Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar
Mobility in a Fragile World: Evidence to Inform Policy
Co-organized by IFPRI, the CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security, and the Louvain Institute of Data Analysis and Modeling in Economics and Statistics (LIDAM), IRES | Part of the Fragility to Stability Seminar Series
September 18, 2025

Migration today reflects a complex interplay of demographic pressures, conflict, poverty, climate change, and economic shocks. Worldwide, one in every seven people is a migrant—that is, someone who changes his or her country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration—or a refugee forced to leave his or her home, often without warning, for reasons including war, violence, or persecution. Over the past two decades, international migration and forced displacement have surged, with more than 100 million additional people on the move—a large share of whom originate from rural areas, driven by a lack of economic opportunities, environmental degradation, and insecurity.

The number of refugees has doubled since the early 2000s, with most hosted by low- and middle-income countries. Ongoing conflicts and intensifying climate crises have compounded vulnerabilities, leaving 80% of displaced people facing acute food insecurity. Climate change-related displacement disproportionately affects women, who are also at heightened risk of violence and exploitation during migration journeys and in host communities.

This policy seminar will explore these complex dynamics and assess how economic analysis, machine learning, and policy innovation can contribute to more inclusive, equitable, and effective responses to migration and forced displacement.

Moderator Welcome Remarks
Katrina Kosec, Interim Deputy Director, CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security; Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI 

Opening Remarks
Ruth Hill, Director, Markets, Trade, and Institutions, IFPRI

Setting the Stage: The Migration Challenge
Anna Maria Mayda, Professor of Economics, School of Foreign Service and Department of Economics, and Incoming Director, Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM), Georgetown University (GU)

Research in Action: This three-part session will showcase how current research is shaping better migration policies
Silvia Peracchi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Economics and Social Research (IRES), Louvain Institute of Data Analysis and Modeling in Economics and Statistics (LIDAM), UCLouvain
Francisco Ceballos, Research Fellow, IFPRI
Thomas Ginn, Research Fellow, Center for Global Development

Building the Evidence Base for Smarter Policy in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts: What Are the Gaps and Needs

Panelists
Andrew Harper, Special Advisor on Climate Action, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Damien Jusselme, Head, Data Science and Analytics (Foresight), International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Jean-Francois Maystadt, Professor, Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Louvain Institute of Data Analysis and Modeling in Economics and Statistics (LIDAM) / Institut de Recherches Économiques et Sociales (IRES), Université catholique de Louvain, and Lancaster University Management School

Closing Remarks
Kate Ambler, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

More about this Event: https://www.ifpri.org/event/mobility-in-a-fragile-world-evidence-to-inform-policy/

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Mobility in a Fragile World: Evidence to Inform Policy

How does one out of five sisters from rural Nigeria grow up to be UN Deputy Secretary-General? Blessed with tenacity, determination and grit, Amina Mohammed has always been driven to improve the lives of her fellow human beings and our planet. Rising to the top of the United Nations, her vision has helped shape the world’s blueprint for a brighter future.

“One step at a time, this whole life is about a journey. Make each step count. It is about taking people with you. Don't do this alone. It's too heavy. You need people to cry with you, laugh with you.”

Amina Mohammed is known for making the impossible possible, and has relied on a strong moral compass and the strength of her convictions across a long and varied career of service. In this episode, the UN Deputy Secretary-General and mother-of-six and grandmother to five reflects on what the Sustainable Development Goals have meant in her own life and shares what chocolate and traditional clothes have to do with strong leadership.

“Muslims in Nigeria say, well, there you go, this is a woman working in the international scene, and she's not shy or embarrassed to wear her culture or her religion and to stand proud with it.”

Related content and photos: https://www.un.org/en/awake-at-night/s11-amina-j-mohammed-on-lifes-journey-make-each-step-count

S11-E8: On life’s journey, make each step count, with Amina J. Mohammed

The latest episode of Everyday Injustice takes on one of the least understood but most destructive aspects of the criminal legal system: fines and fees. Host David Greenwald speaks with Lillian Patil and Tanisha Pire of the Fines and Fees Justice Center about their new report, Imposing Instability: How Court Fines and Fees Destabilize Government Budgets and Criminalize Those Who Cannot Pay. Their research exposes how state and local governments across the country rely on fines and fees not only as a tool of punishment, but also as a hidden and unstable source of revenue.

Patil and Pire explain how fines and fees are imposed at nearly every stage of the system—from traffic tickets and public defender applications to probation supervision—and how this creates what they describe as a “hidden tax” on low-income communities. Over five years, courts in just 24 states imposed nearly $14 billion in fines and fees. Yet much of this debt is uncollectible because the people charged cannot pay, leaving families destabilized and governments still facing budget gaps.

