Anne Hammerstad, PhD

Associate Director

Anne is an international relations scholar and writer and leads the Agulhas Migration Unit. She is always looking for ways to build bridges between the worlds of academics and practitioners in the fields of refugee, humanitarian and development policy. She is an expert on the international refugee regime, humanitarian politics, irregular migration, and on the impact of displacement on host communities. At Agulhas, she conducts strategic evaluations of international development assistance, including editorial and oversight support of the work programme of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI). She also oversees the development of Agulhas’ output of blog posts, policy briefs and current affairs commentaries on the latest developments and happenings in our areas of expertise.

Anne is the author of, and contributor to, numerous articles, policy briefs, op-eds and books on global refugee politics, humanitarian and development aid, and conflict and security in sub-Saharan Africa and India. She published the book ‘The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor: UNHCR, Refugee Protection and Security’ with Oxford University Press, and is a contributor to the Oxford Handbook on Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Anne came to academic research and policy evaluation via journalism and editorial writing in her native Norway. She has lived and worked in the UK, Norway, South Africa, India and France.

Anne has a DPhil in International Relations from Oxford University, an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Humanities and Politics from the University of Oslo. She is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Conflict Analysis Research Centre (CARC) at the University of Kent, and a Senior Research Associate at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). She was previously a lecturer and ESRC Fellow at the University of Kent; a fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London; and Senior Researcher at SAIIA. Her DPhil thesis on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees at Oxford University won the 2003 British International Studies Association (BISA) Thesis Prize.

Sign up to our bulletin

Sign up to our free weekly bulletin for the latest international development news and analysis