Accra – On 9 March 2023, at the Accra International Conference Center, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) joined the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and the Ministry of the Interior (MINTER) to launch the Thematic Report on Migration of its 2021 Population and Housing Census.

According to Adelaide Anno-Kumi, Chief Director of the Ministry of the Interior, Ghana requires reliable, credible, and gender-disaggregated data to track progress on the implementation of Agenda 2030 and the Global Compact for Migration (GCM). “The Thematic Report on Migration provides the relevant data on the state of migration in Ghana in terms of the level, trends, and regional differentials in internal migration, determinants of internal and international migration in Ghana and their evolution over the past two censuses,” she said.

From 2019 to 2022, with funding from the IOM Development Fund and through the “Mainstreaming Migration into the National Census” project, IOM Ghana supported the Government of Ghana to conduct the National Population and Housing Census in 2021 and to analyse and produce the thematic migration report of the National Census. Through the project, the capacities of Government migration desk officers were built to analyze and disseminate migration data.

Enhanced migration data management will support the implementation of the National Migration Data Strategy (NMDS) as well as improve migration governance in the country overall.

IOM Ghana Chief of Mission, Fatou Diallo Ndiaye, said: “As the United Nation’s migration agency, IOM continues to be committed to supporting the Government of Ghana to build capacity to manage migration data effectively. The up-to-date data on migration and migration patterns is critical to evidence-based migration policymaking as well as to tracking progress on the achievement of the SDGs and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, for which Ghana is a champion country.”

Going forward, through the EU-UN Building Migration Partnership project, launched on 22 February 2023, IOM Ghana, together with its UN sister agencies in the country, will continue to support the building of the capacity of officials for the effective management of migration in Ghana.

For more information, please contact Eric Akomanyi, National Project Officer, IOM Ghana, at eakomanyi@iom.int