Berlin — Germany’s Federal Foreign Office and IOM, the UN Migration Agency’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) will launch today (15/12) the Migration Data Portal in Berlin. The Migration Data Portal brings together the key facts and figures about global migration trends in one place for the first time. 
“Especially in critical times, such as those we are facing today, it is our task to ensure that responses to migration are based on sound facts and accurate analysis,” said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing.
The idea to develop such a portal was first discussed and agreed upon on 12 July 2016, at the 2nd Berlin Roundtable on Refugees and Migration, where the former German Foreign Minister met with heads of international organizations working on migration, including IOM, UNHCR, the IFRC, the EC and the World Bank. The Portal was developed by IOM and with the support of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The Migration Data Portal was developed with financial support from the US Department of State and Germany’s Federal Foreign Office.
The portal communicates global data on migration through visualizations, infographics and videos. It simplifies the navigation through complex international migration data for policy makers, journalists, statisticians and anyone interested in migration.
The portal also covers a wide range of topics including data on immigration and emigration trends; the linkages between migration and development; data on irregular migration; students and children; and data on migration policies as defined by the United Nations development goals and background on a global compact on migration expected to be adopted by the UN in 2018.
At its initial stage, the portal features 70 indicators from 15 international data providers (UNDESA, UNHCR and World Bank among others) and aggregates data at the national, regional and global levels. This range offers ample opportunities to explore and compare data while, understanding the context behind it. 
“At a time when migration is high on the global agenda, it is essential that everyone has access to the key facts and figures about migration, and that we better understand the strengths and weaknesses of data on migration,” said Frank Laczko, Director of IOM´s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre.
German foreign policy employs a coherent strategy to manage migratory movements more efficiently and to address the root causes of forced migration. For fact-based policies and responses, reliable data are vital to ensure efficient, needs-based humanitarian aid, to counter harmful assumptions and to fight populism.
The development of the Migration Data Portal is a big step forward towards making the multitude of data on migration better and more available to policy makers.
The Migration Data Portal will scale up in coming months, making more data available at the regional and national levels. Visit the Migration Data Portal at: www.migrationdataportal.org
For more information contact Stylia Kampani at IOM GMDAC: Tel: +49 (0)30 278 778 16; Email: skampani@iom.int.