Berlin – A new series launched by the Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) of IOM, the UN Migration Agency, aims to summarize the existing evidence on migration in an accurate and accessible fashion, to support discussions and any follow-up activities of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

The Data Bulletins are part of a project Support to IOM for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, funded by the European Union, to outline the strengths and limitations of relevant migration data, and highlight innovative data practices which are pertinent to a global compact for migration. 

Data Bulletins reflect the collaborative nature of a global compact for migration process by including relevant contributions from different parts of IOM, as well as other agencies and migration experts. The first three issues are being published for distribution during the preparatory stocktaking meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, currently taking place through to 6 December 2017. 

The first issue, Global Migration Trends, provides a brief overview of key global migration trends, based on available statistics and estimates from a variety of sources, to support informed decision-making throughout a global compact for migration process. The document summarizes key facts and figures on a range of migration-related topics, covering the period January 2015–December 2016, and cites more recent figures when available.

Although this Data Bulletin is by no means exhaustive, it presents a broad picture of the state of migration around the world. A more detailed report on global migration trends will be published by IOM’s GMDAC in December 2017.

More Than Numbers: The Value of Migration Data is the second issue in the series. Produced by IOM’s GMDAC with analytic support from McKinsey & Company, this Data Bulletin makes the case that there is significant value in migration which can be better leveraged by identifying and making targeted investments in data. It outlines a framework to prioritize data needs and investments, and points to potential next steps at the global, regional and national levels.

A full report will be released in January 2018, detailing a vision for how data can enable value capture in migration.

The third issue of the Data Bulletin, Measuring Migration Governance, describes strategies for understanding and enhancing national migration policies and governance structures. By providing a clear overview of selected indices of migration policies, this issue of the Data Bulletin series aims to give policymakers the information and tools to assess and improve on migration governance, which has become increasingly important in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Migration Governance Indicators (MGI), developed by IOM and the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2015–2016, are examples of these tools. They are applied in full consultation with national authorities to measure good migration governance through a comprehensive framework covering six main policy domains.

The MGIs help countries assess the extent to which their migration policy is comprehensive, thereby identifying best practices and areas in need of further development. The MGIs can also help countries develop baseline assessments and conduct future reviews of their work to assess progress in the context of the SDGs and the Global Compact for Migration.

The six policy domains are based on IOM’s Migration Governance Framework (MiGOF).

For more information on the MGI and MiGOF please see https://gmdac.iom.int/migration-governance-indicators and http://www.iom.int/multilateral-processes.  

The Data Bulletin: Informing a Global Compact for Migration will continue to focus on providing policymakers with the information and analysis required for evidence-based decision making. Future issues will be published and distributed, notably at key events related to a global compact for migration process throughout 2018.

For more information please contact:

IOM's Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), Tel.: +49 30 278 778 11, Email: www.gmdac.iom.int

Denis Kierans, IOM GMDAC, dkierans@iom.int

Marzia Rango, IOM GMDAC, mrango@iom.int

Abdel Rahmane Diop, IOM Global Compact for Migration Team, ardiop@iom.int