More than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015, sparking a humanitarian crisis as European countries struggled to cope with the unprecedented influx of people. The vast majority of migrants arrived by sea, yet a large number of people made their way over land, through Turkey and the Western Balkans.
Despite its severity, the so-called European migration crisis was marked by significant information gaps related to the intentions and profiles of migrants as well as the factors motivating their decision to leave their place of origin and select a specific destination in Europe. These information gaps inhibited humanitarian planning and response and contributed to several unfounded assumptions on migration and the crisis.
In support of the humanitarian response, IMPACT, through its initiative REACH, established a displacement monitoring mechanism to assess the trends and profiles of the new arrivals. Through this intervention, REACH was able to produce monthly updates on migration trends. The data gathered provided consistent and regular information for actors leading humanitarian response to the dynamic situation. The information provided by REACH was also used by decision-making stakeholders, including humanitarian actors and policy-makers within the EU.
Every month, IMPACT Initiatives will introduce a member of its staff working in the field and who is actively engaged in collecting information from affected populations to explore what drives them to keep improving humanitarian action. In January, meet Alya, the compelling 24-year-old Ukrainian whose moral compass, after leaving her homeland in Eastern Ukraine, led her to the REACH offices in Kyiv.
Every month, IMPACT Initiatives will introduce a member of its staff working in the field and who is actively engaged in collecting information from affected populations to explore what drives them to keep improving humanitarian action. In December, meet Mohamed Shire, the cheerful 26-year-old Somalian whose current life revolves around helping communities in his home country.
Minor towns in the Diffa region of Niger are becoming heavily affected by displacement. In this region, where more than 250,000 people are forcibly displaced, urban systems have a limited capacity to absorb the increasingly significant number of arrivals. To relieve the pressures caused by these arrivals, humanitarians work hand in hand with local communities.
Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic, is slowly emerging from the onset of a major crisis sparked in 2013 by the ousting of President François Bozizé. Seven years later, IMPACT, via its AGORA initiative, is working within neighbourhoods to support local actors towards recovery.
Half of the global population now live in urban areas, as opposed to a third in the 1950s. Given the current pace of urbanisation, this figure will continue to increase, particularly in lower-middle-income countries. This fundamental demographic shift is altering the lives of millions and is producing new challenges for humanitarian actors responding to crises in urban settings.
IMPACT Initiatives and UNHCR are joining forces for the UNHCR-NGO annual consultations and facilitating a workshop on area-based assessments, their use, strengths and weaknesses. Join us for an engaging session that will place you in the heart of urban refugee response planning.
Southern Idleb and northern Hama, part of the last opposition-held territory in Syria, have seen renewed intensification of conflict. Due to the intensity of escalation and the seizing of key opposition-held areas, the ongoing clashes could develop into a final offensive which is feared to spiral into one of the worst humanitarian tragedies of the 21st century.
The wind and rain had gone on for days, and they kept rising. By the 14th of March, winds had reached a speed of 195 kilometres per hour. The eye of the storm turned inland and over the coastal city of Beira. A city home to half a million people. This is the story of Cyclone Idai and REACH’s response to it.
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