IOM organized a national capacity building workshop on migration, environment and climate change (MECC) on 8 and 9 November in Manila, Philippines. Implemented on behalf of GIZ under the BMZ-funded Global Programme “Sustainable Management of Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change” (HMCCC), the workshop was attended by about 20 participants from various government agencies and academic institutes who are leading actors in climate change and migration issues in the country. The workshop covered various aspects of the migration, environment and climate change relevant to the country as well as the wider Asia-Pacific region, from policy and legal framework to data and instruments available to address environmental migration. The participants actively engaged in the sessions, and a number of valuable insights were raised and shared in reaction to the presentations and group discussions, contributing to the mutual enhancement of technical capacities. Participants also identified existing gaps in the Philippines, such as data collection, inter-ministerial coordination and implementation of initiatives that integrate climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, particularly in rural areas.
 
Being one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, the Philippines is faced with increasing challenges related to human mobility and displacement posed by a variety of disasters. Sudden-onset hydro-meteorological events such as typhoons are increasing in intensity and frequency, and slow-onset disasters such as droughts are also posing grave impact across the country, affecting particularly the most vulnerable people. There is an increasing need to address the human mobility consequences of environmental change through tailored, integrated cross-sectoral policies. 
 
Under the same partnership between IOM and GIZ, a regional workshop will be held in the Eastern Caribbean region in early 2019. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is financing the Global Programme “Sustainable Management of Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change” (HMCCC). The principal goal is to improve applied knowledge relating to the sustainable management of human mobility in the context of climate change in the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Philippines, as well as in Germany and international cooperation.