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IGAD held its first Regional Technical Experts’ meeting on the Kampala Declaration on jobs, livelihood, and self-reliance for refugees, returnees, and host communities in the IGAD Region. Held virtually from 27- 28^th April 2021, the meeting brought together nearly 100 experts from Member States, regional and international partners to take stock on achieved milestones, challenges, best practices and opportunities.

IGAD Member States have made considerable milestones towards the economic inclusion of refugees. The Member States have reiterated their commitment to implement the Kampala Declaration and to include refugees in their national systems.  

The regional meeting panel on financing displacement highlighted using financing tactically to create an enabling environment for solutions to displacement, the importance of building coherent government-led approaches, and investing in evidence and learning to accelerate progress and drive efficiency. Engaging the private sector and the diaspora to create jobs and support national development were also emphasized.

Ethiopia’s, Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA) Director General Tesfahun Gobezay Kinfie noted “displacement financing mechanisms should be designed and implemented in a manner that can create an environment conducive to ensure that refugees and host communities are not left behind”. The provision of predictable and sustainable support, blending short-term humanitarian relief with medium and long-term development processes are critical for effective displacement financing modalities.

Somalia’s Director for Durable Solutions Zahra Abdi Mohamed under the Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development emphasised financing investments should be aligned with government priorities, plans and strategies for solutions and poverty reduction. Mrs. Abdi further called for IGAD in partnership with governments to map out opportunities for multi-year long term development financing models of interventions including private sector investments, fostering public private partnerships and mobilising diaspora.

IGAD member states and its partners further exchanged on the challenges, achievements, and best practices on the five priority areas of the Declaration – enabling environment, private sector and CSO engagement, sustainable return and reintegration, natural resource management as well as regional coordination, partnership and financing in panel discussion.

The outcomes of the discussion will feed into upcoming planned national consultations, IGAD ministerial meeting and Summit on the Nairobi Declaration and the regional stock-taking report for the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) 2021.

What will the Kampala Declaration change in the daily life of refugees and returnees? For example, do refugee receive a work permit and are allowed to work, move freely, have increased access to TVET and marked-oriented skills development or can open bank accounts and have access to financial services.

What is the Kampala Declaration about?

On 28^th March 2019, IGAD Member States adopted the Kampala Declaration on jobs, livelihood, and self-reliance for refugees, returnees, and host communities in the IGAD Region (“the Kampala Declaration”). In the Kampala Declaration and its accompanying Action Plan, IGAD Member States committed to five priority areas:

1. conducive legal environment for economic inclusion; for example, to provide access to markets and financial services or the right to work and freedom of movement;
2. the importance of private sector and civil society to create sustainable livelihoods and jobs;
3. sustainable return and reintegration;
4. natural resource management for livelihoods and self-reliance;
5. regional coordination, partnership and financing.

IGAD’s response to the refugee situation in the region

IGAD pursues a regional response to provide durable solutions for refugees and improving their livelihoods, education and health. This directly facilitates the implementation of international policies, such as the New York Declaration and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) of 2016 and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) of 2018.

IGADs regional approach is deeply rooted in the Nairobi Declaration (2017), which was originally formulated to address the protracted situation of Somali refugees but was since then extended to cover all refugee situations in the region. More specialised policies on thematic areas were formulated in the course, such as the inclusion of refugees in national education system (Djibouti Declaration, 2017) and in national labour markets and improving refugees’ livelihoods (Kampala Declaration, 2019). The IGAD Support Platform, which was launched during the Global Refugee Forum in 2019 in Geneva gives these policies an overall frame on the international arena.

Attachments:

Annex to the Kampala Declaration-action plan.pdf	[ ]	650 kB	2021-05-04 16:48
Kampala Declaration.pdf	[ ]	627 kB	2021-05-05 06:04

April 5, 2021 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti) The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan convened a virtual follow-up meeting on the Solutions Initiative for the Displacement Situation in Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan. The meeting was attended by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the US Ambassador to Djibouti and the European Union Head of Regional and Multi-Country Programmes.

22-24 Feb 2021

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) are organising a regional conference on “Human Mobility in the Context of COVID-19.” IGAD hereby cordially invite abstracts to be submitted for presentation at the upcoming conference on 22-24 February 2021.

The IGAD region hosts 4.2 million refugees and around 8.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). Intra-regional movements like (seasonal) labour migration, mobile populations, cross-border trade, transhumant pastoralists, mixed migration, irregular migration, displacements through conflicts or due to rapid and slow-onset environmental events and disasters are predominant features of migration and displacement in the region. To  facilitate intra-regional  mobility IGAD Member  States just recently  endorsed  a  Free Movement and Transhumance Protocol and steps are underway to accelerate the adoption of a roadmap for implementation of the protocol.

The spread of COVID-19 virus had significant impact on mobility in general and more specifically  on  cross-border  mobility  and  mixed  migration.  The  immediate  response  to mitigate the spread of the virus included travel restrictions and border closures, which left many stranded. Large numbers of migrant workers in the Middle East and other countries have been stranded or forcibly returned to their country of origin unsettling their livelihoods and posing an additional burden to the health systems in countries of origin. Remittances from large diaspora communities outside the region are shrinking as the pandemic impacts the economy of host countries in unprecedented ways, which has led to reduction or loss of the diaspora’s income. This will have a huge impact on economies of migrant sending communities and countries, since remittances are the most stable form of foreign currency. Adverse effects of lockdowns on livelihoods in the medium and long-term are yet to be seen, but it is evident that migrants and refugees are among the most vulnerable with little capacity to absorb the shocks of this pandemic.

