Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA)

This page contains general information about the MIDSA but it is not its official website.

Type:  Regional Consultative Proces on Migration (region covered: Africa)

Association with regional or multi-stakeholder organization: Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Established: 2000

Objectives

The Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) creates a framework for a regular migration dialogue among the Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to enhance inter-state cooperation in an effort to improve migration governance through:

• Discussion of migration issues among SADC Member States in an informal seeting, sharing experience and challenges, and finding solutions collectively, to improve migration management in the SADC region.
• Promotion of the positive aspects of migration among SADC Member States; and
• Development of regional institutional capacities to improve migration governance while strengthening the capacity of Governments to meet their migration challenges in a comprehensive, interactive, self-reliant and, ultimately, sustainable way.

Current Thematic Focus

Specific areas of focus include:

• Border management
• Combatting human trafficking
• Combatting migrant smuggling
• Irregular migration
• Plow migration
• Migrant health
• Migrants' rights
• Migration and development
• Return and readmission
• Migration governance
• Unaccompanied migrant children / separated children

Chairing Country:

• The chairmanship is term-based and rotates among the member States of the MIDSA.  The following countries have recently chaired the MIDSA: Madagascar (2025); Angola (2024); Democratic Republic of Congo (2023), Malawi (2022), Mozambique (2021), Tanzania (2020), Namibia (2019), South Africa (2017), Eswatini (2016); Botswana (2015)’Zimbabwe (2014); Malawi (2013), Mozambique (2012); Angola (2011); Namibia (2010); Democratic Republic of Congo (2009); South Africa (2008); Zambia (2007); Kingdom of Lesotho (2006); Botswana (2005); Mauritius (2004); Tanzania (2003); Angola (2002); Namibia (2001-2002); Mozambique (2000–2001); South Africa (2000).

Secretariat

• IOM provides technical and administrative support to the MIDSA.

Selected Meetings

• October 3-6, 2023, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, MIDSA Ministerial and Experts Meeting "Promoting Regional Integration through Making Migration Safe, Regular, and Orderly in the Southern African Region
• November 7-10, 2022, Malawi, MIDSA Senior Officials Meeting “Strengthening Migration Management in Southern Africa through Scaling-up Interventions that Facilitate Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Southern Africa”
• October 25-28, 2021, Maputo, Mozambique, MIDSA Ministerial Meeting “Reviewing Approaches to Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration in the Context of COVID-19 in the Southern Africa Region”
• June 25-28, 2019 Windhoek, Namibia, Senior Officials' and Ministerial Meetings, “Regional Migration Governance and Sustainable Development: Priorities for the Southern Africa Region”
• September 11 - 13, 2018, Pretoria, South Africa, Senior Officials 'Meeting “Enhancing Migration Governance in the Southern Africa Region: Harnessing the Youth Dividend for Sustainable Development and Regional Integration” June 27-28, 2018, South Africa, Senior Officials' Meeting
• September 2-4, 2017, Ezulwini, Eswatini, Ministerial Meeting "Addressing Mixed Migration in Southern Africa: Linking Protection, Immigration, Border Management and Labor Migration".
• August 16-18, 2016, Gaborone, Botswana, Technical Meeting: Addressing Mixed Migration in Southern Africa: Linking Protection, Immigration, Border Management and Labor Migration ".
• July 7-9, 2015, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Ministerial Meeting under the theme, “Addressing Mixed and Irregular Migration in the SADC region: Protection of the Unaccompanied Migrant Child”. FInal Declaration ( EN | FR | PR ).
• June 30- July 2, 2014 - Lilongwe, Malawi, Senior Officials' Meeting under the theme, “Taking Stock of Efforts to Address Mixed and Irregular Migration” .
• July 10-11, 2013 - Maputo, Mozambique, Ministerial meeting under the theme “Enhancing Labor Migration and in the SADC Region”.
• August 27-29, 2012 - Balaclava, Mauritius, Technical Meeting to bring together Southern African Development Community (SADC) Permanent Secretaries responsible for issues of migration and their counterparts responsible for labor mobility. 
• November 15-17, 2010 - Windhoek, Namibia, MIDSA Ministerial Conference on Migration through Regional Cooperation,

Selected Documents

• SADC GCM Regional Review 2022
• SADC Labor Migration Action Plan for 2013-2015
• SADC Labor Migration Action Plan for 2016-2019
• SADC Irregular Migration and Mixed Migration Action Plan for 2015-2018
• Final MIDSA 2016 Conclusions and Recommendations
• Report and Recommendations of the MIDSA Conference on Adressing Mixed and Irregular Migration in the SADC Region: Protection of the Unaccompanied Migrant Child (2015)
• 2015 Ministerial Declaration, Victoria Falls ( EN | FR | PR )
• 2013 MIDSA Ministerial Report and Recommendations, Maputo
• 2010 MIDSA Ministerial Report and Recommendations, Windhoek

MIDSA Workshop Reports:

• 2009 Promoting Health and Development
• 2006 Irregular Migration
• 2005 Migration Management
• 2004 Development
• 2004 Health
• 2004 Smuggling
• 2003 Extra Regional
• 2003 Forced Migration
• 2003 Trafficking
• 2002 Trafficking

MIDSA Workshop Report and Recommendations:

• 2003 | 2005 | 2005 (Building Capacity) | 2006 (Migration, Poverty and Development) | 2007 | 2008

Related Links

• Inter-State Consultation Mechanisms on Migration
• Inter-Regional Forums on Migration (IRFs)
• Regional consultative processes on migration (RCPs)
• Global Processes on Migration
• Online Repository of ISCM Materials
• Global ISCM Meeting (GRCP) 
• ISCMs, Policy Dialogue on Migration and Migration Governance 

Contact information

Website
https://ropretoria.iom.int/