Displacement futures: innovative approaches to predict climate and conflict-induced forced displacement for anticipatory action

Jun 16, 2025 | 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Ground Floor & Floors 3-5, Niagra Building

Description

Over the past few years, there has been growing recognition within the humanitarian sector of the need for data-driven anticipatory action, which with technological advancements and the growing availability of time-sensitive data, is becoming an increasingly important tool in the humanitarian toolkit. The practical use of migration forecasting in humanitarian settings has shown great potential to assist relief agencies in preparing contingency planning for sudden crises and ensure that the affected populations receive the help they need on time. Forced displacements caused by sudden events like natural disasters or outbreaks of armed conflict tend to be easier to model using machine learning than migration movements that are influenced by a much larger number of factors. Nevertheless, developing context-specific prediction instruments is time-consuming, and typically relies on an ensemble of prediction systems of real disaster and conflict events. This makes the cooperation and the creation of a community of practicians and actors working on predictive data for emergencies essential. This session will bring together representatives from UN agencies, other humanitarian organizations, and academia to showcase innovative approaches and methods used in the prediction of forced displacement. Moderator: Andrea Pellandra, Senior Data Scientist, UNHCR Speakers: - Katharine Donato, Donald G. Herzberg Professor of International Migration, Georgetown University - Diana Suleimenova, Lecturer in Computer Science, Brunel University of London - Bo Schwartz Madsen, Data Scientist, Danish Refugee Council - Andrew Wells, Data Scientist, UNHCR - Ahmed Amdihun, Programme Manager, IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC)