Ghana - Ghana is a country of origin, transit and destination for migrants. But like many other countries, it lacks migration data and a coordinated approach to migration data management. This limits its capacity to understand its migration dynamics and design appropriate migration and development policies.

IOM Ghana, in partnership with the Free Movement of Persons and Migration (FMM) in West Africa project, hosted a training workshop on migration data collection and management from 25-29 July, 2016 on the Cape Coast.

The week-long training was in preparation for the implementation of a National Migration Data Strategy launched by the government and developed with the support of IOM’s Ghana Integrated Migration Management Approach (GIMMA) project.

It brought together senior government officials and data entry/research officials from 17 government institutions and academia to share information on how they currently gather and share migration data and the challenges that they face.

The workshop was designed to raise awareness of the importance of migration data for policy planning. It also aimed to build the practical skills and knowledge of officials to manage migration data.

Expert speakers included representatives of the IOM Global Migration Data Analysis Centre, UNDESA, the ECOWAS Commission, and the African Union Commission.

ECOWAS presented its approach to data collection and coordination, and participants discussed regional migration data collection and management tools currently being developed.

Labour migration data activities being carried out under the Joint Labour Migration Programme, which is implemented by AUC, ILO, IOM and the UNECA, were also discussed.

Following the workshop, the GIMMA project, which is funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by IOM and the Ghana Immigration Service, will update the 2009 Migration Profile for Ghana, incorporating recommendations and lessons learnt from the meeting.

Ghana’s National Migration Policy proposes a common framework to enhance appropriate synergies of processes and activities towards ensuring production, availability, dissemination and utilization of reliable national data on migration in Ghana.

It underlines the importance of reliable and accurate migration data to facilitate effective management of the migration-development nexus. It also recognizes the need for better coordination among migration institutions to effectively collect, process, analyse, store and utilize migration data.

The FMM Africa is jointly funded by the European Union and ECOWAS Commission and implemented by a consortium comprising IOM, ICMPD and ILO.

For more information please contact Kojo Wilmot at IOM Ghana, Email: gimma@iom.int, Tel.: +233 302 742 930 or + 233 501 295 272.