After three years of intensive work, the HGRA Project has come to an end. During this period, it actively engaged six Libyan higher education institutions to strengthen Libya’s capacity to manage and mitigate the impact of migration, both as a country of origin and as a destination country, together with European partners: UNIMED, as coordinator, University of Barcelona and Sapienza University of Rome. The project strengthened the higher education system as a strategic actor in responding to migration through research, capacity building, and academic cooperation.
At the core of HGRA was the empowerment of Libyan universities to strengthen their institutional capacities and prepare skilled cadres able to address migration challenges effectively. The project supported this goal through tailored curricula, specialised training programmes, interdisciplinary initiatives, and policy-oriented research. These activities confirmed the central role of higher education institutions in developing expertise in migration-related fields.
The project achieved several key results. It updated data on migration studies in Libya through extensive stakeholder engagement and a survey involving more than one hundred academics. It organised three workshops on institutional reforms at the University of Zawia, which produced recommendations on curriculum development, research databases, capacity building, and academic networking. It also established a Libyan Migration Research Network that connects scholars within and beyond Libyan universities. In addition, the project delivered three thematic workshops on international cooperation, migrant status and integration, and migration management in higher education and research. Finally, it laid the basis for designing a Master’s programme in Migration Management.
The project concluded with a Final Conference held at the University of Barcelona on 22 January 2026. The conference presented and reviewed the project’s achievements and set the basis for future cooperation in the field of migration. Participants included representatives from the partners institutions, UNIMED, University of Barcelona, Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Zawia, the University of Tripoli, the University of Tobruk, Gulf of Sidra University, Sebha University, and the Higher Institute for Science and Technology Sabratha, alongside external stakeholders, such as the Union for the Mediterranean, the University of Exeter, Scholars at Risk (SAR) and The Hague Institute for the Innovation of Law (HiiL).
Discussions examined the role of universities in producing knowledge on migration and the challenges faced by academic migration research. They also explored the contribution of Libyan universities as agents of research and social transformation, as well as collaboration between universities and civil society at the local level. These exchanges highlighted HGRA good practices in supporting migrants and refugees.
As the HGRA Project comes to an end, its outcomes provide a solid foundation for wider engagement and long-term cooperation in migration research, policy dialogue, and higher education across Libya and the Mediterranean region.
