ILSI Opens Research & Policy Centre to Deepen Corridor Evidence Base

ILSI has opened a dedicated Research & Policy Centre, bringing together the organisation's data, publications and government advisory functions under a single team based across its London and Kathmandu offices.

Why now

Since launch, ILSI's helpline and legal casework have generated a growing body of first-hand evidence about how labour migration corridors actually function, from recurring contract risks to reintegration outcomes. Dr Prakash Man Shrestha, ILSI's Director of Research & Policy, said the new centre would formalise how that evidence is turned into public knowledge. "Frontline casework should not sit in case files alone," he said. "It should shape publications, briefings to government, and the guidance we give the next worker preparing to travel."

What the centre will produce

The Research & Policy Centre will oversee ILSI's publications library, including annual plans, corridor snapshots and policy briefs, alongside a forthcoming data hub making anonymised, aggregate corridor indicators available to researchers and policymakers. The centre will also coordinate ILSI's growing research partnerships with universities and think tanks through the International Migration Research Alliance.

The centre's first major outputs, including a baseline brief on the Nepal pilot and a policy brief on responsible recruitment, are being published on ILSI's research pages this year, with a fuller publications programme planned for the following year as the evidence base matures.