Episode 34: Tracking mixed migration flows in West Africa - insights from the Mixed Migration Centre

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Hello and welcome to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, hosted by me, Loksan Harley, from Homelands Advisory, your independent migration and diaspora agency. Today, I'm delighted to be joined by Aurélia Donnard to talk about mixed migration in West Africa.

Aurélia became Mixed Migration Manager for West Africa at the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) in Dakar in August last year. She first joined the MMC West Africa Team as the 4Mi Project Manager in January 2020.

Aurélia has worked for the past decade on community-led development and human rights projects for the Senegal-based NGO Tostan and Amnesty International's HQ in the UK. She has also worked for the French Embassy in Senegal and for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (now that sounds like quite an extraordinary job).

I'd been trying to get Aurélia on the show for a while now because the MMC does so much great data collection on mixed migration flows in various regions of the world, especially across the African continent where I've worked a lot.

Aurélia tells us all about how MMC does all of this marvellous research, including through the Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4Mi), a network of monitors along key migration routes. 4Mi collects data at a surprising level of granularity on a range of mobility issues. Aurélia talks us through some of the challenges in managing that work and some of the fascinating insights she's gained into the sub-region's emerging West African mixed migration trends.

Oh and you'll also hear the birds of Dakar squawking away during the interview but don't worry, we do change locations about 15 minutes in so please do bear with us.

In any case, without further ado, please do enjoy the show.

Useful links

• Connect with Aurélia - linkedin.com/in/aurélia-donnard-3267bb12
• MMC - https://mixedmigration.org/
• MMC West Africa - https://mixedmigration.org/regions/west-africa/
• 4Mi - https://mixedmigration.org/4mi/4mi-interactive/
• Migration in the Sahel: Putting Human Rights and Cooperation on the Map - https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/migration-sahel-putting-human-rights-and-cooperation-map-29297
• Related Episode 24 on the Missing Migrants Project - https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/20457abd/episode-24-the-missing-migrants-project-tracking-missing-and-deceased-migrants
• Related Episode 5 on Children on-the-move in West and Central Africa - https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/20c80d46/episode-5-children-on-the-move-in-west-and-central-africa-context-vulnerabilities-and-protection-needs