MAPS Newsletter – Special Issue
We are pleased to share the first newsletter of the MAPS – Migration Action Plan for Sub-Saharan Africa project, a three-year initiative funded by the European Union through the EuropeAid programme. The project brings together a multidisciplinary network of African and European academic institutions to produce high-quality, evidence-based research on the drivers of migration in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Within this international consortium, several Italian universities hosting UNESCO Chairs, including the University Iuav of Venice, contribute to the project’s research and capacity-building activities. MAPS addresses the interconnected dynamics of demographic pressure, environmental degradation, economic disparities, and political instability, with the aim of informing more sustainable and inclusive development strategies.
The project is structured around four thematic domains aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals: People (population trends and youth), Planet (environmental stressors and climate-induced migration), Prosperity (economic and social resilience), and Peace (human rights, conflict, and displacement).
This first newsletter provides an overview of the project’s objectives and research agenda, and presents some of the key activities currently underway, including the MAPS academic seminar series, the selection process for 40 research fellowships for early-career scholars from Sub-Saharan Africa, and the announcement of the first MAPS International Conference, which will take place in Dar es Salaam.
Through research, training, and international collaboration, MAPS aims to strengthen knowledge production and policy dialogue on migration and forced displacement, while supporting the development of a new generation of African researchers working on these critical issues.
* The MAPS Project—coordinated by the UNESCO Chair in Migrations, Population, and Development at Sapienza University of Rome— promotes evidence-based policy solutions on migration and displacement and involves a multidisciplinary consortium from Europe and Africa. Partner institutions include six Italian universities hosting UNESCO Chairs (Sapienza, Udine, University Iuav of Venice, Brescia, Ferrara, and Reggio Calabria), the University of Barcelona (Spain), the University of Dodoma (Tanzania), the University of Kabale (Uganda), and AMREF International University (Kenya). Advisory institutions contributing to the MAPS initiative include the IOM Regional Data Hub for West and Central Africa, the Catholic University of Rwanda, and the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa).
