Margaret Monyani is a doctoral candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa pursuing a PhD in international relations. Her dissertation focuses on international migration regimes specifically the global dynamics associated with refugee governance from an African standpoint by exploring the livelihood situations of Somali women refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. She also holds a Master’s degree in international relations and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science (with first class honors) from Moi University, Kenya. She is currently a teaching assistant in the Department of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She has also participated in various undergraduate courses ranging from national politics, international relations, gender, human rights, security and international migration taught in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Moi University. Monyani’s exemplary academic performance has earned her prestigious fellowships such as the Andrew Mellon Governing Intimacies Project (2019), Academy for African Urban Diversity Fellowship (2018), Erasmus Mundus International Credit Mobility Fellowship (2018), and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Research Fellowships (2017, 2018, 2019). She is a versatile, upcoming scholar and author, with skills in execution of academic and policy research projects as well as leadership experience ranging from civil society to academic spheres. Monyani is also a research affiliate with the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London.
Award Information
A majority of scholarly studies on securitisation have largely focused on the implications of securitisation of migration on the sovereignty of the state, its policy options and national security. Instead the proposed study seeks to move the conversation away from the state and focus on the risks that securitisation poses on the migrants. By exploring the effects of securitisation on Somali women refugees in Nairobi, the study will illustrate these human consequences while outlining some alternatives for improving human security. The study seeks to determine how securitisation threatens the freedom to access important livelihoods, social services and physical security of Somali women refugees, their response to the securitisation process, but most importantly, the strategies that they have devised so as to cope with the resultant effects of the process.
