Freetown- The Government of Sierra Leone in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the 16th of March held a workshop based on the Plan of Action on the Implementation of Recommendations on human mobility in the context of migration, environment, climate change, and disaster risk reduction in Sierra Leone.

The event was organized as part of the activities to pilot IOM’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Integrated Human Mobility Assessment Tool in Sierra Leone under the Project “Implementing Global Policies on Environmental Migration and Disaster Displacement in West Africa” carried out together with the platform on Disaster Displacement and with support from the Government of France.

The Head of Office a.i at IOM Sierra Leone, Christos Christodoulides said “the workshop seeks to not only have an overview of IOM’s findings and results together with stakeholders present but to have a robust understanding of key findings including national and regional perspectives on the work done so far”

“ As a culmination of a series of activities including research, and dialogue with partners both International and local working in the areas of human mobility in relation to climate change, disasters, and environmental degradation, today we are here to validate the plan of Action that we developed together with all stakeholders present” Christos added.

Speaking during the workshop, the Deputy Director of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), Mr. John V. Rogers said: “It was a long journey that started in 2022. And a lot of ideas have been invigorated into the plan of action that is about to be endorsed today” So we are pleased to be here again to participate in the finalization of this important document.

Mr. Rogers also stated that: “we have seen over the years disasters taking place around the world including Sierra Leone with serious impacts on society. And there is always a need to take action in terms of addressing this problem. IOM is on the current in terms of taking action by way of supporting this laudable initiative to develop this document”.

The Assistant Director of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Mr. Lahai Samba Keita said that the Ministry is very much concerned about issues related to mobility, the

environment, and climate change. He hoped that the Plan of Action will be able to help the Government of Sierra Leone better prepare to address displacement caused by environmental degradation and related issues in the country. In a similar development, the IOM Regional Thematic Specialist from Dakar and IOM Sierra Leone’s Head of Office paid a courtesy call to Sierra Leone’s Honorable Minister of Environment and Climate Change to further discuss issues around human mobility in the context of climate change, environmental degradation and disasters in Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, human mobility can be triggered by environmental related impacts, however, the decision to move depends on individual and contextual factors. Environmental factors rarely act in isolation, but they do influence all other migration drivers, including political, social, economic, and demographic factors. In this context, climate change acts as a risk multiplier.

For more information, please contact Alfred Fornah, Media and Communications Assistant at IOM Sierra Leone, Email: afornah@iom.int