The Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, received a courtesy call from Ms. Fatou Diallo Ndiaye, the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ghana, to improve cooperation on climate-related human mobility and migrant support initiatives in the city.
Enhancing the AMA’s Migrant Desk, strengthening support for migrants in urban areas, and investigating new collaborations to promote safe mobility, data-driven urban planning, and community resilience were the main objectives of the workshop, which was held in Accra on Tuesday.
The Mayor of Accra welcomed the Chief of Mission and expressed gratitude for IOM’s longstanding partnership with the city as well as the AMA’s willingness to do more and scale up significant projects. He added that the partnership would be maintained and strengthened, particularly as the city deals with changing issues related to human mobility and climate change.
He emphasized that he was dedicated to supporting initiatives that are in line with Accra’s development aspirations and stated that the Assembly had clear plans for its work and was open to creative suggestions from partners.
According to Hon. Allotey, it is crucial for the Assembly and its partners to promptly identify areas where IOM’s technical and financial support could help provide real benefits for communities in Accra and to regularly review their interventions in light of shifting dynamics, particularly mobility caused by climate change.
In a statement, Ms. Ndiaye praised the Mayor’s leadership and dedication to inclusive urban development while congratulating him on his appointment.
She reiterated IOM’s dedication to positive interaction with Accra, saying that the organization is still committed to helping the city deal with development issues associated to migration through cooperative and advantageous strategies.
Under the project, “Strengthening the capacities of the city of Accra to manage human mobility in the context of climate change,” she emphasized IOM’s efforts on climate mobility in Accra.
‘‘Under this project, IOM was supporting the finalisation of an assessment study on climate-induced mobility in the city to inform evidence-based decision-making and would request the Mayor to author the foreword of the final report as a sign of the Assembly’s ownership of the process.” she said.
According to Ms. Ndiaye, the initiative also involves establishing cross-regional interactions with cities throughout the continent to discuss best practices, as well as training city officials on mainstreaming human mobility in local climate policies and activities.
She said that in order to strengthen resilience in one of the neighborhoods most impacted by climate-related hazards, IOM, in collaboration with city officials, would implement community training on waste management and flood response, aimed at 50 homes.
The IOM Chief of Mission also highlighted a new initiative being carried out in Accra with funding from the German Development Corporation (GIZ). The intervention would support migrant integration programs, update the city’s migration profile, train employees of the migration desk, create a migration management platform for tracking and monitoring trends, and promote city-to-city cooperation with the private sector.
IOM National Project Officer Eric Akomanyi gave more technical details, stating that the organization has finished a collaborative assessment on the effects of climate change on the city of Accra with the AMA Migrant Office and the Waste Management Department.
The project’s primary goal, he added, was to inform an update of the current AMA Climate Action Plan so that climate responsiveness and human mobility considerations would be better integrated into local planning. He said the paper was now ready for editing and release.
He revealed that in response to a study on coastal erosion, IOM and the AMA were planning an intervention for an impacted coastal community that would provide training in business development and entrepreneurship to roughly fifty households. He emphasized that the goal was to increase economic resilience, reroute resources into sustainable livelihoods, and lessen vulnerability associated with displacement caused by climate change.
Source: newsthemegh.com