A European Union (EU)-funded three-day IOM training workshop on migration, environment and climate change policy took place in Dominican Republic from 13 to 15 July. The training workshop was co-funded by the IOM Development Fund and was facilitated by MECLEP partner FLACSO Costa Rica, as well as the regional IOM office in San José and RESAMA.

Some 25 participants from ministries, universities and civil society attended the event, which was designed to build the capacity of experts and practitioners to integrate the migration-environment nexus into policy-making. Dominican Republic is among the world's 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change, but lack public awareness. The result of the training was to demystify the term migration, which is commonly linked to Haitian immigration. This overlooks the importance of internal movements linked to environmental degradation and the country being an emigration country.

For details, please see the workshop flyer (ES)

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A European Union (EU)-funded three-day IOM training workshop on migration, environment and climate change policy took place in Dominican Republic from 13 to 15 July. The training workshop was co-funded by the IOM Development Fund and was facilitated by MECLEP partner FLACSO Costa Rica, as well as the regional IOM office in San José and RESAMA.

Some 25 participants from ministries, universities and civil society attended the event, which was designed to build the capacity of experts and practitioners to integrate the migration-environment nexus into policy-making. Dominican Republic is among the world's 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change, but lack public awareness. The result of the training was to demystify the term migration, which is commonly linked to Haitian immigration. This overlooks the importance of internal movements linked to environmental degradation and the country being an emigration country.

During the workshop, a Training Manual on Migration, Environment and Climate Change specifically developed for the MECLEP project was tested and validated. The manual is a facilitator’s guide providing a step-by-step roadmap on how to integrate human mobility into environmental policies, climate change and adaptation strategies. Its standardized but adaptable curriculum, which integrates group discussions and exercises, is based on state-of-the-art migration and environment knowledge and practices. This participatory training tool will be available in several languages to respond to the global demand for trained experts and will allow IOM to deliver regular workshops at the request of Member States.

The workshop precedes the 21^st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will take place in Paris in December 2015. The Convention will address integration of human mobility into the expected Paris Agreement.

Training Modules

1. Concepts : The migration and environment nexus by Guillermo Lathrop (FLACSO Costa Rica) and Susanne Melde (IOM) 

2. Disasters and mobility by Andrés Botero (IOM Santo Domingo)

3. Mobility and slow processes of environmental change by Federico Grullon (National Council on Climate Change) and Ricardo Cordero (IOM San José) 

4. Legal perspectives by Ricardo Burrattino Felix (RESAMA Brazil) and Alicia Sangro Blasco (IOM Santo Domingo) 

5. Regional focus by Ricardo Cordero (IOM San José) 

6. Data issues by Guillermo Lathrop (FLACSO Costa Rica), Susanne Melde (IOM) and Amadeo Escarramàn (MECLEP research team) 

7. Policy frameworks and options / Integrating mobility into national climate change by Susanne Melde (IOM)