The African Union (AU) on Friday inaugurated an organ which mainly serves to collect and analyze data about migration, dubbed African Migration Observatory. The AU said the shortcomings and scarcity of data on migration have limited the capacity of its member states to conceive coherent migration policies. The mechanism, which was launched in Rabat, Morocco, on Friday, facilitates the implementation of the Marrakesh global compact on migration through data collection and the promotion of continental and international cooperation in the field of migration and strengthening the contribution of migration to sustainable development, said AU in a statement. The African Migration Observatory, as an AU organ, aims to address the real and pressing need for Africa to generate knowledge and better understand the migration phenomenon. The AU Commissioner of Social Affairs, Amira Elfadil, said the African Migration Observatory becomes the first-ever such continental institution in Africa, and momentous in that it marks the beginning of the efforts towards generating data that is balanced and relevant to the needs of Africa in the field of migration. The informal character of migratory movements, the porosity of borders and the complexity of the collection of data on human mobility at the continental level, going from and to Africa have made the management of migratory movements very difficult. The mechanism is said to contribute to the improvement of the overall migration governance regime in Africa, and to serve as the African tool to address migratory data deficiencies on the continent, and guide African countries in the elaboration of evidence-based migration policies. It will among others provide the continent with a centralized, unified source of data on migration for further research, policy formulation and programming and to improve the overall migration governance regime in Africa. The observatory will aim at harmonizing the national strategies of African states and improving interactions with partners thus dealing with the collection and development of information on migration within Africa, the regulation of policies and their harmonization throughout Africa, and the interaction with partners abroad. It will also guide African countries in the elaboration of efficient migration policies within the context of the AU Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA).
