PSP on Fragility & Resilience (ReFract)
REFRACT- Resilience and Fragility in Action is a Policy Supporting Programme (PSP) funded by the ‘Flemish Interuniversity Council’ (VLIRUOS) and the ‘Academie de Recherche et d’Enseignement Superieur’ (ARES). This project is carried out on behalf of the Belgian Directorate for Development cooperation and humanitarian Aid (DGD) and implemented by a consortium of researchers from Belgian and African Universities.
This project aims to examine the evolving dynamics of fragility and resilience amid escalating crises. By engaging with policymakers and exploring the causes, lived experiences, and impacts of these crises, we want to inform policy responses. Through rigorous analysis and collaborative dialogue, innovative and inclusive strategies are proposed that are firmly grounded in the daily realities of those affected by these crises and that strengthen resilience while addressing systemic drivers of fragility.
The geographic focus includes the Sahel and the Great Lakes region of Africa, with a particular focus on Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.
The team consists of the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique in Bukavu (Godefroid Muzalia Kihangu), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique in Burkina Faso (Lassané Yaméogo), UGent (Koen Vlassenroot, Sylvie Imata, Maria Martin de Almagro Iniesta, Melissa Lakrib), KU Leuven (Alejandra Villanueva Ubillús and Jan Van Ongevalle) and UC Louvain (Emmanuel Klimis and Geoffroy Matagne).