Tunis – Officials from nine countries in the Horn of Africa region and two regional economic communities gathered last week (7-10 May) in Tunisia for a workshop on managing migration data within the context of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.  The workshop was jointly organised by the Government of the Republic of Tunisia, the International Organization for Migration – Special Liaison Office Addis Ababa, and the African Union Commission (AUC) under the auspices of the AU Horn of Africa Initiative on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling (AU HoAI).

Formed in 2014, the AU HoAI is a platform for participating countries from the Horn of Africa and neighboring countries to improve policy and technical coordination, share experiences and deliberate on measures to counter human trafficking and migrant smuggling in their region. IOM, together with the AUC and UNHCR form the Secretariat of AU-HoAI.

The four-day meeting which was organized with the financial support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, brought together national coordinators from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Tunisia. Two regional economic communities, the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and Inter Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) were represented by their regional coordinators, in addition to coordinators from the African Union Commission (AUC). Also present were statistics and migration officials from AUC, International Organization of Migration (IOM), INTERPOL and Statistics Sweden.

“Having reliable and comparable data in regards to human trafficking and migrant smuggling is important as this is a pressing issue, which keeps evolving,” said Lorena Lando, Tunisia Chief of Mission, in her opening remarks.

Director General of the National Institute of Statistics of Tunisia (NSI), Adnen Lassoued, expressed keenness to benefit from training on migration data management within the context of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, so as to enhance their data collection work.

Head of the Statistics Division in the AUC, Leila Ben Ali, explained how they are working to improve the production of reliable and timely data on the African continent in line with the objectives of the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA 2). SHaSA 2 currently guides work on harmonising data collection and production of specific statistics in Africa.

She emphasized AUC’s will to support all countries and RECs in collecting, gathering, harmonising and aggregating data and producing quality statistics on human trafficking and migrant smuggling. Providing comparable, reliable and updated statistical information in a timely and regular manner supports evidence-based decision-making that underpins the continent’s agenda on integration.

IOM GMDAC expert, Emma Borgnas, explained the global agenda on counter trafficking and migrant smuggling, and the role of migration in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She clarified the importance of collecting data for migration relevant indicators and how to disaggregate data by migratory status. Harry Cook, IOM’s Data Management and Research Specialist, delivered an illustrative presentation on the Collaborative Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC) – the first global data hub on human trafficking.

Delegates agreed to keep cooperating to improve the definition of both human trafficking and migrant smuggling in their laws, standardisation of surveys, and data sharing. They drew a roadmap for developing a solid framework to guide data collection on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants within the Horn of Africa region, that runs into the year 2020. This will help improve identification of smuggling and trafficking hotspots in member countries and strengthen work to prevent this often elusive criminal activity, whilst protecting victims. The AUC and member states also committed to working with the CTDC.

Lorena Lando at IOM Tunisia, Tel: +216 71861097, Email: llando@iom.int
Eric Mazango at IOM Ethiopia Special Liaison Office, Tel: +251 904645879, Email: emazango@iom.int.