Nairobi – IOM, the International Organization for Migration is hosting the first conference of the ‘Expert Working Group’ on the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment, and Climate Change, in Nairobi, Kenya. The Declaration, signed by 15 countries including Burundi, Djibouti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, and Zambia in July last year in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, outlines their commitments to tackle the effects of climate change on human mobility in East & Horn of Africa. 
 
The Expert Working Group conference, organised up in partnership with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s and East Africa Development Bank’s Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC) in Kampala, consists of over forty climate change experts from the signatory countries who will work on developing and implementing strategies and initiatives to realize the 12 commitments of the Kampala Ministerial Declaration. The commitments address human mobility, adaptation, technological advancement and further climate sensitive development. 

The East and Horn of Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, facing floods, landslides, and tropical cyclones, as well as slow-onset events such as severe droughts, water level rise, environmental degradation, and changing rainfall variability, which have immediate and long-term effects on sustainability of livelihoods based on natural resources. According to the IOM’s Horn of Africa Drought 2022: Human Mobility Snapshot,  an estimated 36.6 million people were affected by drought between January and December 2022, leaving 2.4 million people internally displaced.  
 
The Expert Working Group meeting comes ahead of the planned ‘Africa Climate Action Summit’ being hosted by Kenya in September 2023. Global leaders and climate experts will meet to discuss the pressing issue of climate change and its impact on Africa as well as the opportunities for the green transition on the continent. IOM is grateful for the opportunity to work on the inclusion of human mobility in the objectives of the Summit.  
 
“Climate change is a pressing matter of human safety and security. Climate change causes extreme climate phenomena. These catastrophic events are direct and indirect drivers of forced human mobility. I reaffirm the Government of Kenya’s full support to the ‘Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change’.” His Excellency Dr William Samoei Ruto, President of Kenya. 
 
“The Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change is the first comprehensive policy framework that specifically addresses mobility in the context of climate change. The whole-of-government approach and the stated commitments to address this topic, in the spirit of international co-operation and regional integration, are essential to promote safe, orderly, and regular migration in the context of changing climate. The Expert Working Group team have an exciting task ahead, as they drive forward the Declaration from paper to action and this first meeting is the catalyst for that.” Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Regional Director for EHoA  
 
“The need to address the impacts of climate change on human mobility in the region is growing in urgency. The Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change presents a timely, practical and inclusive framework with key commitments clearly articulated by the signatory states. In the preparation and facilitation of this first Expert Working Group conference, the UNFCCC and East Africa Development Bank’s Regional Collaboration Centre in Kampala commits to continued technical support and guidance to IOM and African States on the implementation of the Declaration.” William Otieno, Head of the Regional Collaboration Centre, Kampala, Uganda.  

The Expert Working Group conference will take place between May 15-16. 
  
For more media enquiries and information, please contact: Yvonne Ndege, Regional Spokesperson, IOM, the International Organization for Migration, East & Horn of Africa Regional Office, Nairobi: Tel +254797735977, email ronairobimcu@iom.int