Merike Blofield Assumes Directorship of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies
Press Release | 14/09/2025
Merike Blofield Assumes Directorship of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies
Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield took up her position as Director of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies on 1 September 2025. Her appointment will strengthen the social scientific study of Latin America at the GIGA and deepen our cooperation with the University of Hamburg.
Hamburg, 15 September 2025 – The GIGA Board of Trustees has appointed Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield as Director of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies, with the University of Hamburg assigning her to the GIGA effective 1 September 2025.
With her expertise, Prof. Blofield is a tremendous asset to the Institute’s many research activities on and with Latin America. Her scholarship addresses the conditions under which governments produce more equity-enhancing and effective policies, with a focus on health, social, and family policy in the region. She is currently examining the politics of investing in children as well as policy efforts around addressing violence against women and children. Her collaborative research has recently been published by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, The Lancet, and a number of policy outlets, with Prof. Blofield receiving awards for both her work and institution-building in previous years. Her expertise will strengthen the GIGA Research Programmes “Accountability and Participation” and “Globalisation and Development.” As part of a joint appointment with the University of Hamburg, she also serves as Professor of Political Science with a Focus on Global Health and Social Policy within the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Social Sciences. Prior to coming to Hamburg in 2020, she was Professor of Political Science and Director of the Gender and Sexuality Studies programme at the University of Miami.
Prof. Blofield takes over the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies from Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos and Prof. Dr. Bert Hoffmann, who had jointly managed it from 2023 through this new appointment. The president of the GIGA, Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach, and the whole executive board are looking forward to working with Prof. Blofield and express their sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Llanos and Prof. Dr. Hoffmann for their outstanding stewardship in the last few years.
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How government policies on gender-based violence (GBV) are implemented in terms of services for victims varies considerably across countries. We examine policy infrastructures, including helplines, support centres, and shelters since the pandemic’s onset. Our project identifies progress and challenges around the provision of services for GBV survivors.
The authors of this paper argue that building programmatic linkages between social protection platforms, particularly cash transfers, and IPV prevention, mitigation, and response services, creates synergies that can promote freedom from both poverty and violence.
With the pandemic, the risk of violence against women and children, especially within the home, increased further as people sheltered at home at the same time that they faced great financial and emotional stress. The authors of this GIGA Focus assess government efforts to address and treat gender-based violence.
The GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies conducts research on political and economic developments in South and Central America and the Caribbean. Core topics include the quality of political institutions and participation, challenges posed by conflicts and crime, and regional integration.
As of 1 April 2024, our long-time colleague Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach has been appointed President (ad interim) of the GIGA. Together, we will work to ensure that the GIGA remains a place of excellent research for Global and Comparative Area Studies and one where everybody enjoys working.
How government policies on gender-based violence (GBV) are implemented in terms of services for victims varies considerably across countries. We examine policy infrastructures, including helplines, support centres, and shelters since the pandemic’s onset. Our project identifies progress and challenges around the provision of services for GBV survivors.
The authors of this paper argue that building programmatic linkages between social protection platforms, particularly cash transfers, and IPV prevention, mitigation, and response services, creates synergies that can promote freedom from both poverty and violence.
With the pandemic, the risk of violence against women and children, especially within the home, increased further as people sheltered at home at the same time that they faced great financial and emotional stress. The authors of this GIGA Focus assess government efforts to address and treat gender-based violence.
The GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies conducts research on political and economic developments in South and Central America and the Caribbean. Core topics include the quality of political institutions and participation, challenges posed by conflicts and crime, and regional integration.
As of 1 April 2024, our long-time colleague Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach has been appointed President (ad interim) of the GIGA. Together, we will work to ensure that the GIGA remains a place of excellent research for Global and Comparative Area Studies and one where everybody enjoys working.
How government policies on gender-based violence (GBV) are implemented in terms of services for victims varies considerably across countries. We examine policy infrastructures, including helplines, support centres, and shelters since the pandemic’s onset. Our project identifies progress and challenges around the provision of services for GBV survivors.
The authors of this paper argue that building programmatic linkages between social protection platforms, particularly cash transfers, and IPV prevention, mitigation, and response services, creates synergies that can promote freedom from both poverty and violence.
With the pandemic, the risk of violence against women and children, especially within the home, increased further as people sheltered at home at the same time that they faced great financial and emotional stress. The authors of this GIGA Focus assess government efforts to address and treat gender-based violence.
