In a bid to improve inter-state and intra-regional cooperation on
migration management in East Africa, government officials from
countries in the region will meet on 12 May for a three-day event
in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The event, hosted by the African Union Commission (AU),
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and IOM, will
also aim to strengthen cooperation between IGAD member states and
transit migration countries such as Chad, Egypt, Libya, Niger,
Tunisia and Yemen.  Policy and operational challenges and
opportunities associated with migration in East Africa will also be
addressed.

This workshop, which will be attended by IOM Director General
Brunson McKinley is the first of its kind for the sub-region. It
follows various political developments concerning migration in
Africa, including the implementation of the AU strategic framework
for a migration policy in Africa and a joint EU-Africa Declaration
on Migration and Development aimed at enhancing cooperation on
migration management between the two continents.

 

The workshop will also set the stage for the launching of a
Regional Consultative Process (RCP) on migration for IGAD countries
comprising Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda who
had come together to find a regional approach to tackle widespread
famine, ecological degradation and extreme economic hardship in
East Africa caused by conflicts, recurring droughts and natural
disasters.

With these issues still outstanding in the new millennium
forcing many people to migrate within or out of the region often
irregularly, the creation of an RCP, in one of the few regions in
the world without such a migration forum and process, will allow
for regular dialogue between IGAD members as well as the
consolidation of existing efforts to cooperate on migration issues
and to establish new ones with other transit and destination
countries.

The IGAD RCP (IRCP) will also help to build the capacity of
member countries on migration management with a particular focus on
the role of migration on social and economic development.

An operational framework for the IRCP will be proposed on the
concluding day of the workshop which is funded by the European
Commission and various European governments including the United
Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands and Malta as part of the EU-Africa
dialogue on migration management issues in general and in
particular, the fight against irregular migration.

Among the propositions is the promotion of a dialogue on
migration for the whole of the East Africa region and international
organizations including IOM and other stakeholders, to support the
IGAD secretariat to develop a common regional migration policy that
would also harmonize laws, standards and procedures and share
information on migration issues.

For further information please contact:

Charles Kwenin

IOM Ethiopia

Tel: +251 11 550 4028

E-mail: "mailto:ckwenin@iom.int">ckwenin@iom.int

Or visit: "http://www.africa-union.org/" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.africa-union.org/

            
target="_blank" title="">http://www.igad.org/