May 1, 2022 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) launched the first edition of the IGAD Migration Statistics report at the conclusion of Regional Technical Working Group Workshop on Migration and Displacement Data on April 28 in Djibouti.
The launching ceremony was attended by IGAD Executive Secretary, Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, and the Director General of the Institute of Statistics of Djibouti, Mr Idriss Ali Soultan.
The report highlights migration trends as well as the profile of migrant populations in the region. To cite: “the number of international migrants in the IGAD region rose from 3.1 million in 2010 to 6.5 million in 2019, translating to an annual growth rate of 7.4 percent as compared to an annual growth rate of the total population of 2.3 percent. […] These trends signify increased migratory movements within the IGAD region.”
Speaking at the launch, Dr Workneh said: ‘This publication marks a significant milestone in my drive for IGAD to own our own data, so that we can make objective decisions plan and policies. From a practice standpoint, IGAD is engaged in an ongoing intensive regional effort to improve the comparability, accessibility and quality of development data, including on migration and displacement. Specifically, we are working with our Member States on harmonizing data collection, processing and data analysis practices to ensure that our statistical information, meets and exceeds the highest level of scrutiny and verifiability at international level.”
The report is part of the efforts to improve the region’s situation on migration and displacement data. To this effect consecutive regional technical working group meetings have taken place since the working groups inception in 2019. IGAD together with its partners is supporting the Member States in the region to launch a regional data harmonisation process, initiate a plan of action for regional coordination, and establish national technical working groups on migration and displacement data.
The Regional Technical Working Group Workshop which concluded on April 28 solidifies IGAD’s commitment to further improve the availability & quality of migration data within its MS and across the region. In pursuit of this goal, the aspect of data harmonization within and across IGAD Member States is of critical importance.
IGAD’s work on migration data is in line with regional, continental and international frameworks such as the IGAD Regional Migration Policy Framework, the IGAD Free Movement of Persons and Transhumance Protocol, AU Migration Policy Framework for Africa as well as the Agenda 2063, the global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the SDGs and Objective 1 of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM).
This initiative is supported by the Strengthening IGAD Migration Policy Implementation (SIMPI) through the government of Germany jointly implemented by GIZ as well as a cooperation project with the African Union Commission, Statistic Sweden financed by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) to improve migration data availability and accessibility.
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