policy making is a central strand of Ditchley’s current climate programme. Climate Programme Summit, March 2023
• The broader geopolitical issues associated with migration will be part of the December 2023 conference on geopolitics.
This Note presents a summary of the conference discussion. No participant is in any way committed to its content or expression.
PARTICIPANTS
AUSTRALIA
Associate Professor Anna Katherine Boucher
Associate Professor, University of Sydney; author, 'Gender, Migration and the Global Race for Talent' (Manchester University Press); award-winning 'Crossroads: Immigration Regimes in an Age of Demographic Change (Cambridge University Press, New York, with Associate Professor Justin Gest; nominated for the prestigious Stein Rokkan Prize in Comparative Politics); 'Patterns of Exploitation: Understanding Migrant Rights in Advanced Democracies' (2022, Oxford University Press (New York), analysing labour market exploitation of migrants in four countries); James Martin Institute Research Lead, University of Sydney (2019-22); admitted solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW; frequent advisor to domestic and international governments on migration. Formerly: Australian Commonwealth Scholar and Bucerius Scholar in Migration Studies, London School of Economics (2007-13).
CANADA
Yasmeen Abu-Laban PhD
Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Politics of Citizenship and Human Rights, University of Alberta (2018-); Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Formerly: Vice-President, International Political Science Association (2018-21).
Mr Andrew Griffith
Fellow, Environics Institute; Fellow, Canadian Global Affairs Institute; author, "Multiculturalism in Canada: Evidence and Anecdote", "Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism", "Because its 2015 - Implementing Diversity and Inclusion"; regular media commentator and blogger (Multiculturalism Meanderings). Formerly: Director General for Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Citizenship and Immigration Canada; worked for a variety of government departments in Canada and abroad.
Dr Fen Hampson FRSc
Chancellor's Professor and Professor of International Affairs, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa; President, World Refugee & Migration Council. Formerly: Director, Global Security Program and Distinguished Fellow, The Centre for International Governance Innovation; Senior Advisor, United States Institute of Peace; Director, The Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University; consultant to: International Peace Academy, New York; Social Science Research Council, New York; United Nations Commission on Human Security; Rockefeller Foundation; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Foreign Affairs Canada; Chair, Human Security Track, Helsinki Process on Globalisation.
Dr Gisèle Yasmeen
Senior Fellow, Institute of Asian Research, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia (2014-); expertise in food-systems in Asia, on which she has published and consulted widely since the early 1990s; affiliated with Margaret A. Gilliam Institute for Global Food Security, McGill University; Adjunct Professor, School of Environment and Sustainability, Royal Roads University; board, Farm Radio International. Formerly: Executive Director, Food Secure Canada; senior federal government executive, including as Vice-President of Research and Partnerships, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Miss Arlette Nyembo
Independent consultant in the international development sector focussed on issues related to governance, peacebuilding and private sector development across Africa. Projects have included technical assistance to the DRC presidency for the delivery of priority reforms; a Global Evaluation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative; Research and Evaluation Studies on market systems in the DRC's agriculture, access to finance and renewable energy sectors; advising on the delivery of alternative education projects in Tanzania and the DRC for displaced children; implementing a World Bank pilot for funding Zambia's health service delivery units through mobile money; and various others. MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy (2019/20). Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (2018). Graduate in private and judicial law, Université Protestante au Congo, Kinshasa (2014).
FRANCE
Ms Héloïse Ruaudel
Senior Technical Specialist on Crisis Migration, Labour Migration Branch, International Labor Organization. Formerly: policy analyst, evaluator, researcher or project manager at OECD, World Bank, OCHA, Finnish, Danish and Swiss Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Start Network, Norwegian Refugee Council, Geneva Call, Refugee Studies Centre (University of Oxford), UNHCR.
GERMANY/UK
Dr Paul Morland
Renowned authority on demography and author of 'Tomorrow's People: The Future of Humanity in Ten Numbers' and 'The Human Tide: How Population Shaped the Modern World', Paul Morland has been an associate research fellow of Birkbeck, University of London and a senior member of St Antony's College, University of Oxford.
GERMANY/USA
Ms Jessica Bither
Senior Expert in Migration, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Berlin. Lead, digital technologies and human mobility; focus on policy innovation, political analysis and strategy development on migration and protection. Formerly: Migration Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States (with a focus on the foreign policy and geopolitical dimensions); advisor to ministries, international organisations and non-profit stakeholders on current migration policy issues, including to the German EU Presidency on the use of technology in migration management.
