From September 9 to December 12, 2024, Sophia Birchinger visits Guinea-Bissau to conduct interview and focus group research for her PhD project “Perceptions of Coercion: AU and ECOWAS Interventions in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau”. Her aim is to explore local perspectives on the peace missions of the African Union and ECOWAS. Her research is not only supported by PRIF, but also funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Goethe Research Academy for Early Career Researchers (GRADE).
On site, Sophia Birchinger is supported by the civil society organization “Forum de Paz”. She has also been an Associate Fellow at the Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa (INEP) in Guinea-Bissau since November 2024. She presented her research findings from The Gambia on the role of the AU and ECOWAS in a lecture and subsequent discussion on October 8, 2024, which was followed by a discussion on the situation in Guinea-Bissau. In cooperation with the Universidade Colinas de Boé, Sophia Birchinger also organized a seminar on qualitative research designs and methods with students and teaching staff on 8 November 2024.
In preparation for her field research, Sophia Birchinger published an article on the PRIF blog together with Wilson Pedro Te.
