July 13 ,2023 (Nairobi, Kenya): The 4th Regional workshop on the Harmonization and Improvement of Production and Utilization of Migration Data in the IGAD Region, which was held for the last four days, in Nairobi, Kenya, has concluded successfully on Thursday and provided recommendations for Technical Work Group.
Representative of IGAD Chair, Lieutenant Hasna Omar Farah, Djibouti National Bureau of Coordination on Migration and Protection Officer explained that during the four days discussions a wide range of topics, from data collection and statistical methodologies to policies and interventions to meet the needs of displaced people. We shared best practices, lessons learned and challenges faced in our respective countries.
“I encourage you to apply the lessons you learned from this workshop in your daily work and to share the knowledge gained with your colleagues and networks. Together, we can make a real difference by promoting inclusive policies, strengthening our statistical systems and working for the protection and well-being of displaced people. “she added
In his closing remarks, Mr. Macdonald G. Obudho, MBS – Director General, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, said that the establishment of the Regional Technical Working Group on migration and displacement data is a unique opportunity for improving the availability and quality of migration and displacement statistics within the IGAD region.
Key highlights of the discussions of the work shop was focused on the Member States Focal points should adequately update their respective country leadership on the outcomes of the meetings and the areas of support needed and the link between the technical working group and the IGAD statistics committee needs to be strengthened, this includes a structured reporting mechanism to be put in place, including, data sharing amongst the agencies involved in the production of these data and statistics need to be enhanced. It is worrying that from the discussions there seems to be a lot of data but when it comes to having them consolidated by coordinating agencies, there seems to be none as well as member States should address and provide the data/ statistics requirements from the IGAD to facilitate the production of the IGAD second edition of migration statistics report.
The expected Outcomes of the work shop resulted in Member States’ status of implementation of migration statistics activities deliberated upon and action plan towards their implementation developed and the roadmap towards finalization of the second edition of the migration statistics agreed upon the way forward on collection and management of migration data in the region,
It is to be recalled that the first IGAD technical working group on the migration and displacement data workshop was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (August 2021), the second was in Djibouti Ville, Djibouti (April 2022) and the third in Entebbe, Uganda (September 2023).
