Refugees in neighbouring countries, refugee returnees and resettled refugees can change the peacebuilding landscape of their countries of origin. They can either be „spoilers“ or active agents engaging with other actors and institutions, leading to inclusive and sustainable peace. What factors or context conditioned the choices and role of refugees, and how can we harness the resources of refugees towards peacebuilding process? Using cases from Africa, and drawing on the refugee resettlement practices of Canada, this lecture will address the above questions.

Dr Amanda Coffie (PhD) is a Research Fellow at the Legon Center for International Affairs and Diplomacy, University of Ghana. She earned a PhD from the Department of Political Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She also holds an MA in Political Science and a BA in Political Science from Brock University, Canada, and the University of Ghana, respectively. Her work attends to issues of refugees, diaspora, governance of migration and asylum, and programs of host countries and international organizations as well as post-conflict peacebuilding.

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