11 October 2021, Roseau – Participants at the recent “Regional Dialogue on Human Mobility & Climate Change Data” held 4-6 October 2021 in Dominica, all agreed that while some data already exists that can be analyzed and utilized to facilitate robust planning at a macro level there are several important questions that the data currently collected cannot answer.
Technical Officers of the six (6) independent Member States of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and of the OECS Commission gathered at the hybrid in-person and virtual event to review the recommendations put forward in a newly launched set of reports “Migration, Environment, Disaster and Climate Change Data in the Eastern Caribbean”. The participants were primarily representatives of the Immigration, Statistics, and Planning, Disaster Management, Foreign Affairs, and Labour sectors.
The reports, regional conference, and other related events form part of the “Regional Dialogue to Address Human Mobility and Climate Change Adaptation” project, implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Dominica Mission, and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, with the objective of enhancing the governance of environmental migration in the Eastern Caribbean through improved evidence and regional cooperation. His Excellency Ambassador Hinrich Thoelken – Director for International Climate and Energy Policy and Digital Transformation, German Federal Foreign Office, in delivering remarks from the donor, noted that:
“A world that is increasingly marked by global warming will also be a world of massive migration and displacement, driven by food insecurity, water scarcity, and land loss, and thus by conflict and instability that would follow therefrom.
“In the era of climate change, managing skyrocketing human mobility in many corners of the world in general, and in the Caribbean in particular, must become a top priority for foreign policy. It is my strong conviction that concrete action in this regard, in the long run, offers a peace dividend that we must not forego. This is why Germany has made climate security a priority to our foreign policy agenda. This is why the world needs to pay particular attention to the issue of human mobility, and this is why your project is such a valuable contribution to the sake of peace and stability throughout the region and the entire world.
“It will be of utmost importance to develop strategies, tools, and instruments for effectively managing such a challenge. This project is a major step forward to making this happen.”
Recommendations for improving the collection, analysis, and utilization of data at a national and regional level were presented in the set of seven (7) “Migration, Environment, Disasters and Climate Change Data in the Eastern Caribbean” reports (http://bitly.ws/h4wt) – one regional, and six (6) country analyses – which were launched by IOM during the conference. The reports were based on research conducted by IOM with technical support from IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) between 2020 and 2021 in the six independent OECS Member States (Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines), and premised on the principle that the availability of timely and accurate data can contribute to improved understanding of complex issues, and therefore lead to more robust policy-making.
While there have been instances of intra-regional migration and internal displacement of people due to natural disasters within and impacting the OECS, there is not yet a full, evidence-based understanding of the potential costs to nation-states (host states and sending states) of these types of movements. This need to understand related issues also applies within countries when local populations and sometimes entire communities are internally displaced due to environmental factors and the effects of climate change. Conference participants recognized as well that there are benefits that can be associated with these movements, which it would be important to understand.
Participating Permanent Secretaries agreed that national-level decision-making is certainly stymied by the lack of timely and accurate data. However, representatives also indicated and re-iterated that there are challenges regarding limited capacity, particularly the human and financial resources that would be required to pursue fully the recommendations in the reports. This need for increased capacity was noted as a potential area for further dialogue and partnership with IOM.
The question of the Diaspora, and the need for the Member States to put policies in place that would allow full engagement of the potential of nationals abroad to support climate change adaptation and increased resilience, including through use of their expertise and their engagement in building back better, was also raised throughout the three-day event. H.E. Dr. Joycelyn Clarke-Fletcher, Saint Lucia’s Ambassador to the Diaspora, made an impassioned plea for a change from defaulting to a mindset of the “negative” effects of migration, and that OECS nationals should begin to recognize and harness the positive effects of orderly, safe and regular migration, including on host states.
The three-day conference drew the participation of approximately 100 virtual and in-person participants, representing technical officers of all six independent Member States, the OECS Commission, state and non-state actors, and international organizations. Participants agreed that more can be done to ensure that existing data can be better utilized. In addition, participating senior technocrats committed to working towards raising awareness of the report and recommendations at the highest levels, and increasing coordination between government departments towards improvement at a national level.
The OECS Commission would continue to work with the Member States to harmonize tools, methods, and indicators, and provide an improved framework for the collection, utilization, and analysis of data on a regional level. These improvements would set the platform for robust, evidence-based policy decisions regarding the movement and displacement of people due to environment and climate change. Improvement of the availability and timeliness of relevant data would be a step in the right direction towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals including reduced inequalities (SDG #10), climate action (SDG #13), and peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG #16), leading to sustainable outcomes for the citizens of the OECS region.
The reports “Migration, Environment, Disasters and Climate Change Data in the Eastern Caribbean” are available online, free of charge, at the IOM Bookstore, the Environmental Migration Portal, and the Global Migration Data Portal, as well as the website of the IOM Regional Knowledge Hub on human mobility in the region of Central America, North America and the Caribbean. They can be accessed directly through this link http://bitly.ws/h4wt