دوافع التنقُّل في النزوح طويل الأمد: حالة انتقال الإرتيريُّين والكونغوِيُّين: Mobility dynamics in protracted displacement: Eritreans and Congolese on the move

يجد ملايين الإرتيريين والكونغويين أنفسهم اليوم في حالات نزوح طويل الأمد. لذا، فإن الفهم الدقيق لكيفية تأثير التنقل البدني والاجتماعي على حياتهم اليومية هو أمرٌ في غاية الأهمية من أجل ايجاد تدخُّلات أكثر فاعلية مُعدَّة لهذه الغاية. Millions of Eritreans and Congolese find themselves in situations of protracted displacement. A more nuanced understanding of how physical and social mobility affects their daily lives is crucial to developing more effective tailor-made interventions

Leveraging networks to overcome displacement: urban internally displaced persons in the Democratice Republic of the Congo

In the quest for sustainable solutions to record global displacement, promoting displaced persons’ self-reliance and supporting them alongside host communities in regions of displacement have become buzzwords in global and European policy discussions. But despite such pledges, TRAFIG research in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) finds that internally displaced persons (IDPs) in urban settings are largely ignored and unassisted by the state and international humanitarian and development interventions - and are proactively seeking their own solutions. The lack of institutionalised assistance means that IDPs mostly depend on the solidarity of others to be or become self-reliant. In this context, networks are a particularly important source of support and include assistance with locating housing and finding a job in Bukavu and with maintaining and harvesting crops in communities of origin. However, even with the benefits that these connections can bring, IDPs face serious challenges related to their displacement and contend with multiple types of limbo, making it difficult for many to truly overcome situations of protracted displacement. Findings thus point to the need for policies and practices that support urban IDPs in the DRC by helping them nurture and leverage their networks to unlock opportunities

Policies should better support people trapped in long-term refugee situations

People that are forced to live away from their homes for five years or more – such as refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) – are said to live in a situation of protracted displacement. In 2018 it was reported that 78% of all refugees live in protracted displacement. This is a very challenging state. Most are vulnerable and highly dependent on external support from governments, NGOs or relatives. They also have insecure legal statuses and don’t have the ability – or opportunity – to rebuild their lives because of scarce economic resources, the legal framework that regulates their lives or societies that don’t welcome them. In many cases, they can neither return home nor move on to other countries, nor really integrate in the country of reception. We’ve been carrying out research that explores the experiences and solutions for protracted displaced populations around the world. Specifically, we examine the rules that dictate people’s ability to work, where they live, options for family reunification, and access to accommodation, education and health care. We found that international and host country policies don’t adequately address the challenges posed by forced displacement across the world

Accountability mechanisms in community-driven reconstruction in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

A lack of accountability is often considered a root cause of conflict. Many post-conflict reconstruction efforts therefore aim to enhance accountability between authorities and the population through community-driven reconstruction (CDR) programmes. This article examines the details of the accountability mechanisms in the Tushiriki CDR programme in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Based on ethnographic research, we found little impact of formal programme accountability. Rather, accountability was shaped differently and had its own context-specific meaning. To make accountability more sustainable, stronger embeddedness in local institutions and more appropriate translations of abstract concepts into the local context are needed

Multi-stakeholder community consultations as a multi-purpose research tool: experiences from the Democratic Republic of Congo: Deliverable 4.3; Documentation of multi-stakeholder community consultations (MSCC) in Africa

The Multi-Stakeholder Community Consultation (MSCC) is a participatory research tool that has been developed by the DR Congo team of TRAFIG and that will be applied in other countries in the course of the project too. By bringing together a mixed group of respondents (displaced, hosts, authorities, civil society), the tool is geared towards collecting additional insights through an interactive dialogue on intergroup relations, validating findings gathered through other methods, and jointly seeking solutions for problems that are identified by the participants. In this note we provide methodological guidance and share our experience of using the tool in the DRC. Other TRAFIG country teams, interested researchers and practitioners can learn from it and adapt it to their own needs

Figurations of displacement in the DRC: empirical findings and reflections on protracted displacement and translocal connections of Congolese IDPs

This working paper is based on empirical research on translocal figurations of displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It contains methodological reflections, central findings, and reflections on these findings. Drawing on the conceptual framework that was developed in TRAFIG working paper 1, this paper explores TRAFIG's central question: "How are protractedness, dependency and vulnerability related to the factors of local and translocal connectivity and mobility, and, in turn, how can connectivity and mobility be utilised to enhance the self-reliance and strengthen the resilience of displaced people?" The paper presents findings from the east of the DRC, where many internally displaced persons (IDPs) seek refuge in host communities. Findings show that prior connections with members in the host communities are usually within the domestic sphere and are important drivers for people's decision to flee to a specific place. In rebuilding their lives in displacement - and hence in their efforts to move out of protracted displacement and to become integrated - these contacts are often key to set in motion a 'chain of connectivity' that opens up new opportunities: One contact helps them to get in touch with the next contact. For IDPS, it is not so much the number of their connections that are important but the quality of these connections. A small number of vertical connections with socio-economically more powerful and/or betterintegrated contacts can sometimes be more helpful than a large number of horizontal connections with people that are in equally vulnerable positions. When IDPs use mobility as an asset to become integrated, this mobility is mostly used to free resources in the community of origin and to capitalise on these resources in the new environment. In this way, rural resources become part of people's urban livelihood strategies. By introducing these resources in the city and thereby drawing on their translocal connections, IDPs enrich the local economy and at the same time become more accepted and better integrated

