Stronger Cooperation and Partnerships Needed to Address Human Mobility Dynamics along Routes in West and Central Africa: IOM, UNHCR

Dakar, Senegal – As migrant and refugee needs continue to mount along increasingly perilous routes across West and Central Africa, stronger coordination and partnerships are essential to ensure their protection, Government officials and UN representatives emphasized this week at a high-level regional workshop in Dakar, Senegal.

The two-day event jointly organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), brought together government officials from five West African countries –Chad, Mali, Mauritania Niger, and Senegal – as well as representatives from UN agencies, civil society organizations, technical and financial partners.

The conference aimed at strengthening unified strategies among governments, UN agencies, and civil society actors to operationalize the Route-Based Approach, a framework designed to provide a comprehensive and coordinated response along specific corridors of movement, rather than through isolated, country-by-country interventions. The Route-Based Approach also enables stakeholders to better analyze drivers of human mobility, anticipate pressures linked to economic, social and climatic factors, and harmonize services across borders.

The regional workshop focused on two mixed movement routes: the Atlantic route, which moves from West Africa towards Morocco and Spain, with refugees and migrants often sailing on unseaworthy vessels in open ocean; and the Central Mediterranean route, where refugees and migrants cross through the Sahara towards North Africa and Italy, with the support of smugglers and exploited by traffickers.

The convening of the meeting reflects stark realities on the ground. More than 9,000 people died on mixed movement routes worldwide in 2024, the highest ever according to IOM’s data. 12% of these deaths and disappearances took place in West and Central African land and territorial waters.

As of mid-2024, the West and Central Africa region hosts 11.3 million migrants, 77 per cent of whom come from another country within the region, reaffirming the strongly intraregional nature of mobility. At the same time, conflict, climate pressures and governance challenges have contributed to 21.8 million forcibly displaced people across the region as of October 2025.

Along these routes, migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons often travel along the same corridors, facing shared risks shaped by limited regular migration pathways, climate stress, economic precarity and insecurity.

“This workshop was a unique moment to reflect on what it will truly take to operationalize the Route-Based Approach. It calls for a shared and deeper understanding of the corridors and of the approach itself, a clear expression of government leadership and commitment, well-coordinated roles among partners, and the capacity to anticipate trends through data,” said Sylvia Ekra, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “When governments and key actors plan and act together along the same route, our collective impact become stronger, more cost-effective, and ultimately more humane and sustainable.”

Government officials exchanged perspectives on how to strengthen cooperation, share operational good practices, and address structural drivers of movement. Discussions highlighted a growing recognition that unilateral efforts cannot adequately address the complexity of mobility in the region and underscored the importance of maintaining structured cross-border dialogue to harmonize, plan, and deliver more effectively as pressures evolve.

Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, Regional Director of UNHCR for West and Central Africa, said:

“We recognize and commend the progress of states in mapping routes, analyzing trends, and understanding the risks faced by people on the move deepening our understanding of who moves, why they move, and the risks they face. This workshop brings that work together. The evidence base this data provides is essential to help adapt policies and design targeted programmes that strengthen State capacity to manage risks proactively by providing protection and local solutions to people on the move, before they risk their lives.”

Moving forward, participating governments committed to developing national action roadmaps in 2026, while establishing thematic working groups to sustain cross-border cooperation on critical issues including asylum procedures, access to protection services, and data collection systems.

For more information, please contact

• François-Xavier Ada, Spokesperson/Senior Media and Communications Officer, IOM Regional Office for West and Central Africa. Email: [email protected]
• Lara Schlotterbeck, Senior External Engagement Coordinator, UNHCR Regional Bureau for West and Central Africa Email: [email protected]