Using a participatory action research design, this pilot project will engage with organizations serving migrants at the United States/Mexico border to develop tools for evaluating the impacts of unarmed civilian protection and accompaniment (UCP/A) to protect migrants in the North American border region. Meta Peace Team has been working since 2018 with US/Mexican organizations attempting to protect migrants increasingly exposed not only to violence by militarized border security on the US side of the border, but also by both police and gangs as they waited in Mexican communities. The UCP/A initiatives aim to protect migrants through accompaniment, humanitarian relief, and documentation aimed at advocacy. The pilot evaluation will assess the impacts, successes and challenges of the UCP efforts through participant observation and guided conversations with UCP/A organizers, delegation participants, and migrant leaders.
The project pilots the participatory evaluation methodology developed by the Creating Safer Space network in a workshop series with academics and practitioners.
Project Team:
- Stephen Gasteyer, Meta Peace Team / Michigan State University (principal investigator)
- Kim Redigan, Meta Peace Team (team member)
- Mary Hanna, Meta Peace Team (team member)
