The intergovernmental conference for the African Regional Review of implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) was virtually held on 31 August and 1 September 2021. The event, hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco, was jointly organized by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), United Nations Network on Migration, and International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The review conference comprised of various round table discussions on different aspects related to safe, orderly, and regular migration. The given report is based on Thematic round table 4: Improving value-driven and evidence-based policy making and public debate and enhancing cooperation in migration, which was held on 31 August 2021. The three keynote speakers participating in the session were -Moha Binta Mega, head of Migration Flows Monitoring Division, Niger; Dr. Karina Nersesyan, Deputy Regional Director UNFPA Arab States Regional Office and Thandie Mwape Villadsen from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. David Ndegva from the ECA chaired the session with the rapporteur being Kristina Mejo, the Senior Regional Policy and Liaison Officer with IOM.
This session addressed the GCM objective 1: Collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence-based policies, Objective 3: Provide accurate and timely information at all stages of migration, Objective 17: Eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse to shape perceptions of migration, and Objective 23: Strengthen international cooperation and global partnerships for safe, orderly and regular migration.
Government of Niger Guarantees Safe Migration
Moha Binta Mega, the first speaker of the session, focused on initiatives taken by the Government of Niger in the past years to manage migration. The speaker highlighted the importance of managing migration in the case of Niger by stating that nation had been an origin, transit, and destination country for the thousands of migrants. Niger was one of the 25 Member States to have signed the Global Compact for Irregular Migration in December 2018. Along with this, the Government of Niger focused on three key issues related to migration policy- institutional coordination for the management of migration, supporting the collection and management of data, and strengthening regional cooperation. She also pointed out that the government of Niger actively worked to combat irregular migration by ratifying the Global Immigrant pact by Niger, criminalizing human trafficking, developing a strategic response to the migration of children at risk, and through the adoption of a National Border Management Policy.
Furthermore, to implement the migration-related policies at the ground level, the government of Niger has a set of distinct government institutes, each with their own different roles related to migrants. These include the Ministry of Labor, which issues work permits to migrant workers, the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance, which ensures border security and issues residence permits; the Directorate of Migration, the Central Unit of Migration, and the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of illegal Migrants. In addition to these institutions, Niger has also developed several reports and strategies addressing various aspects of migration management.
Data acts as a Fuel for the Evidence-Based Policy Making of Migration
Dr. Karima Nersesyan, the second speaker of the session, focused on the role of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to facilitate the generation and provision of data for the analysis of migration-related issues in Arab states. According to the speaker, censuses and field surveys are the two fundamental data sources related to migration. Therefore, the availability of data about the migrant profiles to identify vulnerable groups from the migrant population and the identification of target groups become crucial steps for evidence-based policymaking.
“The well-managed migration plays an integral role in achieving sustainable development, and has founded on the premise that the rights and dignity of the people lies at the heart of development.” – Dr. Karima Nersesyan
Furthermore, Dr. Karima pointed out that UNFPA promotes such types of policies that are related to migration and are mainly focused on youth, women, and girls that comprise 50 percent of the migrant population. Migrant women are a more vulnerable, discriminated, and exploited group of the migrant population that remained hidden because of the unavailability of data that capture gender-based migration issues.
Bringing attention to the impact of COVID-19 on the migrant population and on the data collection activities, the speaker highlighted that migrants were the ones suffering the most during the pandemic. The data collection activities were kept on hold during COVID-19. So, the COVID-19 also accentuated the data gap.
The speaker provided an example of Sudan where UNFPA engaged in establishing a forum for discussion that facilitates togetherness among government and civil societies. This initiative helped to bridge the gap between quality and segregated migration data. In addition, by exploiting the solid relationship with National Statistical Institutions, UNFPA ensured that migration-related questions were added to the census questionnaire.
Dr. Karima also discussed the development of a new Population and Development Composite Indicator (PDCI). The indicator is constituted of five pillars, including place and mobility. The given measure also helps to support evidence-based policymaking. Other interventions by UNFPA, which the speaker highlighted, include the engagement and cooperation of UNFPA with IOM and ECA to leverage information and data that support the government agencies on different aspects of migration. UNFPA also directly supports the national government by enhancing international cooperation for data analysis and utilization capacity, financial support, and technical assistance.
