Migration and environment: making the case for sustainable reintegration

Towards a “green” reintegration of returning migrants in Africa

Land degradation, pollution and desertification push many in Africa to migrate in search for better opportunities abroad. At the same time, many returning migrants choose to get involved in environmentally sustainable reintegration projects that allow them to actively contribute to their communities’ green economy and climate change adaptation while making a living.

This event will showcase examples from Ethiopia and Senegal where the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration supports returnees and local communities to scale up recycling and sustainable farming practices.

In Ethiopia’s Dire Dawa city, a main transit route for irregular migrants, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative supports the local administration in the roll out of a plastic recycling and compost production project. In addition to addressing environmental and public health problems caused by the large amounts of unmanaged plastic and organic waste in the city, the initiative helps unemployed youth and vulnerable migrant returnees to generate an income. The project benefits 120 youth including migrant returnees.

In Senegal, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative, in collaboration with local partners, supports agricultural community reintegration projects to become integrated farms that combine agriculture, husbandry, aviculture, etc., promoting sustainable perma-culture and eco-friendly production. One such example is the Walicounda community project which has supported five migrants and 95 members of the community, including women, to set up a 2-hectare farm, and trained them in agroecological practices for sustainable agriculture.

While protecting the environment, these projects are key to local development, enabling returnees to reintegrate both economically and socially within the community, and strengthening social cohesion. Reintegration activities are targeted towards building resilience to climatic and environmental challenges facing returnees and their communities, thereby contributing to the sustainability of reintegration and reducing out-migration pressure in general.

A mix of project presentations and interactive discussions during the Q&A will enable participants to:

• understand the linkages between migration, environment and climate change

• learn about opportunities and challenges around environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient reintegration of returning migrants

• learn about reintegration initiatives that address environmental drivers of (re-)migration and contribute to climate change adaptation

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Launched in December 2016 with the support of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration is the first comprehensive programme bringing together African countries, IOM and the EU around the shared aim of ensuring that migration is safer, more informed and better governed for both migrants and their communities. Over 121,000 stranded and vulnerable migrants were supported with their voluntary return, while more than 110,000 received reintegration assistance under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative to date.

For more information, visit: www.migrationjointinitiative.org

To continue the discussion, you can join the Capacity4DEV group:

Public group on migration and asylum

Speakers

Francesca Di Mauro

Head of Unit, INTPA A3, Western Africa, European Commission

Girma Admasu

Executive Director, Positive Action For Development, Ethiopia

Pirce Altinok

Reintegration Officer, IOM Senegal

Saloum Mané

Returning Migrant/Programme Beneficiary, Senegal