Evidence-Driven Climate Action for Development

Overview and Objectives

Climate change and environmental disasters are profoundly shaping mobility patterns in Eastern Africa. Extreme drought and flooding are shifting seasonal migration patterns in the Mandera Triangle, prompting internal displacement, cross-border movements from Ethiopia and Somalia into Kenya, and contributing to longer-distance international migration along the Eastern Route to the Arabian Peninsula, to name a few. The diversity of mobility outcomes linked to climate change and, in some instances, their complex relationship with conflict and fragility dynamics, create significant challenges for policymakers and development actors in Eastern Africa.

To reinforce the resilience of communities to current and future climate shocks, attention needs to be paid to both local and displaced, or returning, populations, including particularly vulnerable groups. This, in turn, requires accompanying national and local authorities on their capacity needs for inclusive and sustainable planning and service delivery. For these purposes, we need accurate and reliable data that shed light on both current dynamics and anticipated patterns in the future.

The Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) are organizing a roundtable on evidence-driven climate action for development. The roundtable will include a presentation of a Climate Mobility Dashboard, which draws upon data from over 2,000 surveys conducted in Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia. The dashboard covers topics including, but not limited to, the impacts of climate disasters on households, triggers and timing of migration, household immobility and protection experiences, all disaggregated by age, gender, nationality and country of interview, all of which are central to inform future directions for national and local development interventions. Discussions will focus on:

• How can data inform the climate mobility strategies of East African countries and regional organizations, including coherence with related strategies and promoting inter-ministerial approaches?
• How do we prioritize the standardization of climate mobility data to promote regional and cross-border analysis and programming, such as through area-based programming?
• What do policymakers and development actors need to kickstart evidence generation and sustain it on the long term?
• What are some persisting blind spots for data and research on climate mobility?
• How can data be used to better inform policies and programmes whose objective it is to foster resilience in climate-fragile settings?

Agenda

Registration

This roundtable seeks to engage a diverse range of actors working on climate mobility, including national and regional policymakers, donor country representatives, development practitioners, researchers and civil society organization.

Please register here for your in-person or virtual participation. In-person participation will be limited and granted on a first come, first served basis. If you have any questions, please contact esa@mixedmigration.org.