Source description last updated: 29 November 2021

In brief: The Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI) is an independent non-profit Norwegian development research institute that seeks to generate knowledge that can be used to fight poverty, advance human rights, and promote sustainable social development.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Reports, Briefs, Working Papers.

Covered monthly on ecoi.net, for countries of priorities A-C.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

The CMI “address[es] issues that shape global developments and generate knowledge that can be used to fight poverty, advance human rights, and promote sustainable social development. […]

Our researchers and programme advisors are social scientists mainly in the fields of anthropology, economics and political science. The pillars of our work are quality research, diversity in disciplines and methods and extensive research communication.  We work closely with partners in the global South to ensure that local perspectives influence our priorities and research questions. […]

CMI is located on the campus of the University of Bergen in the city centre. We cooperate closely with the University and the Norwegian School of Economics. Together with the University we have established the Bergen Resource Centre for International Development, a venue for dialogue and communication on global challenges.” (CMI website: Who We Are, undated)

The CMI’s main clients include the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish International Development Agency (Danida), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the United Nations and the World Bank. (CMI website: Funding, undated)

Funding:

“In 2018, the total turnover was NOK 77,0 million.

CMI receives core funding through the Research Council of Norway (NFR) from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. Most of our income comes from research grants and commissioned studies.” (CMI website: Funding, undated)

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Middle East & Northern Africa, Latin America

Thematic focus: Climate and Natural Resources, Corruption, Democracy and Governance, Gender, Global Health, Humanitarianism, Migration, Poverty, Tax and Public Finance

Methodology:

The CMI’s research comprises “a blend of academically and operationally oriented work. Academic research ensures that we maintain our scientific standards through publications in peer reviewed outlets. Operationally oriented research brings us closer to practitioners and policy makers, suggests new research questions, and creates platforms for research communication.” (CMI website: What We Do, undated)

“Our research is grounded in theory and often based on extensive fieldwork” (CMI website: What We Do, undated). CMI publications may draw on qualitative field research (such as structured, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (see, for example, CMI: Interventions for the abandonment of child marriage in Sudan, June 2018; CMI: Traditional, but changing, cultural norms: rural community views on child marriage in Algadaref State, Sudan, December 2017, p. 9), including qualitative online field research (see, for example, CMI: Turkey as a regional security actor in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Levant Region, June 2021, p. 5), as well as quantitative surveys and published data (see, for example, CMI: The gendering of poverty and inequality in rural Malanje, Angola, 10 June 2018, p. 3).

Language(s) of publications:

English; occasionally also in the respective local language

Further reading / links:

CMI centres:
https://www.cmi.no/centres/

All links accessed 29 November 2021.

 

Methodological note:

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