Oheneba Boateng

Oheneba Boateng is a non-resident fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin. Previously, he worked at GPPi as a research associate, where he focused on humanitarian action. In his work, he investigates how social accountability affects the success of humanitarian and disaster responses. Specifically, his research probes questions of responsibility, accountability, trust, and the exercise of power in disaster zones. 

Prior to joining GPPi, Oheneba researched migration policy in the EuraAfrica Corridor as a postdoctoral Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin where he also earned his PhD in political science. For his doctoral work, he investigated the impact of power imbalances on humanitarian outcomes. Specifically, he examined how asymmetries in normative and material power between global humanitarian actors and regional organizations in Africa have affected humanitarian responses on the continent since the 1960s. Ultimately, he recommends that humanitarian partners must always pay attention to how power dynamics between them shape humanitarian action. 

During both his doctoral and postdoctoral work at the Freie Universitat Berlin, Oheneba taught undergraduate and graduate seminars in African politics and foreign aid, and previously worked as research support for a water security project at McMaster University, Canada and as project officer for capacity building with a nongovernmental organization in Ghana. 

Oheneba also holds masters’ degrees from Jacobs University, Bremen and McMaster University and a bachelor’s degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. His education and research have been supported with awards from the German Research Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, McMaster University, Dahlem Research School, and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.