headshot of Heaven Crawley

Heaven Crawley

Head of Equitable Development and Migration

Education
PhD in Geography, University of Oxford
Education
MA in Gender and Development, Institute of Development Studies
Education
BA Hons in Geography, University of Sussex
Institute
UNU-CPR

Professor Heaven Crawley FAcSS is Head of Equitable Development and Migration at United Nations University Centre for Policy Research.

Professor Crawley holds a Chair in International Migration at Coventry University’s Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations. She has been Director of the South-South Migration, Inequality and Development Hub (MIDEQ) since 2019, a project supported by UK Research and Innovation’s Global Challenges Research Fund. The MIDEQ Hub is a global consortium of 18 research institutions, six international organizations and numerous local and regional partners that aims to transform knowledge and understanding of the relationships between migration, inequality and development in the context of the Global South.

She was previously head of asylum and migration research at the UK Home Office, Associate Director at the Institute for Public Policy Research and managed an international research consultancy before returning to academia to establish the Centre for Migration Policy Research at Swansea University. She has served as a specialist adviser to the UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee and Joint Committee on Human Rights on three separate occasions and as a patron/trustee to the Baobab Centre for Young Survivors in Exile, Asylum Justice and Migrant Voice.

Professor Crawley has published extensively on a wide range of asylum and immigration issues including the drivers of migration and migrant decision-making, gender issues in forced migration, refugee and migrant rights, the experiences of children and young people on the move, attitudes towards migration and migrants, and politics of migration policymaking.

Professor Crawley holds Bachelor and Master’s degrees from the University of Sussex and a Doctorate from the University of Oxford. In 2012, Heaven was conferred the title of Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) in recognition of her contribution to the social sciences and to evidence-based policymaking.

Research interests

  • Development Governance
  • Migration and Social Inclusion
  • Forced Migration
  • Internal Displacement 
  • Refugees
  • Migration and Development

Publications

Brief

Reforming the Global Financial Architecture to Address the Challenges of Refugee Hosting as a Global Public Good

Unpacking the ways reforms of the global financial architecture can support efforts to address the challenges of forced displacement.

26 Jan 2024

Brief

Shrinking the Justice Gap: Rethinking Access to Justice for Migrants in the Global South

Approaching migrants' access to justice as part and parcel of a broader agenda for social justice.

27 Oct 2023

Brief

From Promises to Practice: Towards the Effective Implementation of the Global Compact for Migration

Recommendations to support implementation of the Global Compact on Migration.

27 Oct 2023

Brief

From Left Behind to Staying Back: Changing How We Think About Children in Migrant Households

Challenging dominant narratives and developing policy interventions that aim to reduce childhood-related inequalities in contexts of migration.

26 Oct 2023

See all