Event

Regional dialogue on Data-Driven Route-Based Approaches to Mixed Movements

On 15 December, colleagues and partners from across Eastern and Southern Africa came together in Nairobi for a regional dialogue on Data-Driven Route-Based Approaches to Mixed Movements: Research and Response.

As mixed movement dynamics across the region become increasingly interconnected, the conference created a timely space to consolidate evidence, bridge fragmented research, and strengthen collaboration across key routes, including the Eastern/Horn of Africa, Northern/Mediterranean, Southern, and Western Indian Ocean routes.

Convened by MMC, UNHCR, and IOM, the conference brought together governments, donors, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, and refugee and diaspora-led organisations to strengthen how evidence informs responses along interconnected migration routes.

Key focus areas included:

• Emerging evidence on mixed movements across the Eastern/Horn of Africa, Northern/Mediterranean, Southern, and Western Indian Ocean routes
• Protection gaps in transit countries
• The role of coordinated, multi-stakeholder, route-based responses
• Turning research into action for programming and advocacy

The dialogue reinforced the need for trusted, actionable, and protection-centred data to shape responses that reflect the lived realities of people on the move.