Nairobi, Kenya – Representatives from 11 countries in the East & Horn of Africa, all signatories to the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (KDMECC ) will take part in an Expert Working Group (EWG) meeting in Nairobi, Kenya at the end of October.  

The EWG was set up in May 2023 to support KDMECC  signatory countries to realise their commitments to address climate mobility in the region. This third meeting of the EWG brings together technical climate change and migration experts, youth representatives and national experts from Burundi, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda and regional representatives from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Regional Collaboration Center for East and Southern Africa, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the East African Community. It also brings together participants who manage existing funding mechanisms and frameworks, who will focus on exploring resource mobilisation opportunities for enhancing the implementation of the KDMECC.

At the meeting in Nairobi, EWG members will be finalising a Plan of Action on how to implement the 12 commitments of the KDMECC agreed by states, which cuts across social inclusion and human livelihoods, finance and investment, policy and regulatory activities and climate mitigation and adaptation. 

Environmental degradation and natural hazards caused by climate change are driving human and livestock mobility and displacements across Africa. According to the IOM Horn of Africa Drought: Human Mobility Snapshot, 32.1 million people have been negatively affected by drought between January – June 2023, causing over 3 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia to be displaced. Somalia is experiencing the worst drought in over 40 years. IGAD’s Climate Predication and Application Center estimates that on average, approximately 2 million of people are affected each year by floods in current climate conditions; within this, approximately 1.34 million could face displacement due to lack of house or livelihoods. 

This Declaration demonstrates the urgency governments in  East and Horn of Africa are placing on this topic. Recently more than 30 other African nations became signatories. 

“Action is needed to stabilise vulnerable communities, to prevent forced migration, to facilitate regular migration for those who need to move and to protect people who are already on the move.” To ensure that the signatory states to the Kampala Declaration on MECC can meet their commitments and receive the support they need, it is essential that they are supported through the appropriate processes and various steps that are required for advancing the Kampala Declaration on MECC – the formation of an EWG among them.”  Lisa Lim Ah Ken, IOM Regional Thematic Specialist on MECC. 

The EWG will take place over 3 days. After the meeting, the agreed upon action plan will help guide the activities of the Expert Working Group in moving from words to action to address the gaps and opportunities of climate change’s effects on migration in the East and Horn of Africa.

For more media enquiries and information, please contact:  

Noora Makela
Programme Officer
IOM Regional Office for the East and Horn of Africa
Nkmakela@iom.int  

Yvonne Ndege
Regional Public Information Officer
IOM Regional Office for the East and Horn of Africa  
ronairobimcu@iom.int