AFK Fellow at PRIF

Joel Abah is a fellow in this year’s fellowship program of the German Research Association for Peace and Conflict Studies and is currently spending a week in the Local Peace Orders research depart­ment at PRIF. His research interests focus on migration, displacement, everyday peace­building, digital technologies, and epistemic justice. He is particularly interested in how marginalized communities in the Global South develop their own security, care, and resilience structures.

In February, Joel Abah completed his Ph.D. in Peace, Security, and Humanitarian Studies at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. In his dissertation, he examines the humanitarian health initiatives carried out by civil society organizations, inter­governmental organizations, and non-state actors in Benue State, Nigeria. Joel argues that global mandates must align with local expectations to produce sustainable and transformative outcomes. Based on his two years of ethnographic fieldwork in five of Nigeria’s largest camps for internally displaced persons, as well as a quantitative dataset, his research shows how gaps in humanitarian aid – particularly following the withdrawal and scaling back of activities by key actors – have exacerbated the precarious situation. In response, internally displaced youth developed what Joel terms “digital infrastructures of peacebuilding.” They used Whats­App, Facebook, and mobile money transfers to coordinate early warnings, mutual aid, and advocacy. Joel Abah explores how these digital tools both enable and constrain peacebuilding. He examines in particular the dynamics of mis­information, unstable net­works, potential surveillance, and unequal access, which high­light the adaptive creativity required from youth in the Global South.

Prior to this, Joel earned a bachelor’s degree in “History and International Studies” from the Kogi State University, Anyigba (now Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba); and a master’s degree in “Peace and Conflict Studies” from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

The AFK received 200 applications for the four available scholar­ships for early-career researchers from the Global South that were offered for the first time this year. The AFK-scholar­ship has enabled Joel Abah to travel to Germany, attend the AFK's annual conference, and conduct research for one week at a peace and conflict research institution of his choice.