4th JDC Research Conference on Forced Displacement
June 4-6, 2026 - Bangkok, Thailand. Venue: Chatrium Grand BangkokThe World Bank – UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement (JDC) is pleased to announce its 4th Research Conference on Forced Displacement, organized in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics of Chulalongkorn University, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the World Bank.
The Research Conferences held so far have contributed to JDC’s objectives by providing an ideal space for stimulating the production of quantitative research on forced displacement, offering a platform for interaction between researchers and practitioners, and identifying thematic, population and geographical gaps in our knowledge on forced displacement.
We are happy to continue the important collaboration with our partners on filling evidence gaps on the forcibly displaced and stateless persons, with a specific focus on low- and middle-income countries.
1. Quantitative analysis of drivers and effects of self-reliance among the forcibly displaced, stateless people and the host communities.
2. Quantitative research on pathways to and the impact of economic inclusion of forcibly displaced and stateless people, including evidence on skills development, job integration, private sector investments, and entrepreneurship.
3. Socioeconomic evidence on the return of displaced populations, reintegration challenges, and durable solutions.
4. Methodological innovations in quantitative forced displacement research (e.g., sampling, data collection methods).
5. Operational and policy impact of data and evidence in displacement settings.
Program
Details of the Opening Session and the two Policy Panels will be published shortly.
Day 1: Thursday, June 4
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Opening and Welcome Session (09:00 – 09:45) |
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First Keynote Lecture (9:45 – 11:00) Jean-François Maystadt, Research Associate Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS, Professor at Economic School of Louvain, UCLouvain, and Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University, UK The Political Impact of Refugees in Africa |
| Coffee Break (11:00 – 11:30) |
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First academic session: Effects of aids and aid cuts (11:30 – 13:00) Joaquin Endara (University of Michigan), Food Aid, Barter, and Money: Evidence from Rohingya Refugee Camps Mae MacDonald (Stanford University), Examining the Link between Aid and Support for Refugees: U.S. Aid Cuts and Kakuma Camp, Kenya Shelby Carvalho (Stanford University), Disrupted Aid, Displaced Lives: Unraveling the Impact of Refugee Aid Cuts |
| Lunch (13:00 – 14:00) |
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Second academic session: Socioeconomics effects in host countries (14:00-15:30) Sepehr Ekbatani (Khatam University), Burdens or Builders? Housing Market Effects of Afghan Refugees in Iran Andrea C. Caflisch (IOM), Economic Recovery and Social Cohesion: A Field Experiment with Capital Grants in Post-War Iraq Cynthia van der Werf (Inter-American Development Bank), Schools for Everyone: Social Cohesion in Contexts of High Human Mobility |
| Coffee Break (15:30 – 16:00) |
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Third academic session: Movements of refugees, IDPs and returnees (16:00 – 17:30) María José Urbina (World Bank), Beyond Camps and Communities: The Economics of Refugee Relocation in Bangladesh Miguel Ruiz (World Bank), War and internal displacement Chen Fang (UNHCR), Determinants of Syrian Refugees’ Return |
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Policy Panel 1: Returns (17:30 – 18:45) |
| Reception (18:45) |
Day 2: Friday, June 5
| Recap of Day 1 – (09:00 – 9:15) |
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Policy Panel 2: Self Reliance (9:15 – 11:00) |
| Coffee Break (11:00 – 11:30) |
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Fourth academic session: Development and Economic Inclusion (11:30 – 13:00) Naureen Karachiwalla (International Food Policy Research Institute), Displacement and Development: Evidence from a Graduation Program for Somalia’s Ultra-Poor Sigrid Weber (IE University Madrid), Building Business Networks to Strengthen Refugee Economic and Social Integration Dennis Kyalo (Inkomoko), Entrepreneurship as a Pathway to Economic Inclusion in Forced Displacement: What Drives Venture Creation? Evidence from Inkomoko in Rwanda |
| Lunch (13:00 – 14:15) |
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Strategic Dialogue: Statistical Inclusion (14:15 – 15:15) Moderated by: Maja Lazić, Deputy Head, World Bank – UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement Haishan Fu, Chief Statistician and Director of the Development Data Group, World Bank Rachael Beaven, Director of Statistics Division, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific |
| Coffee Break (15:15 – 15:45) |
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Fifth academic session: Conflict, mobility and household effects (15:45 – 17:15) Anna Gasten (University of Gottingen), Refugee Camps and Host-Community Migration: Evidence from Long-Term Individual Tracking Data Richard Akresh (University of Illinois), Civil War and Household Structure: Evidence from Burundi |
