Beyond Borders: SADC Pushed to Build Digital Infrastructure for 16.5 Million Displaced

The Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) 2025 session in Victoria Falls has framed the region's massive human movement as a critical digital and economic governance challenge, not just a humanitarian one.

Speaking at the technical opening, Frantz Celestin, the Regional Director for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in EHSA, underscored the urgency for a "digital backbone" to manage the crisis. Celestin highlighted staggering figures: over 16.5 million people are currently displaced by conflict and climate-related disasters across the East, Horn, and Southern Africa (EHSA) region in 2025.

With youth under 35 representing almost 70 percent of the total population, the IOM director stated, "the question before us is not whether people will move, but how we can make that movement safe, regular, and productive".

The solution, Celestin argued, is data and technology. He pointed out that IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) information already feeds directly into early warning and preparedness, showcasing "how evidence becomes the backbone of sound migration governance".

Echoing this focus on digital solutions, Alison Parker, UNICEF Deputy Regional Director, called for an immediate strengthening of "cross-border coordination and data systems". Parker stressed that digital tools are now essential to track cases, manage risks, and protect vulnerable children faster, demanding that these new systems "connect to existing SADC and national systems, so they last". The message is clear: the path to regional stability and economic productivity runs through a pan-African, interoperable digital platform.