The MIDEQ project in Ghana is being implemented by researchers at the University of Ghana’s Centre for Migration Studies (CMS) which is a regional leader in teaching and research related to migration. Prior to the MIDEQ project, CMS implemented various projects, including the DFID-funded ‘Migrating Out of Poverty Project’ (2011-2018) and a number of migration policy development initiatives, which provided CMS with the opportunity to influence migration policy development in Ghana. The MIDEQ project has provided CMS with an opportunity to continue building the evidence base to inform policy development in Ghana and to bring together researchers to address migration issues in West Africa more generally. A full draft of an edited volume entitled Migration in West Africa has recently been submitted to Springer. The volume, edited by MIDEQ Co-Director Professor Teye, includes contributions from seven MIDEQ Hub researchers based in Ghana and elsewhere.
Consistent with MIDEQ’s Theory of Change, the impact pathways for MIDEQ’s work in Ghana include: contribution to knowledge production and capacity building; changing narratives on migration; and development of policies and initiatives to improve the lives of migrants, their families and communities. MIDEQ has strengthened the capacity of CMS researchers to employ multidisciplinary approaches to generate data. While CMS is an interdisciplinary centre, the MIDEQ project and another UKRI-funded project - the GCRF CUSP network led by MIDEQ co-director Professor Alison Phipps – have enhanced the Centre’s capacity to use creative arts methodologies to generate data on migration. CMS now works with NOYAM, a dance group based in Ghana, to use creative arts methodologies to generate migration data and disseminate findings. To ensure that more researchers are able to use creative arts methods, the MIDEQ project team has planned a training workshop for 20 University of Ghana based researchers and selected PhD students on arts-based techniques of data collection and policy engagement.