| End of Day 2 |
Day 3: Saturday, June 6
| Recap of Day 2 – (09:00 – 9:15) |
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Sixth Academic Session (09:15 – 10:45) Antonia Delius (University of Oxford), Depression, poverty, and cash: Experimental evidence from a refugee camp Murat Demirci (Koç University), Cash Transfers, Diet Quality, and Child Growth Among Refugee Children: Evidence from Turkey’s ESSN Program Sandra V. Rozo (World Bank), Forcibly Displaced Childhoods: Longitudinal Evidence from Displaced Youth in Colombia |
| Coffee Break (10:45 – 11:00) |
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Second Keynote Lecture (11:00 – 12:15) Andrés Moya, Associate Professor in Economics at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá Title TBC |
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Closing Session (12:15 – 13:00) Aissatou Maisha Dicko, Head, World Bank – UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement Tammi Sharpe, Representative in Thailand, UNHCR Nopphol Witvorapong, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University. |
Speakers
More speakers will be announced shortly.
Andrés Moya
Andrés Moya is Associate Professor of Economics at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and a Commissioner for the 2024–2025 Lancet Commission on Health, Conflict, and Forced Displacement. His research focuses on the consequences of conflict and forced displacement, including how these dynamics drive poverty through economic, psychological, and behavioral channels. He is affiliated with several research networks and contributes to ongoing work examining the displacement of Venezuelan refugees in Colombia, including the impacts of policies and programs to support their socioeconomic integration and longer-term outcomes.
Elizabeth Eyster
Elizabeth Eyster currently serves as the Head of UNHCR’s Sustainable Responses Service, based in Geneva. She brings over 23 years of experience with UNHCR and has previously held several senior leadership roles, including Deputy Director of the Division of Resilience and Solutions in Geneva, UNHCR Representative in Mauritania (2022–2024), and Deputy Representative for Protection in Colombia (2020–2022). Her diverse career spans leadership of the Internal Displacement Section within the Division of International Protection, service as Deputy Representative in Tunisia, and a range of field assignments in locations such as Pakistan and Kosovo.
Faris Hadad-Zervos
Faris Hadad-Zervos is the World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan. He has held senior leadership roles across the World Bank, including Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Country Manager for Nepal and Malaysia, and Head of the Global Knowledge and Research Hub in Kuala Lumpur. Since joining the World Bank in 1996, he has also served as Head of Mission for Iraq, Operations Manager for the West Bank and Gaza, and Country Manager for Bolivia. He was Deputy Head of the Quartet Office for the Middle East Peace Process and has lectured and published on economic development in conflict settings.
Hai Kyung Jun
Hai Kyung Jun is UNHCR Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, based in Bangkok, a position she assumed in February 2024. Prior to this, she served as UNHCR Representative in the Republic of Korea (November 2022–January 2024) and in Myanmar (from 2020). She joined UNHCR in 2001 in Geneva and later held roles with UNICEF, including Donor Relations Specialist in Tokyo (until 2009), Senior Advisor in New York, and Representative in Chile (2014–2018). She also served as Director and Secretary of the UNICEF Executive Board before returning to UNHCR as Assistant Representative (Programme) in Afghanistan (2013–2014) and in advisory roles at headquarters.
Haishan Fu
Haishan Fu is the World Bank Group’s Chief Statistician and Director of the Development Data Group. In these roles, she leads and coordinates the Bank’s development data agenda, including global data programs, technical advisory services, public-private partnerships, and innovative financing initiatives such as the Global Data Facility. A long-standing advocate for the power of data to improve lives, she has been at the forefront of global data discourse as a thought leader, advisor, and researcher for over three decades. Prior to joining the World Bank, she led regional statistical development programs at UNESCAP and was the first Chief of Statistics for UNDP’s Human Development Report.
Jean-François Maystadt
Jean-François Maystadt is Research Associate at the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Professor at the Economic School of Louvain (UCLouvain), and Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University, UK. He is a development economist specializing in conflict, climate change, and migration, with a focus on the causes and consequences of conflict and forced displacement, particularly in developing countries. He has published extensively in leading academic journals and is currently an invited lecturer on the economics of conflict at Sciences Po, France.
