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This paper examines how International Development Cooperation (IDC) shapes development-oriented refugee and migration governance in Uganda by tracing the translation of global norms-the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus-into national and subnational policy systems. Drawing on a thematic analysis of policy and institutional documents, the study distinguishes between refugees and broader migration categories and situates Uganda’s refugee population-which is predominantly from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo and characterized by high dependency ratios and child-headed households-as a core analytical variable. Using a multi-level framework, the analysis follows a clear sequence from data to codes, themes, and findings across global inputs, IDC contributions, national frameworks, and local implementation. The findings show that Uganda has achieved significant policy coherence by integrating displacement into the Refugee Act (2006), National Development Plan III (2021-2025), the ReHoPE Strategy, and the National Implementation Plan for the GCM (2024-2028). IDC has been central to this progress, particularly through the IDA18 Sub-Window, EU and BMZ support for NIP implementation, and UNDP and IOM initiatives that strengthen district-level governance. However, the analysis also identifies persistent constraints, including donor dependency, uneven implementation across districts, limited local institutional capacity, climate-related stress, and socioeconomic disparities that undermine refugee self-reliance. A key finding is the relative weakness of the “peace” dimension of the HDP Nexus, which is often substituted with narrower social-cohesion programming. The paper concludes that IDC is most transformative when it supports national ownership, fiscal decentralization, and community participation. Uganda’s experience thus provides nuanced lessons for other refugee-hosting countries, demonstrating both the potential and limitations of embedding global compacts within national development systems.

This study analyzes how the weakening of free-movement regimes in ECOWAS and the AMU, together with the EU’s externalization of border control, has structurally reshaped youth migration in West Africa. Coups in the Sahel and institutional asymmetries within regional bodies have stalled governance, while Europe has tightened border closures and expulsions. As a result, young migrants seek new routes or remain and settle in transit zones, reorganizing their life strategies. Community organizing, digital information sharing, and informal survival practices have expanded, turning transit cities into strategic spaces of residence. The study highlights how youth exercise agency despite precarious legal status, revealing the dynamic reconfiguration of life strategies beyond destination-focused analyses.

This study examines how memorial spaces for Korean deep-sea fishermen are remembered and commemorated in the Atlantic maritime cities of Las Palmas and Dakar. This study analyzes these spaces not simply as places of remembrance, but as “sites where regional identity is reconstructed” through rituals and community engagement. Through this, it aims to historicize the fishing migration of Korean deep-sea fishermen to Dakar and Las Palmas. Focusing on the fact that the migration of Korean deep-sea fishermen was a personal choice during Korea’s economic development process, this study examines the factors that influenced their migration and the characteristics of their migration that distinguish them from the general history of Korean migration. To this end, this paper first examines the history of Korean deep-sea fisheries and analyzes how research on the migration of Korean deep-sea fishermen has progressed, as well as its limitations and challenges. Second, it examines the structural environment that shaped Las Palmas and Dakar as memorial spaces for Korean fishermen. Third, we will examine the language and symbols used in memorial and commemorative spaces such as cenotaphs, columbariums, and cemeteries to honor Korean sailors.