Webinar: Climate Change, Migration and Displacement in East Africa
In 2019, 33.4 million people were displaced globally as a result of disasters. In 2020, 9.8 million people were displaced during the first half of 2020 alone. Disasters are a leading trigger of new internal displacements globally according to the report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).
Climate change is exacerbating many humanitarian crises and may lead to an increase in human mobility. In East Africa, disasters together with conflicts have displaced millions of people every year and the figure shows an increasing trend of displacement due to disasters such as floods. Understanding the role of climate change in driving migration and displacement and what can be done about it is critical not just for risk management efforts or humanitarian response, but also to ensure sustainable development.
This webinar aims at improving understanding of current trends in climate change, disasters and human mobility and raising awareness on the interlinkages between climate change, migration, displacement and refugees in the IGAD region.
Additional Materials
Panelists
Bina Desai
Head of Policy and Research at the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)Topic: Drivers and trends of Displacement in Eastern Africa:
Bina Desai is the Head of Policy and Research at the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and responsible for heading IDMC's team of researchers, political analysts and advisors. From 2010 to 2017 she served as UNISDR's Policy Analyst and has co-authored and led the production of the United Nations Global Assessment Reports on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR).
Nina Birkeland
Senior Adviser Disaster Displacement and Climate Change Norwegian Refugee CouncilTopic: Climate change, Migration, and Displacement: Current situation and future trends
Nina Birkeland is a Senior Adviser Disaster Displacement and Climate Change at the Norwegian Refugee Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
Madeline Garlick
Chief of the Protection Policy and Legal Advice Section in the Division of International Protection at UNHCR UNHCRTopic: Climate migration and Refugee protection
Dr Madeline Garlick is Chief of the Protection Policy and Legal Advice Section in the Division of International Protection at UNHCR in Geneva. In early 2018, she was Assistant Representative for Protection for UNHCR in Iraq. She was previously responsible for UNHCR’s liaison to the EU institutions from 2004-2013. She has served with the UN in Cyprus, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on legal issues related to the rights of displaced people. She has worked as a Researcher at Radboud University, The Netherlands, and at the Migration Policy Institute. She teaches on an occasional basis at Sciences Po, Paris, France, and at the Centre for Refugee Studies at Oxford, UK.
Mohammed Abdiker
Regional Director for East and Horn of Africa, International Organization for Migration (IOM) IOMTopic: Linkages between Climate change and migration
Mohammed Abdiker has over 19 years of experience on a range of migration issues in crisis and post-crisis settings. Prior to joining the Regional Office, Mr. Abdiker led IOM’s world-wide response to migration crises as the Director of Operations and Emergencies at IOM’s Headquarters in Geneva for nine years.
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