PhD research has also led to a number of articles in international peer-reviewed journals. Christina Shitima( PhD student, assistant lecturer at Mzumbe), who is preparing a PhD on household development strategies and river basin management and degradation, finalised household surveys and focus group discussions in four villages along the Simiyu River and the Kilombero valley floodplain. From September to December, she spent time at IOB cleaning and analysing her data. During an internal workshop with some IOB staff working on similar topics, she presented the initial findings of her field research. In addition to PhD student / staff mobility, and based on successful experiences in 2014 and 2015, a student from the Advanced Master programme in Environmental Sciences( IMDO, University of Antwerp) conducted field research in the context of his Master’ s dissertation. To increase research and outreach capacity among Mzumbe staff project members, workshops were organised on research methodology, Nvivo and drafting of research and policy briefs. Additionally, a small research / outreach fund was set up to stimulate research / outreach activities. A competitive call for field research proposals and related outreach activities has resulted in the funding of field research / outreach activities on various topics, including local participatory public expenditure tracking surveys( PETS), user fees in water service delivery, livelihood capital assets and wetlands degradation, and gender in natural resource management among the Maasai.
Ecuador
Institutional cooperation with the Universidad de Cuenca( UC) entered its last year of VLIR-UOS supported activities. The Migration Project has generated relevant research capacity at the UC. Firstly, the multidisciplinary approach of the project has created space for the involvement of professionals from different fields( anthropology, economics, education, psychology, philosophy and sociology), consolidating multidisciplinary research practices. Indeed, the current team involves teachers-researchers related to the Faculties of Economics and Business Science, Psychology and Philosophy. Secondly, VLIR MigDev has become a point of reference for students, teachers and researchers at the UC who are looking to study the international migration phenomena in the region. Students who are preparing their final graduation work, and other researchers wishing to investigate migration issues consider VLIR MigDev as an opportunity to work with researchers in the project, make use of the existing databases and learn about tools and methodologies suitable for the study of migration events. This consolidated research capacity ensures the sustainability of the research activities and will now allow the participation of IOB Master’ s students willing to undertake fieldwork activities for dissertations as part of the new Going Global initiative at IOB. Finally, at the national level, the Vice Ministry of Human Mobility of Ecuador has adopted and applied instruments developed by the project and recognised its relevance at the national level as a solid reference for policymakers. The Observatory of Human Mobility at the UC – with the financial support of the Vice Ministry – is now in place and undertaking ongoing negotiations with the Municipality of Cuenca for the implementation of a migration census in the city. Among other research activities, a research project on Colombian refugee immigration,‘ Situación laboral de los refugiados colombianos en Cuenca’( Labour situation of Colombian refugees in Cuenca), a joint initiative of VLIR MigDev and the UNHCR( United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) was completed and further extended, also involving the participation of IOB staff. Feedback meetings were held to analyse the conclusions of the study and were applied by the UNHCR. Additionally, the publication and presentation of results are being planned, to share information that aims to support policies and intervention evaluations.
VLIR-UOS research platforms in Uganda
The ongoing partnership activities with Uganda continued. Firstly, the VLIR-UOS TEAM project collaboration on post-conflict reconstruction and governance with Gulu University and Uganda Martyrs University went on in 2016. The following activities took place within this framework: a number of research projects by senior staff of the universities involved on ethnicity, land and conflict in northern Uganda, and a PhD project on land conflict in northern Uganda. Two senior researchers conducted field research for these projects, and spent research time at IOB. The supervisor of the project, Kristof Titeca, taught the course‘ Violent Environments’ at Gulu University. The VLIR-UOS TEAM project‘ Towards more effective and equitable service delivery for local communities: comparing the impact of different accountability mechanisms and analysing the politics of service delivery’ continued in 2016. The most important activities relate to the continuation of the PhD project. Extensive fieldwork was carried out in Uganda, looking into the rationale of new district creation. The PhD student subsequently spent some time at IOB to process the data. Another South initiative,‘ The need to find durable solutions for old case-load refugees in Nakivale settlement in Mbarara district’ – coordinated by Bert Ingelaere, as the Flemish supervisor, and Tom Ogwang( MUST), as the Ugandan supervisor – continued its research throughout 2016.
32 • Annual Report 2016