IOM/UN — Summer Fellowship 2025

Overview

In summer 2025, PDRI–DevLab fellows partnered with the International Organization for Migration (IOM/UN) to explore how innovative data can inform humanitarian action and how migration policy can better support returnees and reintegration.

Students worked across two tracks: a global Compendium of Data Innovations and country-level migration briefs for Latin America and the Caribbean. Findings were presented at IOM Headquarters in Washington, DC, on September 5, 2025.

Project 1 — Global Compendium of Innovative Data Initiatives

Team: Nikita Sadov · Jennifer Mesa · Sonya Colattur (PORES) · Zainab Adeoye · Zion Abebe

  • Objective: Catalogue and analyze IOM’s most innovative data initiatives worldwide.

  • Contributions:

    • Documented 22 IOM-led projects, ranging from climate vulnerability mapping in Afghanistan to foresight analysis in Latin America.

    • Highlighted innovations such as mobility tracking, rootedness indices, and displacement intention surveys.

    • Produced The Development Dividend: Unlocking Progress through Data, a co-branded global report.

  • Why It Matters: Provides the first consolidated overview of IOM’s innovation portfolio, helping donors and policymakers identify scalable models.

  • Next Steps (AY 2025/26): Disseminate report at UN forums; expand visualization interface; feed findings into IOM’s climate/displacement financing strategy.

Project 2 — LAC Country Migration Briefs (Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia)

Team: Fernanda Quintanilla · Alejandro Garcia · Talyah Pierce (PORES)

  • Objective: Produce concise, policy-ready briefs on return migration and reintegration challenges.

  • Methods: Desk reviews of migration flows and reintegration policies; analysis of voluntary and forced returns; synthesis of IOM, UNHCR, and national data.

  • Key Findings:

    • Mexico: Returnees face stigma, limited credit access, and poor job-matching in informal labor markets.

    • Guatemala: Deportees, often young men, are vulnerable to gang targeting and corruption; rural support is thin.

    • Colombia: Return migration intersects with internal displacement and Venezuelan inflows, creating complex policy challenges.

  • Why It Matters: These briefs provide actionable evidence for IOM country offices and government partners.

  • Next Steps (AY 2025/26): Validation workshops with IOM and ministries; expand analysis to additional LAC countries; produce a regional synthesis for policymakers.

Outputs in Progress

  • Global Compendium report and web-based visualization.

  • Country migration briefs (Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia) + comparative regional synthesis.

  • Integration of findings into IOM’s strategy on reintegration and displacement financing.

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