Foreign aid budgets have been slashed significantly by governments in the United States, Europe, and beyond, raising questions about what humanitarian assistance will look like in practice. Recent and abrupt funding cuts by major donors are already affecting refugee-hosting countries, where resources were strained even before these changes.

In this episode of World of Migration, host Lawrence Huang speaks with Micheal Gumisiriza, a program lead based in southwest Uganda for COHERE, an international NGO that works with refugee-led organizations, about how funding cuts by international donors are being felt on the ground—from food assistance and access to essential medicines to education. They discuss what the immediate impacts reveal about the humanitarian system’s capacity under pressure, and what “localization” could realistically mean as humanitarian response efforts adjust to a period of shrinking resources.

The global humanitarian protection system is at a critical juncture. It is under major strain as record numbers of people have been forced out of their homes by a complex array of factors and protracted crises. Yet at the same time, a system created in the wake of World War II no longer meets today’s challenges and is increasingly coming under political pressures, with some countries chafing at protection obligations.

In this episode of the podcast, one of the leading voices in the humanitarian protection world, Vincent Cochetel, discusses the future of refugee protection and the evolution of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) with Meghan Benton, MPI’s director of global programs.

The fact there is a growing backlash to immigration in communities around the world is well established. What is less discussed are the solutions to address decline in social cohesion and rise in mistrust, misinformation, and prejudice. Meaningful contact between different groups can reduce tensions. Under the right conditions, this dynamic can strengthen social cohesion when newcomers and members of established communities come together and build meaningful relationships. Linda R. Tropp, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has spent decades studying how members of diverse groups experience contact with each other. In this episode, she and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Deputy Director of MPI’s International Program, discuss contact theory and the triggers that can make such relationships succeed or fail.

The global race for international talent has arrived. As populations in advanced industrial economies age and work evolves, labor shortages in critical sectors are increasingly driving countries to look outside their borders for workers. But in this context, who gets to migrate? And how? Crucially, can labor mobility be managed in a way that benefits workers, employers, countries of origin, and countries of destination alike? In this episode, migration and development expert Seeta Sharma shares insights from India, which is the world’s largest origin of migrants and leads in the export of physicians, for example. She unpacks the role of bilateral and multilateral agreements with countries eager to attract Indian talent and the implications of large-scale emigration for India’s economic advancement.

In recent years, the Ethiopian government has pledged to increase access to education and employment for the more than 900,000 refugees living in Ethiopia, most in camps. There have been ups and downs along the way, but a few key trends have emerged. In this episode of our podcast, Migration Policy Institute Europe Associate Director Camille Le Coz speaks with researcher Abis Getachew about the major policy shifts to open classrooms and jobs to refugees and whether they have been successful.

Travel documents play an important role in international mobility, and for refugees serve as an essential gateway to a world of opportunities, from pursuing education and employment to reuniting with family. In this episode, MPI’s Susan Fratzke unpacks the complexities around travel documents and their pivotal role in refugees' livelihoods with Adhieu Achuil Kueth, founder of MonyQadow, and Jackie Keegan, deputy director of the Division of International Protection for Resettlement and Complementary Pathways at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Kueth shares her first-hand experience traveling on a refugee travel document and her commitment to aiding fellow refugees in accessing higher education opportunities. Keegan sheds light on the challenges refugees face in obtaining these essential documents. Tune in to learn more.

African migrants harness the strength of kinship in pursuit of security and stability as they settle in a European landscape that is sometimes made precarious by their legal status and shifting policies. In this episode, MPI Europe Associate Director Camille Le Coz discusses this fascinating phenomenon with Apostolos Andrikopoulos, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow at Harvard University and the University of Amsterdam. Together, they dive into the intricate web of kinship-based support systems employed by African migrants as they navigate migration routes and integration at destination, including through the exchange or brokering of identity documents. All in their quest for a better life. Tune in for an engaging conversation.

What does the future of refugee resettlement look like? In this World of Migration episode, MPI Senior Policy Analyst Susan Fratzke leads an insightful conversation about sponsorship of refugees by private individuals and community groups. With humanitarian protection systems struggling to address record needs, more countries—including the United States—are turning to private or community sponsorship. Tune in to hear from Erin Schutte Wadzinski, who leads one of the pioneering sponsorship groups in Worthington, Minnesota. She discusses the Welcome Corps program launched by the U.S. government in January 2023. What does it mean to be a sponsor? How much responsibility do sponsors take on? What is the private sponsorship experience for refugees? Is this model working well? The conversation offers answers to these and other questions.