INDIA
Ms Anupriya Dhonchak
Rhodes Scholar (India and Balliol 2021); MPhil in Law Candidate, University of Oxford (2022-23); Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow; Co-Convenor, Oxford Feminist Jurisprudence Research Group; Double Prize Winner, Bachelor of Civil Law, University of Oxford (2021-22); Research Associate, Résolu Ltd.
IRELAND/UK
Ms Victoria Tennant
UNHCR Representative to the United Kingdom; member of the Bar of England and Wales. Formerly: range of policy, evaluation, and emergency-related positions, including Special Assistant to the High Commissioner, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva; served in field operations, including in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Myanmar; most recently as Deputy Representative in Syria (2020-22); author of a number of articles and book chapters on the topic of forced displacement.
ITALY
Mr Mario Marazziti
Spokesperson and Special Assistant to the President, Community of Sant'Egidio (international associazione, NGP. Ecosog status at the UN), active in peacemaking, human rights advocacy, social and health programs in 72 countries. Formerly: Member of the Italian Parliament and President of Social Affairs Commision and of Human rights Committee; co-founder, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty; coordinator of the international campaign for a global moratorium on executions. Journalist, media manager and writer.
Ms Marzia Rango
UN Operations and Crisis Centre, New York (2022-). Formerly: Data Innovation and Capacity-Building Coordinator, Global Migration Data Analysis Centre, International Organization for Migration, Berlin and New York; managing a project focusing on migration on the Central Mediterranean Route; Research Unit, International Organization on Migration, Geneva; Research Assistant, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford.
NETHERLANDS
Dr Evelien van Roemburg
Head of EU Office, Oxfam International, Brussels (2021-); Academic Director Summer School, Migration and Integration, Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Amstrdam. Formerly: Oxfam International: Deputy Director, Advocacy, Campaigns and Engagement (2020-21); Europe Migration Campaign Manager (2018-20); Policy Lead, Migration and Displacement, Oxfam Novib (2016-18); Lecturer in Political Science and International Refugee Law, University of Amsterdam (2010-16).
POLAND
Mr Krzysztof Stanowski
Director of International Relations, City of Lublin (2018-); Secretary of Civic Commitee of Solidarity with Ukraine. Formerly: President, Solidarity Fund PL (Polish democracy support agency) (2012-17); Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2010-11); Undersecretary of State, Ministry of National Education (2007-10); co-founder, Education for Democracy Foundation; co-founder and first Chief Scout, Scouting Association of Poland.
SYRIA
Mr Alaa Alkaridi
Co-Founder (2015) and CEO, Tomooh Refugee Services (voluntary team serving refugees around the world using online and computer science tools); program manager with one of the largest Refugee and Immigrant agencies in Portland, Oregon; began working with refugees in Cairo in 2013 with several local and international organisations. Formerly: moved to the United States as a refugee (2019); Master's degree from Cairo University; began career as a Computer Science Engineer; studied Computer and Automation Engineering, Damascus University (graduated in 2011).
UGANDA
Mr Victor Ochen
Founder and Director, African Youth Initiative Network, Uganda (supporting former child soldiers through education and medical rehabilitation) (2005-); UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Justice, promoting SDG Goal16 (2015-); member, Global Advisory Group to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Gender, Forced Displacement and Protection (2016-). Formerly: nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2015.
UNITED KINGDOM
Miss Holly Asquith
UK Programme Lead, Talent Beyond Boundaries (leading end-to-end project management of the Displaced Talent Mobility Pilot with the UK Home Office; working to set up the expansion in Europe. Responsible for engaging stakeholders across business, government and non-profit organisations whilst working closely with TBB's Middle East & Global Team to ensure smooth recruitment and immigration processes of displaced talent). Has been working on the integration of refugees and displaced people through employment for over 8 years. Formerly: led employer engagement, British Refugee Council; involved in the start-up of a successful social enterprise in Australia, building professional employment opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers there. Masters in Law & International Development.
