Organised under the framework of the water and migration working group of WASAG (Global Framework for Water Scarcity in Agriculture) and the MARIS network (Migration, Agriculture and Resilience: Initiative for Sustainability), this webinar aims to share knowledge on linkages between water insecurity and outmigration from rural areas.
Draft agenda
Welcome remarks and introduction (Liza Debevec, IWMI and Julienne Roux, GWP - moderators)
Sharing knowledge on linkages between water and outmigration from rural areas:
• Water, agriculture, and rural migration (Patrica Mejias, FAO - to be confirmed)
• Linkages between water and outmigration from rural areas: the bigger picture and cases of Ethiopia and Nepal (Alan Nicol, (WMI)
Water - migration nexus: the case of the Congo Basin (Nichi Nagabhatla, UNU-INWEH)
Facilitated Q&A discussion
Background
Many discourses, pre-conceptions, and controversies surround the migration debate, especially focusing on international migration from lower income countries to richer countries and often simplistic perceptions about motivations and impacts. This webinar will present evidence and knowledge gaps and start a discussion on implications for potential interventions, highlighting issues of water insecurity and impacts on community members left behind.
The focus will be on outmigration from rural areas, especially, but not limiting to, examining environmental drivers of migration, including the role played by water insecurity, and the impacts of outmigration on the livelihoods of those who are left behind, especially women, those without land and youth.
The objectives of the webinar are to:
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Share knowledge on rural outmigration and its linkages with water insecurity and impacts
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Start discussing implications for development and policy interventions
Contribute to expand awareness on the nuances, including positive and negative, and complexities of migration, particularly for rural youth and vulnerable members of the communities -
The main target audience are policy makers and development practitioners, especially those focusing on rural development, agriculture, water resources management.
