Madagascar - IOM has launched an 18-month project aiming at developing evidence and building capacities on migration, environment, and climate change (MECC) in four countries in Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean. The project is funded by IOM Development Fund (IDF) and will be implemented through February 2018 in Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique and Namibia.

Migration, climate change and the environment are interrelated. Environmental factors such as droughts, soil degradation, or changing seasonal weather patterns can have negative impacts on people’s livelihoods and wellbeing, pushing them to migrate to other areas in their own countries or abroad. 

“This project will give governments in the participating countries and regional entities a solid evidence base, and equip the stakeholders dealing with issues of migration and environment tools and skills to consider and address these proactively,” said  IOM Madagascar Head of Office Daniel Silva y Poveda.

Madagascar is one of the countries considered most likely to be negatively affected by climate change due to recurrent and more frequent droughts, floods and strong cyclones. Desertification patterns in the southernmost part of the island and land degradation have affected the livelihoods of local populations and their traditional coping strategies, leading to increased and more complex patterns of internal mobility.

Through this newly launched MECC project, IOM Madagascar will help the Ministry of Environment to increase knowledge and awareness of the relationship between migration and environmental change, including climate change, in order to inform the formulation of related policy and operational plans.

The initiative will set up a working group bringing together all relevant national stakeholders; build capacities for technical and senior officials on the nexus between migration and environment; carry out a country-level assessment and field study of a problematic linking migration to environmental changes; and facilitate a national consultation that will enable national stakeholders to take stock of the assessment’s findings and develop a blueprint for policy and operational planning purposes.

It will also hold a regional policy forum where officials from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) will discuss the findings of the country assessment conducted in all participating countries to inform the development of a regional policy-guiding document.

For further information please contact Daniel Silva y Poveda at IOM Madagascar. Tel: +261.32 56 54 954. Email: dsilva@iom.int)