Migrant workers are an integral part of the Eastern African economy. Photo credit - ©FAO

12 July 2021, Addis Ababa - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and migration and displacement partners have stressed the need for concerted actions to mainstream migration and forced displacement considerations into national and regional policies and programmes. 

The call for action came out of the FAO-IGAD virtual sub-regional workshop under the theme: Enhancing the resilience and livelihoods of migrants, refugees, and host communities in rural Eastern Africa held on 12, 14 and 15 July 2021. The workshop also emphasized the importance of working together with migrants, displaced persons and local communities as actors of change to strengthen responses, which work across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. 

In opening remarks, Chimimba David Phiri, FAO Subregional Coordinator in Eastern Africa, noted that the Eastern African Subregion hosts more than nine million internally displaced persons and close to five million refugees and asylum seekers. The subregion is marked by forced displacement and mixed migration flows characterized by large intra-and-extra regional movements. 

In this regard, Phiri stressed the need to “step up efforts and coordination to better respond to the needs of migrants and displaced populations, leaving no one behind and making migration work for all. Responses require multi-sectoral approaches and multi-stakeholder partnerships.” This is key towards addressing the adverse drivers and impacts of migration while maximizing the benefits of migration for sustainable development.

On his part, Kebede Kassa Tsegaye, IGAD Senior Programme Coordinator, noted that rural areas are the backbones of our economies but continue to face chronic poverty, underdevelopment, poor infrastructure, weak health and education services and malnutrition. They are also the sources of rural-urban migrations due to obvious push factors. “In this regard, bringing the rural back to the region’s development agenda is very critical. IGAD encourages all partners and member states to respond to the challenges of the population which is not only suffering from huge unmet development needs but, paradoxically, produce wealth and feed our nations.” 

The three-day workshop aimed to strengthen the capacities of key government ministries, FAO personnel in the Eastern Africa region, and other development partners working on migration and displacement. It included an exchange of knowledge and on-the-ground experiences to address critical challenges and capitalize on opportunities related to migration, forced displacement, resilience and rural development, particularly in rural areas, including in the context of the COVID-19 response and recovery. It also identified the need to enhance policy and programme coherence and actions across the humanitarian-development- peace nexus in Eastern Africa.

Participants from over 14 different Ministries and National Agencies within the IGAD region attended the workshop. The workshop created a dialogue on thematic issues linked to conflict-sensitive programming, and the integration of migrants, displaced persons, and returnees into local markets and value chains as essential steps in building lasting resilience. The workshop also discussed important relationships between climate change and migration, as well as opportunities linked to migration and agribusiness development. 

Following a rich discussion at the virtual meeting, joint plans of action will be developed at the country level to implement appropriate approaches identified at the local level and further strengthen opportunities for collaboration among relevant actors present at the workshop. 

Efforts to address the issues of migration and harness its contributions to sustainable development 

In its Corporate Migration Framework, FAO recognizes the relevance of migration to its global goals of fighting hunger and achieving food security, reducing rural poverty and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources. In recent years, it has strengthened partnerships also with migration-mandated agencies by signing separate Memoranda of Understanding with UNHCR and IOM. FAO has supported the organization of the Global Refugee Forum and is currently an active member of the UN Network on Migration. FAO also contributes as an observer to the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and supports the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) both at the global and country levels. In the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, FAO is working to mitigate the disproportionate impact on migrant workers and the compounding effect of the pandemic on forced displacement crises.

Similarly, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in its Regional Migration Policy Framework (IRMPF), highlights region-specific concerns such as forced displacement, migration and pastoralism, migration and human security due to political instability, among many other factors. The overall objective of the policy framework is to implement a series of initiatives that address the specific needs of IGAD member states with the support of relevant stakeholders.

The joint action plans developed in the workshop are expected to inform and strengthen cooperation in the countries of the IGAD region to sustainably enhance the resilience and livelihoods of migrants, the forcibly displaced, and local communities.