Accra: Mr. Eric Kwame Akomani, National Project Officer for IOM Ghana, has appealed to the government to prioritize informal settlements in infrastructure planning by addressing the specific needs and realities of these communities. He highlighted the challenges these settlements face, such as inadequate access to basic services like water, sanitation, and electricity.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Akomani emphasized that by focusing on informal settlements in infrastructure planning, policymakers can promote more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable development. He made these remarks during a presentation on Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change within the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), following up on the Africa Climate Summit II.
IOM, along with city officials from Accra, Addis Ababa, and Bujumbura, participated in the African Climate Summit II and organized a side event titled 'Assessing the Impacts of Climate-Induced Mobility on Cities in Africa.' To maintain national momentum, IOM Ghana and AMA conducted a media briefing to discuss key findings from research on the interconnections between human mobility and climate change.
Mr. Akomani advocated for the development of a funding strategy to allocate resources for implementing climate change and human mobility adaptation actions. He also stressed the need for investments in local data systems to track displacement and collect sex and age-disaggregated data, ensuring that mobile and displaced populations are accurately represented in real-time decision-making.
He warned that Accra's future relies on managing risk, mobility, and equity, noting that the intersection of climate change, internal migration, and gender inequality in the AMA is a crucial policy frontier. Mr. Akomani called for early warning systems, early identification of vulnerable individuals, and the development of a gender-sensitive and transparent monitoring system.
Additionally, he urged the AMA to create a Climate Mobility Tracker to capture intra-urban movement, seasonal displacement, and gender-specific vulnerabilities.
