Life amidst a pandemic: Hunger, migration and displacement in the East and Horn of Africa. IOM -WFP Joint Report, June 2021

Building on the global joint work by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Programme (WFP) on the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on hunger, migration and displacement in the world from November 2020, this report aims to provide an overview of the unique challenges faced by migrants and forcibly displaced populations in the East and Horn of Africa (EHoA) region during 2020. This joint study explores the impacts of COVID-19 and related containment measures on migrant workers, remittance-dependent households and the forcibly displaced, and assesses the implications of the pandemic for people’s mobility, food security and other livelihood outcomes in major migration and hunger hotspots in the region. Already home to some of the most vulnerable populations globally, the EHoA has seen additional displacement and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 9 million people internally displaced by the end of 2020 alongside an estimated 5 million refugees and asylum seekers. The pandemic has further challenged the situation for the populations on the move in the EHoA, a region that is already weakened by conflict, insecurity, extreme weather conditions, climate change and pests.

The report provides a general overview to the region’s spontaneous returns and to some of the challenges faced by returning migrants.