Water and migration: A global overview

The report aims to start unpacking relationships between water and migration. The data used in this report are collected from available public sources and reviewed in the context of water and climate. A three-dimensional (3D) framework is outlined for water-related migration assessment. The included case studies reflect on well-known examples of environmental and water degradation, but with a focus on displacement/migration and socioeconomic challenges that apply. The report also examines global agreements, institutions, and policies on migration to provide an aggerated outlook as to how international and inter-agency cooperation agreements and policies either reflected or are missing on water and climate crises as direct or indirect triggers to migration.

Overall, the synthesis offers a global overview of water and migration for researchers and professionals engaged in migration-related work. For international agencies and government organizations and policymakers dealing with the assessment of and response to migration, the report aims to support the work on migration assessment and the implementation of the SDGs. The report may serve as a public good towards understanding the drivers, impacts, and challenges of migration, for designing long-term solutions and for advancing migration management capabilities through improved knowledge and a pitch for consensus-building.

The new directives related to migration governance, i.e., the New York Declaration and the Global Compact for Migration, are also discussed. The report recommends an enhanced focus on migration as an adaptation strategy to maximize the interconnectedness with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It calls for the migration discourse to look beyond from a preventative and problematic approach to a perspective emphasizing migration as a contributor towards achieving sustainable development, particularly SDGs 5, 6, 13, and 16 that aim strengthening capacities related to water, gender, climate, and institutions.