Malawi - IOM has conducted the first of two trainings targeting Malawi government officials on the management of migration data, in cooperation with its partner, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security.

The training, which was funded by IOM’s Development Fund (IDF), took place on Tuesday (3/2) in the Malawian capital Lilongwe and was attended by over 30 officials from various government departments. This first training focused on migration data management. It will be followed by another session on migration data use.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Charles Mphande said: “These trainings are timely, as Malawi anticipates launching its first ever Migration Profile in a matter of weeks, based on which Malawi’s migration policy will be designed. The training will increase our national capacity not only in the formulation of an effective policy, but also its subsequent implementation.”

Migration dynamics in Malawi are complex, as it is a country of origin, transit, and destination for thousands of migrants. The country is particularly affected by mixed migration flows and related complex smuggling routes from the Horn of Africa to Southern Africa.

Challenges associated with these flows as well as labor migration into and out of the country have created a pressing need for a comprehensive national migration policy. Recurrent floods also regularly cause internal displacement. Setting up comprehensive migration data collection and management systems are therefore a government priority to ensure evidence-based policy making.

The training forms part of an IDF-funded Migration Profile project that also seeks to increase the capacity of the government to collect, analyze and utilize migration data. Malawi’s first ever Migration Profile prepared under the same project is expected to be launched in March 2015.

IOM’s David Ndegwa, who is developing the Profile and facilitated the training, said: “Our aim is to promote more evidence-based policy making and support the mainstreaming of migration into the policymaking process. These trainings will bring us one step closer to that aim.”

The trainings particularly target officials from key government institutions such as the National Statistics Office, the Department of Immigration and the Reserve Bank of Malawi.

Malawi became a member state of the IOM in 2013. Major IOM activities in the country so far include capacity building in border management, addressing mixed migration flows and  hosting the 2014 Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) conference.

As the lead agency of the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster for Natural Disasters, IOM is currently actively involved in the national response to ongoing flooding in the country, which has left close to 200,000 people displaced.

For more information, please contact

Sam Grundy
IOM Malawi
Tel: +265 88 524 8112
Email: sgrundy@iom.int