​Helidah ‘Didi’ Ogude

GGF 2030 Working Group on Global Migration and Refugee Challenge

Helidah ‘Didi’ Ogude is a social development specialist at World Bank in Washington, DC, and a doctoral candidate in public and urban policy at The New School, New York. At the World Bank, she works on complex political environments such as Central, East and Southern Africa, advising governments on policies and interventions geared towards protecting and enhancing refugee/IDP self-reliance and host community livelihoods. She has previously worked for the South African government in the Ministry for Economic Development as well as the Presidency, focusing on policies to address inequality. In her scholarly capacity, Helidah has conducted research in Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, including interviews with senior government officials, journalists, academics, organized civil society, and private-sector professionals. Her doctoral research explores how structures of power and discourse, neoliberal capitalism, and millennial consumerist culture relate to notions of identity, structural and spectacular violence, and migration. She holds a master’s degree in global affairs (post-conflict development) from New York University.