'Absence of data is failing districts to plan for climate induced youth migrants'
Data will help the districts to plan for services like health facilities, livelihood settlement and reception centres and also skilling programmes, especially for young people running away from their home districts due to the effects of climate change like hunger, floods and landslides.
(Courtesy)
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Researchers from Makerere University’s School of Public Health have appealed to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics to work with neighbouring districts that are prone to floods, landslides, droughts, among others.
Data will help the districts to plan for services like health facilities, livelihood settlement and reception centres and also skilling programmes, especially for young people running away from their home districts due to the effects of climate change like hunger, floods and landslides.
The call was made by Dr Rwalance Ndejjo, the Principal Investigator of the Cities of Youth Project, during a Symposium on Climate-Induced Youth Migration in Uganda, which was held as part of celebrations to mark International Youth Day this week.
Ndejjo said research was initiated following the 2023 World Bank report that estimated that there would be 12 million people moving within Uganda by 2050 due to climate-related factors.
That informed the research that wanted to know if people would be moving to Kampala directly. Researchers decided to focus on secondary cities like Mbale and Mbarara that are closer to districts prone to the effects of climate change.
“The top two cities were identified through a stakeholder’s engagement — Mbale being a hub for young people coming from the Bugisu, Teso and Karamoja region, and then Mbarara city being a hub for those coming in from the southwestern region, Kasese areas — to give us good snapshots in terms of understanding this complex problem of climate youth migration,” said Ndejjo.
The study, which kicked off in 2024 and was supported by the University of Southern Denmark, Tufts University, and Makerere University with support from Danida, continues till 2028.
Symposium chief guest, youth and children's state minister Dr Lakisa Mercy Faith, called for the creation of resilient livelihood opportunities in communities to prevent youth migration.
“By creating resilient livelihoods and opportunities within local communities, we can ensure that young people are not merely surviving climate-induced displacement, but becoming leaders of Uganda’s urban transformation,” she said.
Based on the findings, Ndejjo is now calling on cities closer to flood and landslide disaster districts to create special places that welcome youth migrants in times of climate change crisis.
“When young people get into cities, they get into precarious employment opportunities; many of them are not even able to find jobs or something to do, and we think this is something that the cities can support in terms of creating reception centres from where these young people can be helped,” he said.