The conversation highlights the human toll: people losing driver’s licenses, facing arrest warrants, being pushed into cycles of debt, and even incarceration because they lacked the ability to pay. As Pire notes, courts rarely conduct ability-to-pay assessments, meaning people are penalized not for their actions but for their poverty. Patil points out that governments often spend more trying to collect this money than they ever receive, making the practice both unjust and fiscally unsound.

Despite these harms, reform has been slow. Some states, like California, have eliminated license suspensions and discharged uncollectible debt, but many continue to depend on fines and fees even as revenues decline. Patil and Pire argue that sustainable, equitable funding must replace this failing system. Their report makes clear that fines and fees are “bad for people, bad for budgets,” and that bold reform is urgently needed.


Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 301: How Fines and Fees Punish Poverty and Destabilize Budgets

Lantern of Three

The Declaration of Independence & The American Dream: An Incarnation of the Human Condition 

Homily - 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

A brief summary through discussion of the main themes of the homily, which views the Sunday readings through the lens of the Declaration of Independence and the American Dream, arguing that true human flourishing requires more than individualistic success. The central purpose is to caution against a secular, self-centered mindset that prioritizes ambition and material gain over the love of God and neighbor. By analyzing the parable of the rich man and Lazarus alongside the Ten Commandments, the author demonstrates that spiritual failure—specifically breaking the first commandment by loving wealth more than God—leads directly to a grave failure of social justice and active love toward the marginalized. Ultimately, the text asserts that the foundational ideals of America and the path to genuine goodness must be rooted in divine truth and a commitment to the universal call to holiness that ensures "no one left behind."

Deep Dive for the 26th Sunday of ordinary time

Time for another Poverty Unpacked chat!

This month features new child poverty estimates, pressure on parents due to focus on early childhood, mismatch between policy makers' attitudes and evidence, and EU Anti-Poverty Strategy PLUS what's on in October in the month of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Check out all the links and more on poverty-unpacked.org

49. Poverty Unpacked - September chat

Payday Pray

Made in a hotel room with an iPhone 11, GarageBand. Poverty is in the mind of not seeing what happened to our solar system and what happened to us.

Poverty

💀 Poverty Is Killing America’s Seniors | Karel Cast 25-127

New research reveals a heartbreaking truth: poor and middle-income seniors are dying years earlier than wealthy Americans. Poverty is literally killing our elders — and no one in power seems to care. Karel exposes how inequality, housing costs, and healthcare failures are quietly shortening lives across the country.

Plus — the Supreme Court’s next move could protect so-called “conversion therapy,” prioritizing free speech over human dignity. Karel asks: Why are we still afraid of sexuality and identity in 2025?

Also, half of all college grads move back home — because debt and rent make independence impossible. When will America finally make education free? And finally, one good note: California bans loud streaming ads. Gavin Newsom signs the kind of law we all wish every state had.

🎙️ Watch, comment, and subscribe — because awareness is power.

👉 Watch more: youtube.com/reallykarel

👉 Support: patreon.com/reallykarel

#KarelCast, #SeniorPoverty, #IncomeInequality, #HealthcareCrisis, #AgingInAmerica, #SupremeCourt, #ConversionTherapy, #LGBTQRights, #FreeCollege, #StudentDebt, #EconomicJustice, #SocialCommentary, #BreakingNews, #CurrentEvents, #PoliticalPodcast, #LasVegasPodcaster, #NewsAnalysis, #YouTubeShorts, #ProgressiveMedia, #SubscribeNow


Poverty Is Weeding Out Seniors

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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. Established in 1975, IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 50 countries. It is a research center of CGIAR, a worldwide partnership engaged in agricultural research for development.

The best progressive talk right here, on demand. Always Progressive, Always On!

Davis Vanguard Podcast will be covering criminal justice reform, mass incarceration, wrongful convictions, and more.

In conversation with others, we explore how poverty affects the mind, relationships, emotions and society as a whole, and what can be done to change it. Hear from activists, researchers, policy makers, and those with lived experience of poverty around the world.

Website: https://www.un.org/en/awake-at-night
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaFlemingUN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelissaFleming
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissarfleming

What does it take to be a United Nations worker in some of the world’s most complex and dangerous places? How are UN humanitarians, human rights advocates, prosecutors, development experts, climate leaders and peacekeepers improving our world? Stationed in all reaches of the world and witness to suffering and atrocities, how are they helping people and coping themselves? 

To find out, Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, meets them.

Here, you will discover extraordinary personal stories from people who devote their lives to helping others.

New tracks tagged #POVERTY