African Migration and Development Policy Center team visits CGC Africa

CGC | Africa was proud to host the team of the African Migration and Development Policy Centre (AMADPOC) in Nairobi, Kenya, headed by Professor John O. Oucho, PhD, on Monday 27 January 2014, as part of the E-Conference on the Health Consequences of Migration, hosted online across the Columbia Global Centers and the Columbia Population Research Center in New York.

January 28, 2014

CGC | Africa was proud to host the team of the African Migration and Development Policy Centre (AMADPOC) in Nairobi, Kenya, headed by Professor John O. Oucho, PhD, on Monday 27 January 2014, as part of the E-Conference on the Health Consequences of Migration, hosted online across the Columbia Global Centers and the Columbia Population Research Center in New York. Professor Oucho is currently the Executive Director of AMADPOC, and a professor of Population Studies at the University of Nairobi. His presentation titled, ‘Health Consequences of Migration in Informal Settlements in Informal Settlements in Eastern Africa,’ revealed that poor urban infrastructure and lack of employment opportunities had driven urban migrants to informal settlements where they had replicated their rural lifestyles. He reiterated the need to understand urban informal settlements in the context of environmental conditions, health challenges and housing.

Prof. Oucho was joined on the panel by Jose Moya (Barnard College, U.S.), who spoke on the survey of migration flows and nexus between global mobility and public health and Khalid Koser (Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Switzerland), who discussed health crises and resulting patterns of migration.

The meeting aimed to identify the key questions in migration research, with discussion centered around the key areas in research and scholarship around migration, health, and well-being that should be addressed over the coming decade. Other panels focused on Surveillance and Research Challenges and Politics of Migration and Health, and a global debate incorporating all eight centers around the world made for a fruitful discussion.

Professor Oucho was Marie Curie Chair holder in March 2007 through February 2010 at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, a Professor of Population Studies at the University of Botswana (1996-2004) and the University of Ghana (1989-1992), and was a post-doctoral fellow of the Carolina Population Center in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, U.S.A from 1982-1983. Additionally, Professor Oucho is a Fellow of the Kenya National Academy of Sciences (FKNAS) and also a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (FWAAS). His books include Urban Migrants and Rural Development in Kenya, Undercurrents of Ethnic Conflict in Kenya , and Migration in the Service of African Development. Professor Oucho has undertaken consultancies for various United Nations agencies, among them UNFPA, UNICEF, UNESCO, ILO, UNHABITAT and the World Bank.

For more on the conference, please click here.