The long-term impact of this project is to enhance demographic training. Presently, students are improving their participation at international conferences and their submissions of scientific papers to international journals. Last year alone, three researchers/staff from IFORD traveled to the annual meeting of the Population Association of America (PAA), and others have submitted papers at the Conference of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP). Two assistants in this project have also been involved in policy work to study refugee issues in Chad.
impact statement issue
African countries are still facing a combination of old and emerging population issues, but the research capacity to address these issues is being compromised by funding cuts. This project introduces low-cost, long-lasting changes in the research infrastructure at IFORD, a key institution that is training population scientists from 26 African countries.
impact statement response
Working with IFORD faculty and students, the project has introduced new courses, such as "advanced statistical methods" and "research designs." We have also helped with basic infrastructure (e.g., bibliographic, statistical, and qualitative software) and provided mentoring to selected students.
impact statement summary
Through training in new research methods, this project helps to improve the research environment at IFORD, a regional demographic training institute in Cameroon.
