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The Environmental Migration Portal Newsletter is produced as part of the "Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy" (MECLEP) project, funded by the European Union, implemented by IOM. 

Environmental Migration Portal Newsletter
Knowledge Platform on People on the Move in a Changing Climate
April 2015
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Migration, Environment and Climate Change (MECC) Updates 
Haiti is the first country in Central America and the Caribbean to include the link between the environment and internal migration in its draft migration policy. Proposed strategic actions were discussed in a workshop on 20-22 April 2015 in Montrouis, Haiti. They included facilitating the contributions by the diaspora for the protection of the environment and mitigation of disaster risks, and the integration of (internal) migration, environment and climate change in adaptation and disaster risk reduction programmes, including data collection.

As the Technical Working Group of MECLEP is a sub-group of the Task Force on the development of Haiti's migration policy, synergies and inputs were provided. After the technical validation of the draft migration policy on 22 April, the next step is the presentation to the Council of Ministers in the upcoming months.
Photo © IOM 2015
Nansen Initiative South Asia Regional Consultation on Climate Change,
Diasters & Mobility in South Asia and Indian Ocean 
 
The Consultation was hosted by the Governments of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the Kingdom of Norway and the Swiss Confederation in collaboration with the Nansen Initiative and IOM Bangladesh.
 
Participants recognized that South Asia and the Indian Ocean region is exposed to a wide array of natural hazards with the potential to trigger human mobility. Participants emphasized that climate change is already a reality for States in the regions, and expressed concern that, given countries’ high exposure and current adaptive capacity, they will increasingly face the adverse effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, salt water intrusion, coastal erosion, glacial melting, drought, and variable intensity and frequency of rainfall patterns and monsoon seasons.
Photos © IOM and Nansent Initiative 2015
 
Inter-American Course on International Migration includes MECC
For the first time in its 37 year history, the annual Inter- American Course on International Migration, which takes place in Mar del Plata Argentina, included a presentation on the issue of Migration, Environment and Climate Change. The presentation provided an overview of terminology, concepts and migration linked with environmental change with a particular focus on South America. The presentation was well received by the participants and raised many questions around the complex intersection between migration, climate change and the environment.  

The Inter-American Course on International Migration is a two week training course intended for government officials from Latin America to deepen their understanding of migration issues regionally and internationally. This year 28 representatives from 15 Latin American countries attended the course, and included experts from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Institute of Human Rights Public Policy (IPPDH for its Spanish acronym) and the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN).
Photo © IOM 2015
 
Migration, Environment and Climate Change: from Evidence to Local and International Action
The Nicolas Hulot Foundation for Nature and People (FNH), the French Forum of Migrants’ International Solidarity Organizations (FORIM), and the Franco-Haitian Associations Platform (PAFHA) organized a seminar on “Migration, Environment and Climate Change: from Evidence to Local and International Action” (1 April 2015). 

This was the first event addressing Migration, Environment and Climate Change as part of this series, and IOM delivered a presentation explaining key issues, figures and evidence on links between migration, environment and climate change. Mr. Nicolas Hulot, President of the Foundation, and Special Envoy of the French Republic for the Protection of the Planet, delivered a speech, and representatives of the FORIM and of migrants’ civil society organizations presented specific projects and studies on diaspora involvement in environmental projects. An interactive brainstorming session allowed discussion on challenges and possible strategies for involving migrant youth in environmental and adaptation projects. The seminar offered a great chance for diaspora organizations and practitioners from a variety of backgrounds to meet and discuss the potential role of diasporas in climate change adaptation and environmental management projects, and to exchange good practices.
 Photos © FORIM 2015
 

MECLEP Project Updates
The survey team (left) and survey site Nuevo Boca de Cachón (right) © IOM 2015 (Photos: Susanne Melde) 
Following the researcher training workshop in Haiti in January, the MECLEP team, FLACSO Costa Rica, International Research Partner, and the survey team held the researcher training workshop in the Dominican Republic (13-15 April 2015). Household surveys will be conducted in two sites: the region of lake Enriquillo and Nuevo Boca de Cachón (pictured above), where Boca de Cachón was relocated by the authorities. The next researcher training workshop will take place in Madang, Papua New Guinea in May 2015. 
 

Research Database Updates
Vulnerability assessment of different socio-economic groups to floods in the rural Mekong delta of Vietnam
Opportunities and Challenges for Investigating the Environment-Migration Nexus
The Impact of Climate Change: Migration and Cities in South America
Capacities in Facing Natural Hazards: A Small Island Perspective
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
Migration in Kenya: A Country’s Profile 2015 (forthcoming)
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Media Highlights and Updates

Upcoming Events
Climate Change and Digital Change: Impacts on Migration. 
International Science Forum. Bonn, Germany. 5 May 2015.

MECLEP Papua New Guinea Researcher Training Workshop
Madang, Papua New Guinea. 6-8 May 2015. 

The Climate Vulnerable Forum Regional Meeting for Sub-Saharan Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 7-8 May 2015.

MECLEP Viet Nam Researcher Training Workshop 
Ho Chi Min City, Viet Nam. 1-3 June 2015. 

12th IMISCOE Annual Conference: Rights, Democracy and Migration
Geneva, Switzerland. 25-27 June 2015. 

UNFCCC Bonn Session 
Side event: Human Mobility in a context of a changing climate: migration as an adaptation strategy. 3 June 2015 (TBC). 

TransRe International Short Course: Does Climate Change Move You?
University of Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand. 22-26 June 2015.

COST Workshop: Human migration and the Environment: Futures, Politics, Invention.
Durham University, UK. 28 June-1 July 2015. 

West Africa: Promoting sustainable land management in migration-prone areas through innovative financing mechanisms - Sub-regional workshop 
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. 7-9 July 2015.
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To share your research, publication, event, videos and more on the Environmental Migration Portal, contact meclep@iom.int.  
This newsletter has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of IOM and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or of IOM

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