Our Mission
We bring together civil society, activists, and experts engaged in climate, migration, and displacement issues to improve understanding and align advocacy across policy spaces.
Steering Group
Nina Birkeland, Senior Adviser on Disaster Displacement & Climate Change, Norwegian Refugee Council
Andrew Fuys, Senior Director, Global Migration, Church World Service
Shakirul Islam, Chairman, Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP)
Pefi Kingi, PacificWIN and Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations
Marie Lobjoy, International Advocacy Officer, International Migration, Secours Catholique-Caritas France
Helena Olea, Associate Director of Programs, Alianza Americas
Ranjan Panda, Convener, Water Initiatives
Jocelyn Perry, Senior Advocate & Program Manager, Climate Displacement, Refugees International
Salote Soqo, Director of Advocacy, Global Displacement, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Evalyn Tennant, Independent Consultant
Christian Wolff, Migration & Displacement Programme Manager, ACT Alliance
Participating Organizations
& Focal Points
ACT Alliance
Christian Wolff, Migration & Displacement Programme Manager
ActionAid
TBD
Alianza Americas
Helena Olea, Associate Director of Programs
Amy Shannon, Senior Adviser
Hazel Contreras, Regional Coordinator
Brot fuer die Welt
Annika Rach, Consultant, International Climate Advisor
Cecilia Nicoletti, Advocacy Officer on Migration
Church World Service (CWS)
Andrew Fuys, Senior Director, Global Migration
Civil Society Action Committee
Colin Rajah, Coordinator
Climate Refugees
Amali Tower, Founder & Executive Director
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Clara Long, Associate Director, U.S. Migrants’ Rights
HIAS
Naomi Steinberg, Vice President, Policy & Advocacy
International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)
Stéphane Jaquemet, Policy Director
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
Nisha Agarwal, Deputy Executive Director
Mercy International Association
Cecilie Kern, Global Policy & Research Advocate
Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)
William Gois, Regional Coordinator
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
Alma Maquitico, Co-Director
Norwegian Refugee Council
Nina Birkeland, Senior Adviser, Disaster Displacement & Climate Change
Trine Jensen, Grants Management Officer
Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP)
Shakirul Islam, Chairman
Oxfam America
Noah Gottschalk, Global Policy Lead
Lauren Stuart, Associate Adviser, Climate Change
Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations & PacificWin
Pefi Kingi
Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU)
Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui, Founding Chair
Refugees International
Jocelyn Perry, Senior Advocate & Program Manager, Climate Displacement Program
Secours Catholique-Caritas France
Patricia Spadaro, Policy & Advocacy Officer, International Migration
SLYCAN Trust
Vositha Wijenayake, Executive Director
Dennis Mombauer, Director, Research & Knowledge Management
South American Network for Environmental Migrations - RESAMA
Erika Pires Ramos, Founder
Unlad Kabayan
Mayan Villalba, Senior Advisor & Member of the Board
Ann Jean Lumaya, Co-Director
Alma Luzada, Co-Director
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
Salote Soqo, Director of Advocacy, Global Displacement
Water Initiatives
Ranjan Panda, Convener
Participating
Individuals
Jerome Elie
Senior Policy Officer, Head of Forced Migration, ICVA
Kati Garrison
Amina Maharjan
Senior Specialist, Livelihoods & Migration, ICIMOD
Jessica Olson
Senior Climate Lead—Gender, Equity, & Environment, Sierra Club
John Slocum
Executive Director, Refugee Council USA
Doreen Stabinsky
Professor, College of the Atlantic
Catherine Tactaquin
Former Executive Director, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Evalyn Tennant
Beza Tesfaye
Director of Research & Learning, Migration & Climate Change, Mercy Corps
Kimberley Thomas
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography & Urban Studies, Temple University
History
In 2018, a diverse coalition of civil society organizations formed the Climate, Migration, and Displacement Platform (CMDP) during the negotiations of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) to advocate for inclusion of language that explicitly acknowledged climate change as a driver of migration and on enhanced protection and migration pathways for people moving in such contexts. Since that time, CMDP has continued to bring together civil society organizations, activists, and experts to align advocacy and bridge gaps between climate justice, human and migrant rights, disaster risk reduction, humanitarian, and displacement advocacy communities interested in climate, migration, and displacement policy outcomes.
To date, CMDP has organized official submissions as a group to various processes, including for the 2020 UNHCR High Commissioner’s Dialogue, UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement, and the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice. CMDP has also played a formative role in climate change and migration thematic sessions at Civil Society Days held at the 11th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Marrakesh and the 13th GFMD in Quito. While these are global processes, CMDP and its members aim to ensure that the voices and needs of people in affected communities are more effectively reflected—and that these outcomes are conveyed to members and partners in ways that facilitate their access to advocacy, practical information, and tools they need to participate in the policies that affect their futures.