Ahead of the Africa Regional Review Conference of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) held on 31 August and 1 September 2021, side events were held on 26 August 2021 to discuss the GCM implementation progress, to highlight key national and regional trajectories, share best practices and innovative perspectives, and strengthen partnerships and the means of implementation on the continent. Out of these, the side event held on Human Mobility in the Contexts of Disasters and Climate Change in Africa focused on the evolving regional and national initiatives across Africa aimed at reducing the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel populations to move, while also facilitating safe, orderly and regular migration in the contexts of disasters and climate change in the IGAD and other regions in Africa.
The event was organized by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Service Centre for Africa and the Platform on Disaster Displacement.
Moderated by Lena Brenn IGAD Disaster Displacement Advisor, the panel included Ms. Fathia Aboubacar Alwan, Director for Health and Social Development, IGAD, Prof. Walter Kaelin, Envoy of the Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD), Ms. Florence Poppe, Senior Policy Officer, East Africa Division, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ms. Cecilia Aipira, UNDP Team Leader for DRR Africa, Ms. Ikal Angelei, Executive Director of the Friends of Lake Turkana Region and Director Kamal Amakrane, Lead, Africa Climate Mobility Initiative (ACMI).
Migration as the solution
Ms. Fathia Alwan began the discussion by highlighting the consequences of climate change experienced by the IGAD region such as droughts, floods, and other natural disasters and the resultant displacement, and pointed out that “Managed properly, migration has the potential to support affected community to better cope with slow onset events”.
Without further ado, she listed out the main contribution of IGAD including supporting member states in raising awareness about the link between climate change and human mobility, identifying the challenges and solutions, and supporting the development and implementation of policies related to migration and displacement in the context of disaster and climate change. Furthermore, for improvement of knowledge and data on human mobility, disaster, and climate change IGAD was said to be working closely with IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre to better link climate data and seasonal forecast with displacement and migration data and also to develop disaster displacement risk model together with several partners.
Alwan devoted the final part of her presentation to talk about the new Joint Regional Migration multi-partner trust fund program launched together with partners International Organisation for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) in 2021. She outlined the main agendas of the program as i)generation of data for better mapping, understanding, predicting, and addressing migration movements and displacement risks, ii) Inclusion of disasters, the adverse effects of climate change and environmental degradation in national and regional migration and mobility policies, iii)strengthening the preparedness and response capacity and coordination through the development of Standard Operational Procedures on admission and stay in disaster situations, and iv) supporting the implementation of regional and national human mobility framework to enhance the availability and flexibility of pathway for regular migration.
The GCM objectives address all aspects
Prof. Walter Kaelin, the second speaker, focused his presentation on GCM objectives that address adverse impacts of climate change, and the Joint Regional Migration Multi partner trust fund program in the IGAD region. According to Professor, the GCM and its 23 objectives encompass most of what needs to be done for addressing those affected by disasters and adverse impacts of climate change. But he points out that it is specifically four objectives, namely objectives 2, 5, 21, and 23, which directly relate to averting, minimizing, and addressing human mobility challenges in such contexts.
Adding to Madame Fathia Alwan’s presentation on MPTF, Prof. Kaelin said the joint efforts in this MPTF program will lead to assistance in the implementation of the GCM objectives such as 2 and 5, as well as help in putting Article 16 of IGAD’s new Protocol on the free movement of persons into practice which provides for the admission by other countries of persons affected by the disaster. The development of displacement risk models under the program will enable national governments to have access to quality data and evidence on disaster displacement risks to prevent displacement in climate and disaster-affected areas in the IGAD region. Through the development of Standard Operating Procedures on admission and stay, the joint efforts will also strengthen solutions and enhance pathways for people compelled to move in the context of disasters, climate change, and environmental degradation.
In his concluding remarks, Prof. Kaelin highlighted the challenges in tracking the implementation of the programs especially in the absence of specific indicators aimed at measuring GCM implementation, and called for all stakeholders to “work together to support ongoing efforts and address the remaining gaps in implementing disaster displacement-related commitments under the GCM in Africa”.
The multitude of causes
Cecilia Aipira started the discussion by recalling her own experience with disaster and climate change-induced displacement. Comparing her experience with the present situation, Aipira commented “But today with climate change many would not be as lucky as I have been, I only had to move a distance of about 30-40 kilometers from where the original village was,(today) many will be forced to move beyond towns, cities and even crossed international borders.”
Discussing disaster-induced mobility, Aipira emphasized the need for examining the multitude of overlapping reasons such as economic opportunities, conflicts, and groundwater depletion, etc, as climate change is only one of the main exacerbating factors and cannot explain forced displacement on its own. She also underscored the role of national leadership in tackling the intertwined reasons that cause forced migration in Africa. While acknowledging migration as an adaptive strategy, Aipira stressed the importance of investing in climate and disaster risk reduction, preparedness, and enhanced evidence-based forecasting that will predict future movements including in case of forced internal migration.