Klaus Dik Nielsen
Klaus Dik Nielsen is Co-Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network. He is an international human rights advocate and partnership builder with more than 20 years of experience advancing rights, social justice, and inclusion for minorities and marginalized communities. His work spans advocacy, partnerships, mobilization, and capacity-building, engaging civil society, governments, funders, the private sector, and UN agencies. He has held roles with Amnesty International (International Secretariat) and the Open Society Foundations, and has consulted with organizations including ActionAid Thailand, the People’s Empowerment Foundation, APCOM, OHCHR, and UNICEF.
Luis Felipe López-Calva
Luis Felipe López-Calva is a Global Director with the World Bank Group’s Prosperity Vertical. He has 25 years of professional experience working with international institutions and advising national governments. He rejoined the World Bank in 2022 from the United Nations Development Programme, where he served as UN Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean since 2018. At the World Bank, he has held various positions including Global Director for Poverty and Equity, Practice Manager of the Poverty and Equity Global Practice for Europe and Central Asia, Co-Director of the World Development Report 2017 on Governance and the Law, Lead Economist and Regional Poverty Advisor in the Poverty and Equity Global Practice for Europe and Central Asia, and Lead Economist in the Poverty, Equity and Gender Unit in the PREM Directorate for Latin America and the Caribbean. López-Calva is a Board Member at the Global Development Network (GDN) and a Fellow of the Human Development and Capabilities Association.
Melinda Good
Melinda Good is the World Bank Division Director for Thailand and Myanmar, based in Bangkok. Prior to this role, she was the Country Director for the World Bank in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she oversaw the country program, working with international partners to support the Afghan people. Before her tenure in Afghanistan, Melinda was the Operations Manager in Islamabad, Pakistan overseeing a portfolio of IDA and IBRD lending and guarantees. Melinda has also worked in the World Bank’s Washington, D.C., and Indonesia offices, and with the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington, D.C. Melinda began her career as a lawyer in private practice in New York and Singapore, working on project finance and equity transactions in Asia.
Nopphol Witvorapong
Nopphol Witvorapong is a professor of Economics and currently serving as Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He specializes in health and family economics. His research interests include health behavior modifications, social capital, aging issues, public health insurance systems, simultaneous equation modeling, and program evaluation. He’s authored numerous articles in prestigious national and international economic journals. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, U.K., and M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Bath, UK, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
Rachael Beaven
Rachael Beaven is the Director of Statistics Division at UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, a role she has held since November 2021. Prior to that she had worked in the UK government for over thirty years including leading the Data for Development Team at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom, where she managed a global portfolio of statistical programmes to build core statistics as well as helped countries modernize their statistical systems. She is one of the founders of the Inclusive Data Charter and established a data science hub with the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom. Ms. Beaven holds Master’s degrees in Statistical Applications in Business and Government as well as Business Administration, and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Geology.
Raouf Mazou
Raouf Mazou took up his appointment as UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations on 1 February 2020, having joined the organization in 1991. His various assignments have enabled him to garner expertise in such areas as emergency response, repatriation, and the development of strategies aimed at bridging the gap between relief and development. Mazou previously served as Director of UNHCR’s Africa Bureau in 2019 and as UNHCR Representative in Kenya for over five years. In the four years immediately preceding this assignment, he was a Deputy Director in the Africa Bureau, covering the East and Horn of Africa. Other senior positions he has held at UNHCR include Deputy Director of the Division of Operations Support and Head of the Emergency and Security Service, a role in which he oversaw the organization’s global emergency management and staff security interests. Mazou joined UNHCR in 1991 in the Great Lakes Region and subsequently served in West Africa, supporting the agency’s response to the Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugee crises
Tammi Sharpe
Tammi Sharpe is the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Thailand since April 2024. She has more than 27 years of UN experience, with postings in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, UNHCR Headquarters and UN Secretariat in New York. Her expertise covers humanitarian protection, peacebuilding, reconciliation, the humanitarian-development nexus, external relations, resource mobilization and management. Prior to joining the UN, she worked with the U.S. Catholic Conference and volunteered as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal.
Organizers
