Background

Data are a critical component of decision-making on migration. The importance of having accessible, disaggregated, reliable, timely, public, free and high-quality data in order to design public policies, inform public opinion and develop concrete actions is a fundamental aspect of IOM’s strategies both at the regional level of the Americas and globally, and is well recognized in international frameworks: 

• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

Target 17.18 “… increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status…” 

• Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) 

Objective 1- Collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence-based policies. 
Objective 3- Provide accurate and timely information at all stages of migration. 
Objective 17- Eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse to shape perceptions of migration. 

As the Coordinator and Secretariat of the United Nations Network on Migration, IOM is uniquely positioned to contribute to achieving regional and global objectives regarding improving the collection, management, analysis and dissemination of migration data. For this reason, IOM has also established its own institutional data strategy: 

• IOM Migration Data Strategy 

Objective 1 - Strengthen the global evidence based on migration. 
Objective 2 - Develop capacity of States and other relevant partners to enhance the national, regional and global migration evidence base. 
Objective 3 - Ensure more evidence-based IOM- and United Nations system-wide programming, operations, policy advice and communications. 

• Regional Strategy for Central America, North America and the Caribbean – IOM’s vision established for the region for the 2020-2024 period also contemplates the importance of data in its Pilar C, Governance – “Serving as a trusted and effective leader and partner in relevant bilateral, regional and international initiatives and processes”: 

Priority 4 - “Enhance the capacity of governments to collect, analyze and use migration and internal displacement data for evidence-based policymaking”.