Before finishing her presentation, Aipira briefly discussed UNDP’s work on disaster protection and climate change across the African continent. She stated that the UNDP is investing over 900 million in African national governments to support them in finding solutions on disaster and climate-induced migration and displacement. It is also helping governments and regional commissions in generating evidence on climate change and conflict dynamics, risks in order to support developing appropriate risk-informed responses to various complex emergencies.
A 360◦ Approach to migration
The next panelist, Ms. Florence Poppe, speaking on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, reported that it promoted a comprehensive 360◦ approach to migration and forced displacement, which included addressing the root causes of involuntary migration, supporting refugees and host communities, fostering regular migration to facilitating voluntary return and sustainable reintegration. About climate-induced migration, according to Poppe, the Cooperation supports people who are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change such as those who were forced to leave their homes due to climate change and the trapped population; those who are unable to migrate. Talking about planned relocation, she said they support the strategy but considers it only as the last resort and in the event of a planned relocation they advocate “a voluntary, participatory and human rights-based approach”.
Highlighting the German contributions, Poppe outlined the global program for human mobility funded by the German Cooperation. In the IGAD region, it works towards modeling the impact of slow-onset climate change on human mobility, in order to help IGAD and its member states to better prepare for population movements. Additionally, they support IGAD in advancing its regional migration policies with special attention paid to the collection of regional migration data as well as social inclusion and basic service delivery for the vulnerable mobile population in cross-border areas of the region.
Commenting on the MPTF program, Poppe said it will complement the ongoing activities of the German-funded global program as it is important to create synergies and especially coordinate data-related activities to avoid duplication.
Summing up her presentation Poppe affirmed Germany’s commitment to continue its cooperation with strategic partners on the African continent with regard to climate change and migration in the face of international cooperation on the matter.
A Bottom-Up approach
Ms. Ikal Angelei devoted her time to present a grassroots-level perspective on the hardships faced by pastoralists with regard to climate change and the necessity for a decentralized, bottom-up approach in finding solutions.
Talking about free movement, Angelei raised the issues of enclosure of the common areas along pastoralists’ migratory routes, the increasing government stringency in providing the necessary framework on the free movement of pastoralists thereby emphasizing the need for transboundary, cross-country conversation around building infrastructures that support both communities.
The speaker also brought to light the neglect of health and gender dimensions of climate change and migration as oftentimes the attention is solely on livelihood aspects.
Concerning the livelihood loss, Angelei stated that people were forced to move to urban areas abandoning their existing livelihood due to extreme drought, degradation of rangelands, and a subsequent lack of government intervention and support. She observed that the livelihoods introduced by the authorities in the wake of climate change-induced forced migration do not take into consideration people’s livelihood experience. And citing this she broached the point of participation and stressed the need for local participation, especially at the grassroots level in planning rather than everything being decided at the national level and then being brought down to communities. She also stressed the need for creating spaces and centres at the grassroots level for data collection rather than at the national level.
Concluding her remarks, Angelei emphasized the need for dealing with the root causes of climate change such as greenhouse gases emission, mining, etc so that existing conditions are not exacerbated and said “so that we can ensure that we are actually protecting vulnerable populations and we are not waiting for the fact that it happens, people are displaced and then we come in and we are supporting”.
Mainstreaming the issue of climate migration and displacement
The final speaker at the event, Director Kamal Amakrane, used the platform to introduce Africa Climate Mobility Initiative, a collaboration between the African Union Commission, UNDP, IOM, UNCCC, and the World Bank. In his presentation, underlining the main intention of ACMI as harnessing mobility in the context of the climate crisis, Director Amakrane highlighted the importance of mainstreaming the same to address climate action in the various existing agendas such as the green agenda, development agenda, etc to create a common space to press forward one narrative. And this he believed would create the needed momentum on the financing side.
“We should not engage only when things are past us, we are talking about adaptation, we are talking about resilience and the work needs to be done today.”
Discussing the works of ACMI, he said the initiative is working towards the development of the Africa Climate-Forced Mobility Model complimented by standing capacity for modeling and field research. Second is the establishment of a continent-wide network of change agents called a dedicated Community of Practice that brings together and drives cutting-edge research, analysis, policy development, and programming. Finally, they aim to establish an Accelerator for Action that pools resources to advance joint programs or initiatives.
With the release of the comprehensive report on climate forced mobility in the continent, entitled ‘Shaping the Future of Mobility in Africa Addressing Climate Forced Displacement and Migration’, they intend to build an agenda for action that will mobilize efforts to advance a common approach for the way forward. He concluded by asserting the need to bring people to the heart of climate action and believed mobility is the way to do it.
Anusree P holds a postgraduate degree in Sociology from Pondicherry University and is currently pursuing a certificate course on International Humanitarian Law at IGNOU. Her areas of interest are migration governance, Refugee and forced migration studies.