Building capacity on international migration data

Transcription

1 Building capacity on international migration data The experience of IOM s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) UN World Data Forum, Cape Town, 16 January 2017

2 Global Migration Data Analysis Centre Officially launched by DG Swing on 7 September, 2015 Part of IOM s response to growing calls for action to improve data on international migration globally Part of IOM s HQ Current Staff of 15 Based in Berlin at the invitation of the Government of Germany

3 GMDAC s 3 Key Goals 1. Knowledge management: Promote a better understanding and use of migration data, including IOM data 2. Capacity building: Enhance IOM s efforts to build the data capacities of Member states and Observers 3. Research and analysis: Provide timely data and fact-based analysis on global migration trends and policies

4 Capacity Building Supporting governments in their efforts to improve migration statistics for policymaking, including through: Regional guidelines and migration data strategies Data collection manuals Training materials Migration profiles Workshop facilitation Project design Currently implemented in: ECOWAS & Mauritania Ghana Namibia S. African Development Community Egypt Ethiopia Georgia

5 Capacity Building in West Africa Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa) Project Funded jointly by the EU and ECOWAS Supports: ECOWAS Commission, ECOWAS Member States & Mauritania Goal: Maximize the development potential of free movement of persons and migration in West Africa

6 Capacity Building in West Africa Guidelines practical tool Aims to direct users on how to collect migration data for policy by identifying policy needs, the relevant population groups of interest and the sources of data on these population groups Training Kit Aims to build capacity of statistical offices in the region Two versions: one for trainers, one for trainees

7 Dec. 2 nd & 3 rd 2016: Conference on Improving Data on International Migration GMDAC organized an international two day conference in December 2016, Improving Data on International Migration. Participants: leading international experts on migration and development data, together with representatives from governments, civil society and the private sector from around the world Focused on practical steps to address data gaps, build data capacities and highlight innovative practices globally And how to strengthen the collection, sharing and analysis of data on international migration

8 Improving Data on International Migration IOM GMDAC s five recommendations for moving forward 1. Make better use of the data that already exist but are scattered within and between countries. 2. Innovative, non-traditional data sources should be explored and exploited more systematically. 3. Transparency and communication of migration data need to be improved, with regards to the general public, to migrants and to the policy world. 4. Establish data champions to advocate for better data on migration. 5. Invest in developing capacities on different levels locally, nationally and regionally.

9 Migration Data Capacity Building Challenges Internationally comparable data on migration are relatively scarce Example: not a single SDG migration indicator is currently ranked as a Tier 1 indicator by the UN Stats Division Given the lack of good migration indicators, a key challenge will be to ensure that key SDG indicators relevant to migration, such as health, education, poverty and employment, are disaggregated as far as possible by migratory status While the best migration data often come from censuses, these can be several years old and may lack important questions relating to country of birth or citizenship Examples of key data gaps Only approx. 1 in 4 countries around the world can provide the UN Statistics Division with data on international migration flows. In Asia only 10 out of 48 countries could provide the UN with data on inflows and outflows of migrants between 2005 and Only 4 in 10 African countries are able to provide information on the age of migrants. There are no global figures indicating the scale of migrant smuggling or irregular migration. There is no regular global survey of public attitudes towards migrants.

10 Coming up: International Forum on Migration Statistics, January 2018 Expected outcomes: 1. To bring together all producers, analysts and users of migration statistics in a community of interest centered around migration measurement issues 2. Mobilise expertise from a wide rage of disciplines that can contribute to improve global understanding of the migration phenomenon. 3. A unique opportunity for policy-makers to get in direct contact with migration experts and to use their research and findings to feed policy evaluations and identify best policy options in a wide range of priority policy areas

11 Contact: Dr. Frank Laczko Director - Global Migration Data Analysis Centre Taubenstr Berlin, Germany flaczko@iom.int gmdac@iom.int