2.4. Internal Migration in Africa

With proven and repeated affirmations of the centrality of intra-African mobilities to the livelihood strategies of Africans across time and space, it is worthwhile to present a veritable context for understanding related migratory patterns, trends and dynamics. This project will engender a tenable framework for contextualization of internal migration practice in Africa as desirable alternative to such unstructured and irregular mobilities from the continent, particularly towards the southern fringes of Europe; conducted mostly via smuggling-of-migrants (SOM) and trafficking-in-persons (TIP). For real-time policy purposes, the project will establish both Physical and Virtual Migration Observatories that will consist of data, analytics and policy briefs mostly generated through field-based primary sources for an initial duration of 5 years (2025-2030). Essentially, this project will enable a more refined mechanism for the management of migrations of Africans within and beyond Africa; specifically at the level of institutional, policy, national, regional, and international interventions.

 

Objectives

• Design and launch of Virtual Migration Observatory at CEAUP (website)

• Fieldwork for collection of primary data in selected countries in Africa

• Data analysis and preparation of datasets for the Virtual Migration Observatory at CEAUP

• Public presentation of the Virtual Migration Observatory (website) and planned features of the Physical Migration Observatory at CEAUP

• Design and launch of Physical Migration Observatory at CEAUP

• Public presentation of the Physical Migration Observatory at CEAUP

• Connect both Observatories to public policy debates

• Organization of academic events: trainings, workshops, conferences, seminars and symposiums focusing on the objectives of the Migration Observatories

 

Methods and plan

• Planning of a 5-year project for the 1^st phase of the project
• Yearly quantitative and qualitative data collection in Africa and analysis
• Intermittent evaluative/secondary data collection and analysis
• Design of Virtual and physical Observatories
• Findings/report publication and dissemination

 

Realisation indicators:

• Functional Virtual Observatory
• Functional Physical Observatory
• Grants and Partnership
• Publications: Journals, Books, Policy Briefs, Research and Project Reports
• Publicity and Capacity Building: trainings, workshops, conferences, seminars and symposiums

 

Project Coordinator	First Team	Team tasks	Partner Institution
Adebusuyi Isaac Adeniran	Dagauh Koemenan Kabran Djane Aristide Akinwale Ojomo Maciel Santos	Project coordination Research design Field missions Data collection and analysis Report writing/publication Observatory design	Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria)

  

---

2.6.1. US Policies and Foreign Interventions in Africa

This research line intends to delve into the US historical ties to the regions of North Africa, Sahel, and West Africa on one hand and the current time policies on the other.

 

Objectives

• Publishing several issues of an academic journal that has already been launched in 2019 and to which the project’s scope fits well – The Journal of US –Africa Studies.
• Holding of conferences, Seminars and workshops

Methods and plan

The project relies on a set of methodologies related to several disciplines (History, Political Science, Sociology, Economics):

• Archival research
• Interviews
• Field Observation
• Cartographical production
• Statistical analysis

Sources:

• National/International Archives
• National/International Libraries
• Academic Libraries
• National/International Statistics Institutions

 

Realisation indicators: Several activities have already been conducted (an academic journal has been launched in 2019 – The Journal of US –Africa Studies. Seminars, workshops and conferences since 2019.)

 

Project Coordinator	First Team	Team tasks
Mourad Aty	Alexander Zhukov Helena Furtado Isabel Lourenço Jorge Teixeira Sylvie Lembe Tânia Mainsel Maciel Santos	Coordination Research assistance Field missions Archival tasks Data collection

  

---

2.6.2. Colonial Crimes in Africa: Reckoning, Memory, and Reparations

This project explores the interlinked themes of justice, historical memory, and redress for past harms. It aims to examine how societies confront legacies of violence, oppression, and injustice- whether through legal accountability, commemorative practices, or material and symbolic reparations. Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives, the project investigates case studies from around the world to understand how truth-telling, remembrance, and restitution can contribute to healing, reconciliation, and structural change. By centering the voices of affected communities, the project seeks to illuminate pathways toward meaningful acknowledgement and transformative justice

 

Project Coordinator	First Team	Team tasks
Mourad Aty	Alexander Zhukov Isabel Lourenço Jorge Teixeira Sylvie Lembe Maciel Santos	Coordination Research assistance Field missions Archival tasks Data collection

---

2.7. Total Biodiversity Restoration in Western Sahara and Mauritania 

This Project aims to create the first National Park in Western Sahara with a view to further extent to an adjacent National Park in Mauritania. The ultimate goal is to restore the Total Biodiversity of a vast Saharian territory, including the study of feasibility of the reintroduction of extinct species such as the Scimitar Oryx the Addax, Saharan Cheetah and possibly the Barbary Sheep. The ultimate aim is to achieve a maximum ecological balance through Total Biodiversity restoration. The project intends to organize a small community in order to manage, study and protect the National Park.

For this purposes, the project will test the feasibility of the Bir Tirguisit region, close to Tifariti in W. Sahara and 320 kilometers southwest of the Algerian city of Tindouf.

By restoring Total Biodiversity, this territory could qualify for UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status, which would enhance the region's reputation and increase access to international funding. The project aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations 2030, specifically Life on Land (Goal 15) and Climate Action (Goal 13).

In this phase of experimental research, this is a joint project of CIUT-CEAUP with the collaboration of W. Sahara Ministry of the Environment.

 

Objectives

• Production of data bases

• Study of the Bir Tiguisit region

• Selection and test of botanical species

• Planning and design of the Scientific Observatory composed of CIUT/CEAUP and local  (resident and not-resident) staff,  able to carry out the management and  scientific research.

• Production of scientific outputs

 

Methods and plan

• Bibliographical survey

• Archival research in W. Sahara,  in Spain (Archivo General de Administracion, etc.), and other European archives

• Oral sources compilation

• Field missions

• Reforestation studies

• Climate monitoring

• Urbanistic, architectural, political and anthropological studies

• Analyses and syntheses of data bases produced during phase 1

 

Realisation indicators:

• Design of a website to install databases

• Data collection

• Video documentary about the region and the project

• Organization of a pilot plant nursery in Tindouf camps (20 000 trees which will be transplanted into the Park's territory.

• Publication of 5 scientific articles (areas of ethnobiology, ethnobotany, archaeology, history and educational sciences)

• Urban and sociological models of a pilot community

 

Project Coordinator	First Team	Team tasks	Partner Institution
Augusto Lança	Alexandra Castro Helia Saraiva João Pedro Galhano Alves Katheryne Aldana Villalobos Maciel Santos Mohammed Said	Archival and bibliographical research Field missions Data collection Coordination of reforestation Coordination of environmental education to the Parks´ staff and local populations Scientific outputs Video documentary about the region and the project Design of a project website	Tifariti University