Dynamics and prognostic value of serum neurofilament light chain in Guillain-Barré syndrome

Background: Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a biomarker for axonal damage in several neurological disorders. We studied the longitudinal changes in serum NfL in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in relation to disease severity, electrophysiological subtype, treatment response, and prognosis. Methods: We included patients with GBS who participated in a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial that evaluated the effects of a second course of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) on clinical outcomes. Serum NfL levels were measured before initiation of treatment and at one, two, four, and twelve weeks using a Simoa HD-X Analyzer. Serum NfL dynamics were analysed using linear mixed-effects models. Logistic regression was employed to determine the associations of serum NfL with clinical outcome and the prognostic value of serum NfL after correcting for known prognostic markers.Findings: NfL levels were tested in serum from 281 patients. Serum NfL dynamics were associated with disease severity and electrophysiological subtype. Strong associations were found between high levels of serum NfL at two weeks and inability to walk unaided at four weeks (OR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.27–2.45), and high serum NfL levels at four weeks and inability to walk unaided at 26 weeks (OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 1.72–4.90). Baseline serum NfL had the most significant prognostic value for ability to walk, independent of known predictors of outcome. The time to regain ability to walk unaided was significantly longer for patients with highest serum NfL levels at baseline (p = 0.0048) and week 2 (p &lt; 0.0001). No differences in serum NfL were observed between patients that received a second IVIg course vs. IVIg and placebo.Interpretation: Serum NfL levels are associated with disease severity, axonal involvement, and poor outcome in GBS. Serum NfL potentially represents a biomarker to monitor neuronal damage in GBS and an intermediate endpoint to evaluate the effects of treatment. </p

Unraveling the MAX2 protein network in Arabidopsis thaliana : identification of the protein phosphatase PAPP5 as a novel MAX2 interactor

The F-box protein MORE AXILLARY GROWTH 2 (MAX2) is a central component in the signaling cascade of strigolactones (SLs) as well as of the smoke-derived karrikins (KARs) and the so far unknown endogenous KAI2 ligand (KL). The two groups of molecules are involved in overlapping and unique developmental processes, and signal-specific outcomes are attributed to perception by the paralogous α/β-hydrolases DWARF14 (D14) for SL and KARRIKIN INSENSITIVE 2/HYPOSENSITIVE TO LIGHT (KAI2/HTL) for KAR/KL. In addition, depending on which receptor is activated, specific members of the SUPPRESSOR OF MAX2 1 (SMAX1)-LIKE (SMXL) family control KAR/KL and SL responses. As proteins that function in the same signal transduction pathway often occur in large protein complexes, we aimed at discovering new players of the MAX2, D14, and KAI2 protein network by tandem affinity purification in Arabidopsis cell cultures. When using MAX2 as a bait, various proteins were copurified, among which were general components of the Skp1-Cullin-F-box complex and members of the CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 9 signalosome. Here, we report the identification of a novel interactor of MAX2, a type 5 serine/threonine protein phosphatase, designated PHYTOCHROME-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE 5 (PAPP5). Quantitative affinity purification pointed at PAPP5 as being more present in KAI2 rather than in D14 protein complexes. In agreement, mutant analysis suggests that PAPP5 modulates KAR/KL-dependent seed germination under suboptimal conditions and seedling development. In addition, a phosphopeptide enrichment experiment revealed that PAPP5 might dephosphorylate MAX2 in vivo independently of the synthetic SL analog, rac-GR24. Together, by analyzing the protein complexes to which MAX2, D14, and KAI2 belong, we revealed a new MAX2 interactor, PAPP5, that might act through dephosphorylation of MAX2 to control mainly KAR/KL-related phenotypes and, hence, provide another link with the light pathway

Nothing is more permanent than the temporary: understanding protracted displacement and people's own responses

Across the world, 16 million refugees and an unknown number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) experience long-lasting conditions of economic precarity, marginalisation, rightlessness and future uncertainty. They live under conditions of protracted displacement. Policy solutions often fail to recognise displaced people’s needs and limit rather than widen the range of available solutions. This report brings together the central findings of the TRAFIG project’s empirical study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Tanzania, Jordan, Pakistan, Greece, Italy and Germany. We engaged with more than 3,120 people in our three-year project. Our analysis centres around five factors that shape conditions of protracted displacement: 1) governance regimes of aid and asylum, 2) social practices and livelihoods, 3) networks and movements, 4) intergroup relations between displaced people and hosts, and 5) development incentives and economic interactions. We present multiple findings on each of these themes. Moreover, this report addresses gender and classbased differences and mental health related challenges in constellations of protracted displacement as well as political dynamics that impact on people’s own responses to protracted displacement. Overall, our research shows that refugees, IDPs and other migrants by and large find protection, shelter, livelihood support, a sense of belonging and opportunities to migrate elsewhere through their personal networks. These networks often stretch across several places or even extend across multiple countries. While they are not a panacea for all challenges, people’s own connections are an essential resource for sustainable and long-term solutions to their precarious situation. They must not be ignored in policy responses to protracted displacement. Understanding the needs and the local, translocal and transnational ties of displaced people is the foundation for finding solutions that last