In the end, the speaker discussed the ground situation in Arab nations. In February 2021, the latest GCM regional review for the Arab states concluded that concrete progress had been made to ensure migration coordination. This was also reflected from the establishment of eleven country-level UN Networks on Migration at the global level and one regional level network in the Arab region.
In concluding remarks on behalf of the UNFPA Arab States Regional Office, Dr. Karima Nersesyan stated:
“We work in full alignment with the human rights principles and ICPD program of action. There is a need to combat discrimination and other forms of aggression towards migrants, facilitate their access to universal health care services for all, including sexual and reproductive health, and provide gender-based violence-related services, especially to those who are in a vulnerable situation.”
Conflict is no longer the only driving force of migration
Thandie Mwape Villadsen from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was the third speaker of the session. In the beginning, she stressed the underlying factors that facilitate migration and then discussed the displacement of the population across the African continent.
“Conflict is no longer the sole driver of migration. Social Instability, political tensions, and the economies that struggle to recover from COVID-19 economic impacts would push migration to even new levels. Climate change impacts, the diminishing natural resources would further force migration and aggravate displacement across the continent.”- Thandie Mwape Villadsen
The migrant trend has reached a record level in Africa. She pointed out that Africa has recorded at least 24.5 million migrants in 2020 alone as per the African Migration data network.
The Common Problem of Migrants across the world and its solution
Thandie Mwape also highlighted the set of common problems of the migrant population from across the world. According to the speaker, the migrants face problems accessing essential services and lack a safety net, dignity, and human rights. Therefore, the implementation of GCM is critical for responding to the migrant crisis in a suitable manner. According to the speaker, the shifting of perspective about migrants as an offer of opportunity, increasing economic integration by enhancing people’s freedom and their movement, and eliminating all forms of racial discrimination are the prerequisites for safe, orderly, and regular migration. Furthermore, the guarantee of economic, social, and cultural rights, including the right to work, the right to housing, public health, and training irrespective of the legal status of migrants, are the committing factors under GCM endorsed by the majority of UN member states.
“It is both the humanitarian imperative and the state responsibility to ensure that all migrants irrespective of legal status can access essential services.” – Thandie Mwape Villadsen
The speaker pointed out the barriers that hinder the way migrants access essential services. She categorized the barriers as formal and informal ones. Under the formal barriers, there are restrictive national laws and policies related to citizenship, arrest, detention, and deportation. The barriers related to gender, disability, age, language, culture, and the cost of processing legal documentation are considered informal barriers. The nation-states should also ensure access to accurate and timely information related to essential services for all migrants.
As far as the role of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in concerned to facilitate migrant rights, the speaker explained that Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies comprises the world’s largest humanitarian network and has a privileged position due to their setup through parliament by the national government. These societies work on the basis of need and act in an independent, neutral and impartial manner. Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies provide various services to the migrant population irrespective of their legal status. These services include restoring family links, first aid and referral to the hospital whenever migrants need, psycho-social support to migrants, and education services. In various African countries such as Kenya and Egypt, these societies do a great deal of work to provide all the services to the vulnerable migrant population. The speaker drew attention to the fact that these societies operate with the vital support of volunteers, with at least 2 million volunteers in Africa alone. Hence, the partnership with local communities strengthens the societies by providing a large number of volunteers. Beyond the African continent, the Italian and Spanish Red Cross societies are also the key partners in responding to the issues related to migrants.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Red Cross societies aimed to ensure the inclusion of all migrants in regional as well as national COVID-19 related plans, including testing, treatment, and access to vaccination.
Empower Local Communities as Key Partners in Migration Needs
After the speech of the last speaker, the key speakers entered into a thought-provoking discussion. In concluding remarks, all the key speakers again provided brief notes about the themes of their speeches. Dr. Raveena reiterated the challenging need to collect timely and accurate data that mainly focused on the vulnerable groups of the migrant population. While Ms. Thandie underpinned that empowering local communities as key partners in addressing the growing needs of migration and raising awareness about the benefits of migration are critical steps in achieving safe, orderly, and regular migration.
Harjinder Singh has completed M.A. in Economics from the Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Social Sciences, focusing on International Migration with a multidisciplinary approach. He has been awarded Junior Research Fellowship from University Grants Commission. His areas of interest include – Political Economy of Development, Migration and Development Studies, Globalization and Local Transformations, Agrarian Studies of the Third World, and Economic Theories. He is also fond of reading poetry and historical studies.