Capacity-building for Migration and Sustainable Development in Tonga

Ensuring well-managed migration is a priority for Tonga, which is one of the most mobile and remittance-dependent countries in the world. Additionally, climate change impacts on domestic livelihoods and additional economic and social pressures mean that well-managed migration will become even more important for sustainable human development and climate change adaptation in Tonga. However, data gaps in migration and development limit the capacity of the Government of Tonga (GoT) to develop evidence-based migration and sustainable development policy and programmes.

The objective of this project is to contribute to well-managed migration as a sustainable development strategy in Tonga. The first output is: “data relating to migration and sustainable development in Tonga is available”. To achieve this, this project will begin by facilitating data collection relating to migration and development in Tonga. IOM will recruit an expert consultant to undertake this data collection including qualitative and quantitative research which will be shared with government stakeholders in a research report. The second output is: “the GoT has increased capacity (tools, skills and knowledge) to implement evidence-based migration and sustainable development policy and programmes”. IOM will assist the GoT to develop a Migration and Sustainable Development Policy (MSDP) informed by the data collected under the first output. IOM will organise a national consultation hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nuku’alofa to bring together the key actors in-country to develop the policy. Additionally, IOM will deliver a training on the implementation of the policy and facilitate the development of a MSDP Roadmap to identify next steps for operationalizing the policy. This project will contribute to IOM’s Pacific Strategy Priority 1: “migrants and migration-affected communities benefit from migration as a sustainable development and climate change adaptation strategy.”