Dr Meghan Benton
Director, International Program, Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Washington, DC (work spans labor mobility, immigrant integration, border management and humanitarian protection; has a particular interest in the role of technological and social innovation in immigration and integration policy, and in how labor market disruption affects immigration and integration); co-founder (2016), MPI Europe's Integration Futures Working Group (seeks to develop a forward-looking agenda for integration policy in Europe); more recently, has been working on how the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped global mobility; convenor, MPI's Task Force on Borders and Mobility During and After COVID-19. Formerly: Senior Researcher, Nesta (UK's innovation body, where she led projects on digital government and the future of local public services); Constitution Unit, University College London; Institute for Public Policy Research. PhD (2010) research focused on citizenship and the rights of noncitizens.
Ms Lyn Brown MP
Member of Parliament (Lab) for West Ham (2005-); Shadow Minister for Africa. Formerly: Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation (2020-21); Shadow Treasury Minister with responsibility for anti-poverty and social inclusion (2018-20); Shadow Policing Minister (2016-17); Shadow Minister for the Home Office (2015-16); Shadow Fire and Communities Minister (2013-2015); Opposition Whip (2010-2013); Government Whip (2009-2010).
Mr Tim Cole
Executive Director, Europe, ONE (leads ONE's advocacy and campaigning strategies in major European donor markets, notably the UK, France, Germany and EU institutions). Formerly: HM Diplomatic Service, most recently UK Migration Envoy; Ambassador to Cuba; Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe and Mozambique; head, Pan-Africa Policy Unit; Christian Aid; Save the Children working on development and humanitarian programmes in several African countries.
Mr Richard Darlington
Campaign Director for 10 of the UK's leading international NGOs, Aid Alliance; Head of Strategic Communication, Well Made Strategy, Nairobi, Kenya. Formerly: Special Adviser to Douglas Alexander at Department for International Development and in his role as Labour's General Election Co-ordinator; Special Adviser to Ruth Kelly, Department for Education and Skills; Senior Press Officer, Department for Trade and Industry; Head of News, Institute for Public Policy Research (helped IPPR to win 'Think Tank of the Year' award on three separate occasions).
Mr Jamie Drummond
Advocacy entrepreneur; co-Founder of ONE, with Bono and other activists; Founder, Sharing Strategies.
Dr Evan Easton-Calabria
Research Associate, Refugee Studies Centre, and senior researcher, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University; lead editor, Refugee Studies Centre's research dissemination platform, Rethinking Refuge. Formerly: Principal Investigator, RSC research project, 'Responses to Crisis Migration in Uganda and Ethiopia: Researching the role of local actors in secondary cities'.
Mrs Elizabeth Padmore
Chair, British Red Cross; Chair, Housing Solutions; Chair, The Staff College: Leadership in Healthcare; Barclay Fellow, and Chair of REMCO, Green Templeton College, Oxford; Chair, REMCO Brasenose College, University of Oxford; member, IWF UK; member, Women Corporate Directors; elected Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce; extensive experience at board level in private, public and not-for- profit sectors. Formerly: Chairman, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (2009-18); member of the Board, Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority; Council member, Chatham House; Director, National Australia Group Europe; Director, Clydesdale Bank plc.; advisory board, IMD; Strategy Partner, Accenture. A Governor, a member of the Council of Management and of the Financial and General Purposes Committee of the Ditchley Foundation.
Mr Tauhid Pasha
Senior Programmes Coordinator, International Organisation for Migration, London.
Mr Jonathan Prentice
United Nations (1994-): Head of Secretariat, UN Network on Migration, International Organization for Migration, Geneva. Formerly: Chief of Office for the Secretary-General's special representative for international migration (2017-18); Director of policy and head of London office, International Crisis Group (2010-16); postings in Baghdad, Dili, Geneva, Jakarta, New York and Phnom Penh.
Ms Vidya Ramesh
Policy & Engagement, International Migration Unit, UK Civil Service.
Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM
Professor of Practice in Modern Slavery Policy, University of Nottingham (2022-). Formerly: Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (2019-22); Chair, The National Police Chiefs' Council (2015-19); Chief Constable, Thames Valley Police (2007-15); Vice President, Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) (2011-15); Vice Chair, ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters for the South East of England and Director, Police National Assessment Centre (2010-15); Chair, Intelligence Portfolio, ACPO (2003-07); Assistant Chief Constable Specialist Operations, then Deputy Chief Constable and Acting Chief Constable, Thames Valley Police (2000-07); Metropolitan Police Service (1986-2000); Security Service (1984-86).
Ms Salma Zulfiqar
Founder/Director, Art Connects. Artist and activist working on migration; current creative projects, such as The Migration Blanket, focus on empowering refugee and migrant women by promoting integration, working towards preventing hate crimes and extremism. Her artwork has been exhibited in London, Birmingham, Paris, Greece & Dubai. Has worked around the world with the United Nations raising awareness of humanitarian issues in conflict and developing countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Somalia, Chad and Kenya. Has received numerous awards for her ground breaking work on diversity and inclusion, including the UK Prime Minister's Points of Light award.
UNITED KINGDOM/YEMEN
Ms Nadia Hafedh
Executive Assistant to Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Save the Children UK (2021-); Public Policy New Voices Europe Fellow, Salzburg Global Seminar (2021-); Head Organiser, South Yemeni Women's Forum (2019-). Formerly: Research Fellow, Human Rights and Rule of Law, and Director UK Operations, Adalah (2017-19).
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Dr Henry Birt
Research Associate, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester; Fulbright Scholar; Postdoctoral research, Penn State University. Formerly: Visiting Fulbright Scholar, Department of Plant Science, Penn State (2021-22).
Dr Jerrold D. Green
President and Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Council on International Policy, Los Angeles; Research Professor of Communications, University of Southern California (USC). Formerly: Director of International Programs, RAND Corporation; U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy; U.S. Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel (8 years). Currently, Reserve Deputy Sheriff, Los Angeles Sheriff's Department; technical advisor, Activision Publishing, consulting on 'Call of Duty' series.
Ambassador David J. Lane
President, The Annenberg Foundation Trust, Sunnylands, California; Chairman, Stimson Center (2016-). Formerly: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies in Rome; Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Chief of Staff, the White House; Chief of Staff to the United States Secretary of Commerce; Executive Director, National Economic Council; President & CEO, ONE Campaign; Director of Foundation Advocacy, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr William LeoGrande
Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor of Government, School of Public Affairs, American University; specialist in Latin American politics and U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America. Formerly: staff, Democratic Policy Committee, U.S. Senate; staff, Democratic Caucus Task Force on Central America, U.S. House of Representatives; International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Pew Faculty Fellow in International Affairs.
Dr Andrew Selee
President, Migration Policy Institute, Washington, DC.; author, including most recently, 'Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together' (PublicAffairs, 2018); contributor, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, New York Times, Americas Quarterly, El Universal; adjunct professor on global migration, Georgetown University. Formerly: co-Director, Regional Migration Study Group, convened by MPI with the Wilson Center; lecturer, Johns Hopkins and George Washington universities; visiting scholar, El Colegio de México; founder and Director, Wilson Center Mexico Institute; Vice President for Programs and Executive Vice President, Wilson Center.
Ms Gayle Smith
President and CEO, ONE Campaign (2017-). Formerly: Coordinator for Global COVID Response & Health Security. State Department (2021); Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development (2015-17); Special Assistant to the President (Obama administration) and Senior Director for Development and Democracy, National Security Council; Special Assistant to the President (Clinton administration) and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council; founder, sustainable security program, Center for American Progress; co-founder, ENOUGH project and Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.
Dr Sapna E. Thottathil
Managing Director, Center for Climate, Health and Equity, University of California (2022-); board member, Pesticide Action Network; board member, My Green Lab; author, 'India's Organic Farming Revolution: What it Means for Our Global Food System'; editor, 'Institutions and Conscious Food Consumers: Leveraging Purchasing Power to Drive Systems Change'; grant reviewer, U.S. Department of Agriculture'; lecturer at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State, and the University of the Pacific. Formerly: Director of Sustainability, University of California; worked on environmental policy, including: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Health Care Without Harm.
Mr Erol Yayboke
Senior Fellow, International Security Program, and Director, Project on Fragility and Mobility, Center for Strategic and International Studies. Formerly: Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development; Hillary Clinton presidential campaign; Evidence for Policy Design team, Center for International Development, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government; senior management roles with: Global Communities, Save the Children, AECOM International Development in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
OTHERS
Dr Derya Özkul
Senior Research Fellow, Refugee Studies Centre, Department of International Development, University of Oxford (work explores migration policies (or the lack of policies) and their impact on migrants and refugees. Her current research explores the use of new technologies by immigration authorities and their impact on migrants, asylum seekers and refugees).
Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah
CEO Oxfam GB, Oxford (2019-). Formerly: Head, CIVICUS, Johannesburg; Director General, Royal Commonwealth Society.