How can we further globalize the study and practice of migration and diversity governance?
To kick off the 10th-anniversary GMD Conference, we are bringing together the Centre’s global partners and prominent voices for an engaging roundtable discussion. The opening session features experts from Türkiye, Egypt, and Lebanon, highlighting knowledge and practices on migration and diversity beyond Western contexts. The conversation will explore how to map and strengthen international research networks, examine power dynamics, and meaningfully incorporate experiences from non-Western contexts into global debates. Drawing on expertise in public health, economics, and migration research, our speakers will share critical insights and practical ideas for building stronger, more inclusive global communities of knowledge and practice.
Speakers
- Prof. Adla Ragab (Cairo University) – economist specializing in migration, tourism, and policy, with extensive experience in international organizations and national governance.
- Prof. Ahmet İçduygu (Koç University, Istanbul) – director of MiReKoc and leading scholar on migration, citizenship, and Mediterranean studies.
- Prof. Sawsan Abdulrahim (American University of Beirut) – expert on health inequities, forced displacement, and migrant wellbeing in the Arab region.
Speaker Bio
Adla Ragab, Professor of Economics, Director of the Center for Economic and Financial Research and Studies (CEFRS), and Coordinator of the Migration Research Unit (MRU) at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science (FEPS), Cairo University (2021). Founder of the Economic Observatory Using Artificial Intelligence. In July 2019, she was nominated as the first woman to serve as Chairperson of Misr Travel. She also held the position of Vice Dean for Community Services and Environment Development, and in 2017, she was nominated as the first Vice Minister of Tourism.
She has more than 25 years of experience in research, training, and awareness, along with over 15 years of consultancy in the fields of transport, airports, travel, and tourism economics and statistics. Since 2006, she has been Economic Advisor to the Minister of Tourism, leading numerous research projects and studies on the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA). From 2008 to 2018, she was appointed Head of the TSA Unit in Egypt.
As a member of the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council (ENCC), delegate of Egypt to the UNWTO Statistics Committee and the OECD Tourism Committee, and a member of the Arab Transport Research Society (ATRS) since 2008, she has delivered a wide range of consultancy and training programs in transport, tourism investment, planning, and tourism policies. She also serves as a member of the Supreme Council of Universities in Egypt and sits on the boards of several companies in the fintech and hospitality sectors.
Ahmet İçduygu earned his PhD in Demography from the Australian National University and is currently a full professor at Koç University, holding positions in both the Department of International Relations and the Department of Sociology. He is also the Director of the Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoc). Prof. İçduygu has held visiting professorships at prestigious institutions, including Stockholm University, the University of Warwick, Eyropean University Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others. An elected member of the Science Academy in Turkey, he serves as editor-in-chief of the scholarly journal International Migration.
His research and teaching focus on migration studies, citizenship theories and practices, international organizations, civil society, nationalism, and Meditterean Studies. Prof. İçduygu has conducted studies for notable international organizations, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the European Union (EU). He has an extensive publication record, with numerous articles in leading journals such as Ethnic and Racial Studies, Citizenship Studies, International Migration, Population, Space and Place, and Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. His authored and edited books include Migration and Transformation: Multi-Level Analysis of Migrant Transnationalism (Springer, 2011), Countries of Migrants, Cities of Migrants – Italy, Spain, Turkey (ISI Press, 2013), and Critical Reflections in Migration Research: Views from the South and the East (Koç University Press, 2014). His forthcoming work, Cities and Forced Displacement, is set to be published by Liverpool University Press in 2026, co-edited with Ricard Zapata.