The Guidelines for the harmonization of migration data in the West Africa region is intended for different range of users of migration data, such as migration researchers, policymakers, as well as national and regional experts working on migration-related mandates. The Guidelines is established within existing regional and global legal frameworks (such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocols, African Union conventions and the Sustainable Development Goals) and suggests creative ways of asking questions that will help to identify which types of data are needed and possible data sources for key population groups of interest to ECOWAS, including how to collect and analyse them. It builds on information captured during different ECOWAS and member States fora in order to propose means of exploiting migration data, while ensuring that they lead to evidence-based policies. It also highlights definitions of migration terms and concepts, as well as practical ways of disseminating and sharing migration data at the national and regional levels, including the use of migration profiles, migration data briefings, as well as other online channels. Finally, it presents a two-year action plan for the collection and analysis of migration data for ECOWAS and its member States.

The document is produced within the jointly funded European Union–ECOWAS project, Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa).