As part of the project EuroMeSCo: Connecting the Dots, co-funded by the European Union and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), we are opening calls for researchers to take part in five different Joint Study Groups.

The EuroMeSCo Joint Study Groups 2022 will be made up of four Authors, including a Coordinator, who will jointly produce a Policy Study over a period of 6-7 months. Interested researchers may apply as Author or as Author and Coordinator to each Joint Study Group. In both cases, they will have to complete the online form and submit their application by 18 May (included).

Here is a brief description of the rationale of this Joint Study Group:

Climate-induced Internal Displacement in MENA Countries

Climate migration is already a trending topic of research but the angle of climate-induced internal displacement within EU’s Southern Neighbourhood countries has attracted less attention. The Joint Study Group could:

• Investigate some case studies of countries in the region (e.g., Egypt, Algeria or Libya, Jordan), assess how climate-induced internal displacements have started and how the phenomenon is likely to increase
• Investigate the likely socio-economic effects of this increasing climate-induced internal displacement for the countries concerned.
• Identify how countries concerned have started anticipating this phenomenon, identify gaps in the systems of the countries under study and advocate for preventive action, away from the paradigm of emergency response that too often prevails when it comes to IDPs
• Climate-induced internal displacements also raise the question of how this phenomenon should be considered and tackled by UN agencies and other international organisations, as current databases monitoring internal displacements tend to consider only conflicts and disasters as main drivers. The UN OCHA has established guiding principles on internal displacement and civilians are also protected by international humanitarian law, to a certain extent, in times of conflicts. Nevertheless, as reviews of regulatory frameworks concerning internal displacement hint at, there is weariness about adopting new legally binding instruments and efforts remain rather centred on civilians in conflict zones instead of people displaced by natural causes

You may apply to more than one Joint Study Group but may eventually only be selected to join one of them.

See the EuroMeSCo Joint Study Groups 2022 Terms of Reference for more information.