The Department of Social Development (DSD) and Statistics South Africa, have encouraged the public to make submissions for consideration to the scientific program of the first National Migration and Urbanisation Conference.
“The conference will culminate into the launch of the National Migration and Urbanisation Forum, a multi-stakeholder platform for the exchange of views on migration, with the aim of fostering a culture of an all-of-government approach towards migration management,” said the two bodies.
The conference seeks to bring together stakeholders interested in the study of migration.
“The conference will assist government by establishing a knowledge base of issues related to various aspects of migration and urbanisation to enable evidence to drive forward the drafting of policy and planning in this regard. The effects of COVID-19 on international and national migration is an issue that will cut across all the conference themes,” they said on Wednesday.
The 2020 Mid-Year Population Estimates published by Statistics South Africa estimates that there are 3.9 million migrants in South Africa.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) latest Data Snapshot of Migrant and Displaced Children in Africa, more than 642 000 migrant or displaced children currently live in South Africa.
In December 2020, the DSD, with the European Union and UNICEF, launched the “Children on the Move” programme to assist with the provision of basic services to documented and undocumented children living in South Africa.
The conference is expected to take place in July 2021 over a full week and will be premised around five key themes.
These include data and statistics; international migration; internal migration and urbanisation; substantive Issues around migration and policy issues.
Details on these themes are available on the conference website: http://migration.statssa.gov.za.
In addition, early career researchers or registered students across multiple disciplines are invited to submit posters that will be shown virtually, creating an opportunity for such scholars to present them to the conference audience.
Alternatively, submissions can also be made by the above group to present an oral presentation.
Interested academic institutions should please contact the Population Association of Southern Africa (PASA) at pasapapers@gmail.com.
Interested persons can submit abstracts via the conference website at http://migration.statssa.gov.za.
The closing date for submissions is 15 June 2021. –SAnews.gov.za
