Frank Laczko, Director, IOMs Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC);

Jean Pierre, Chief technical advisor, Statistics Sweden;

Representatives of AU Member States and Regional Economic communities;

Representatives of AUC;

Representatives of Development Partners;

Ladies and Gentleman

On behalf of the African Union Commission, Please allow me to welcome you to this very important  and timely training workshop on “Leaving no Migrant behind : HELPING COUNTRIES REPORT Agenda 2030 AND AGENDA 2063 data BY MIGRATORY STATUS TRAINING OF TRAINERS workshop”.

As you are aware, Africa currently has two development agendas (Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030), the objectives of which are, among others, to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth for Africa and also the integration of Africa. Both Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development share common priorities for African transformation and provide a foundation for the design, implementation and monitoring of Africa’s long term development agenda underpinned by economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development.

Monitoring, review and evaluation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030, is data intensive and requires the strengthening of national, regional and continental Statistical Systems. This requires efforts to harmonize and coordinate data requirements at all levels and Joint initiatives to harmonize statistical methodologies and generate common indicators. In addition to this, there is need to develop and explore innovative ways of collecting data including administrative data. In Africa, many countries have weak or little utilization of data from administrative sources. This is due to the fact that data from administrative sources is not meant for statistical purposes, underutilized because of its mode of collection which is mostly manual in many African countries and lack of proper technological systems that are integrated to the central data management in order to capture inflows and outflows of emigrants without duplication. These challenges require more exploration and research on how well administrative data can be captured, utilised, and incorporated in the national statistical system.

Currently, the Africa Union Commission through the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa (JLMP), is supporting South Africa and Cameroon to expand the utilisation of administrative data sources for labour migration. The main objective of these pilot studies is to identify new indicators, data types and sources for labour migration data collection, develop a comprehensive methodology for conducting the assessment of existing administrative and other data sources as to their potential towards generating more timely and comprehensive labour migration data for policy development , as well as clear linkages from multiple administrative data sources and new data types from various organizations with existing primary sources. Based on the outcomes of these pilot studies, the comprehensive methodology applied for capturing reliable administrative and other data from various sources will be refined towards its replicability in other countries in Africa and globally.

In order to ensure proper planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063, African leaders adopted the first ten-year implementation plan for Agenda 2063, which covers the period 2013- 2023. Still in the same direction, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union adopted 15 flagship projects for Agenda 2063 "The Africa We Want". As part of an effective implementation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 in Africa, the African Union Commission has developed a joint framework for the implementation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030. This framework enables Member States of the African Union and 8 Regional Economic Communities to integrate the aspirations, objectives and priority areas of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 into national and regional development programs. Thus African States, Regional Economic Communities and the African Union Commission have a unique framework for planning, monitoring and evaluating Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030.

A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework and a core set of indicators for the first ten-year implementation plan has been developed by the African Union Commission (AUC) in collaboration with the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and African statisticians supported by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB);

As part of the FTYIP M&E framework an indicator handbook has been developed under the leadership of AUC and with the support of member States, RECS and partners.

Migration has now become a major problem for the African continent. The two development agendas (Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030) have aspirations, targets and objectives that address the phenomenon of migration in Africa.

It is believed that it is necessary to have a set of Agenda 2063 and SDGs I indicators to closely follow up the phenomenon of migration in Africa, based on the migration status of African populations.

IOM-GMDAC with the support of Statistics Sweden, has developed a methodological guide on the production of migration indicators for Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030. This guide is referred to as “The 2030 Agenda and the Data Breakdown”. This guide will enable Member States of the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and the African Union Commission to produce indicators of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 according to their migration status.

The African Union Commission through the African Migration Observatory and the African Union Institute for Statistics, in collaboration with IOM GMDAC and Statistics Sweden have organized a training course on the guide called “The 2030 Agenda and the disaggregation of data” with the aim to have a pool of experts who will support African States in the production of indicators on Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 according to migration status,.

The objectives of the training are :

• Train selected Countries and RECs and other regional representatives on disaggregation of data by migratory status, to strengthen their capacity to support further trainings and other activities in pilot countries
• Discuss disaggregation needs, interests and capacities of individual countries in Africa, to aid selection of pilot countries for targeted capacity development work

At the end of this training, the continent will have a pool of experts at national, regional and continental level who can provide training on this guide. I would like to end my remarks by reassuring you that the African Union Commission, through the African Migration Observatory and the African Union Institute for Statistics, will seek your expertise for the organization in the coming months of regional training on the guide. I would like to urge you to pay very particular attention to this training.

Allow me on behalf of the African Union Commission to express my sincere gratitude to IOM-GMDAC and also to Statistics Sweden for their unwavering support to the African Union Commission in the production and harmonization of quality statistics on migration in Africa.

 I wish you a fruitful deliberation.

I thank you.