Objective

The  scientific  conference  aims  to  investigate  the  lasting  effects  of  the  pandemic  on livelihoods and the multitude of impacts on migrants, refugees and returnees, IDPs, host communities, and on mobile groups in border regions.  More importantly, researchers are invited to identify impacts particular to the IGAD region, and  to propose  solutions  and evidence-based policy recommendations to IGAD and its Member States.

IGAD is calling on researchers and practitioners from universities, research centres, think thanks,  international  organisations  and  NGOs  to  submit  high  quality  abstracts  on  the following themes.

Themes 

1. Vulnerability in  the  context  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic:  What  are  the  (new) vulnerable mobile groups that need special protection during the pandemic (e.g. transhumant pastoralists, truck drivers and commercial sex workers, internal migrants in urban centres, IDPs, stranded migrants at frontiers and in transit camps)? What are the impacts on trafficked and smuggled persons?  Have traffickers and smugglers changed their strategy and if so how? How could the protection need of these groups be better addressed by IGAD Member States? 

2. Protection of migrant workers’ rights: What are the challenges that migrant workers face during the pandemic? How can migrant workers be effectively protected against collective expulsions and deportation to their home countries in the midst of a pandemic? 

3. Livelihoods of  cross-border  traders  and  communities:  Are  there  causal  links between  border  closure,  loss  of  livelihoods,  economic  decline  and  inter-communal conflict in cross-border communities? How are transhumant pastoralists affected? Which innovative support programmes, such as cash-based approaches, could be effective to improve livelihoods and prevent conflicts in cross-border communities? 

4. Human mobility in the context of multiple disasters: Climate-induced disaster displacements such as flooding and the locust invasion on top of the COVID-19 crisis create a multiple disaster situation, food insecurity and loss of livelihoods. What are the causal connections to disaster displacement and how can communities build resilience against multiple disasters? 

5. Virtual education of migrants, refugees and IDPs during the pandemic: What are the consequences of the lockdown and the pandemic on education, training and skills development of IDPs and refugees? What are the recommendations for Member States in making education accessible to mobile and displaced populations? What is the impact of COVID-19 on the on-going inclusion of refugees in the IGAD Member States through the Comprehensive Responsive Response Framework (CRRF)/Global Compact on Refugee (GCR) and regional IGAD frameworks, such as the Djibouti Declaration on Refugee Education? 

6. Gender dimension of COVID-19 impacts: Do implications of COVID-19 differ between migrant and refugee men and women? Do restrictions, lockdowns and other measures that are taken to contain the pandemic disproportionally affect and discriminate migrant women and girls? What should be considered to outline gender responsive measures? 

7. Diaspora and remittances: What are the impacts of COVID-19 on remittances in the IGAD region? How has the sharp decline of remittances impacted refugee families and what alternatives have refugees resorted to in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? How can the impacts be mitigated in Member States? 

8. Migration data collection, analysis and use during the pandemic: How can Member States tackle  the  challenge  of  collecting  disaggregated  data  during  lockdowns  and contact restrictions? How can IGAD ensure the availability and accessibility of timely, disaggregated data on migration and displacement to make informed decisions during the pandemic? Accurate information is also pivotal for migrants. How can IGAD harness technology to better gather and disseminate information on migration routes.

Submission guidelines

This call for papers invites international scholars and practitioners especially those from the African continent and IGAD region with expertise in the subject matter to submit abstracts. Submitted abstracts should relate to the conference themes and follow the below guideline: 

• Abstracts should be written in English or French and be 250-300 words;
• Interested authors should send a one-page CV/ bio, with latest publications and contact details (email address and phone numbers);
• Submissions should indicate the theme that the abstract falls under;
• All submissions will be peer-reviewed, and accepted authors will be invited to write and present a paper of 3500-4000 words;
• Conference funding  support  will  be  dependent  on  the  timely  submission  and acceptance of the full research paper;
• Selected research papers will be published.

Please send your abstracts and other documents to this e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Important Dates

Deadline for submission of abstracts:  25th October 2020
Notification of acceptance of abstracts:  20th November 2020
Deadline for final full paper submission:  15th January 2021

Partners

This Conference is organized by IGAD, GIZ and IOM in cooperation with universities and think tanks in the region, namely the Addis Ababa University, Maseno University, the Kenya Institute of Migration Studies (KIMS) and the Institute of Security Studies (ISS). 

Organising committee

For any enquiries regarding the conference call for papers, please contact: Dr Abdi Hersi (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

website:  www.igad.int

Attachments:

Appel à contributions (FR).pdf	[ ]	696 kB	2020-10-04 11:55
Call for Papers (EN).pdf	[ ]	410 kB	2020-10-04 11:55

July 1, 2020 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti) - Timely, quality, disaggregated and harmonized migration data are required to inform effective migration management and good governance. On 3 June, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) held consultations with representatives of Kenya and Ethiopia, including migration focal persons of the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministries of Labour, Ministries of interior, and Foreign Affairs. These were followed by consultations with representatives of the national governments of Somalia and Sudan on 17 June, and representatives of the government of Djibouti on 24 June. Final round of consultations included representatives of the governments of South Sudan, Uganda and the Republic of Tanzania on 1 July.

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