Event
20 Dec 2021

Migration, Disasters and Climate Change - Side Event Africa Climate Week 2021

  • Date
    28 Sep 2021, 09:00am
  • Location
    Online

From 9:00 to 10:00 (GMT+3 /EAT) 

Meeting ID: 944 4919 1773 Passcode: k2w%Bg

Across the African continent, the impacts of disasters and climate change increasingly interact with other drivers of population movements resulting in different types of human mobility, such as displacement in the context of disasters or transhumance and longer-term labour migration in the context of agricultural activities. Over the last decades, the adverse effects of climate change have intensified the frequency and severity of sudden and slow-onset hazards in Africa, such as such as droughts, desertification, water scarcity, rising sea levels, coastal erosion and flooding. This has changed human mobility patterns across the continent, with Africa experiencing some of the highest rates of displacement and migration associated with disasters and climate change worldwide.

There are a number of policy approaches to address these challenges. These include minimizing the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin, while also facilitating safe, orderly and regular migration in the context of disasters, climate change and environmental degradation. At the same time, human mobility also represents a critical challenge for African countries in terms of potentially leveraging positive adaptation outcomes but also averting, minimizing and addressing displacement, including through mechanisms for loss and damage associated with climate change, as urged in the African Union’s Draft Climate Change Strategy. Ultimately, moving into the post-pandemic phase, the recovery of global systems is also an opportunity to build back greener economies while promoting decent work. 
 
This session seeks to share evidence, tools and practices, and discuss opportunities for scaling up action and support at different levels to address migration driven by disasters, environmental degradation and climate change in Africa.

Part 1:
Moderator: Ileana Sinziana Puscas, Programme Officer on Migration, Environment and Climate Change, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Speakers:

  • Manuel Marques Pereira, Head of Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
  • Kanta Kumari Rigaud, Lead Environment Specialist Regional Climate Change Coordinator, Africa Region,World Bank Group
  • Ndeye Coumba Diop, Regional Labour migration and mobility specialist ILO Regional Office for Africa (ROAF) 
  • Fayçal Siddikou Boureima, Technical Specialist, Green Jobs ILO Regional Office for Africa (ROAF)

Part 2:
Moderator: Atle Solberg, Head of Secretariat, Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD)

Speakers:

  • Ahmed Amdihun, Programme Coordinator Disaster Risk Management, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) 
  • George Mwachiro, Principal Immigration Officer, the National Coordination Mechanism on Migration Secretariat (Kenya)

More information on the Africa Climate Week is available on UNFCCC official page