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Who we are
WHO WE AREThe International Organization for Migration (IOM) is part of the United Nations System as the leading inter-governmental organization promoting since 1951 humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all, with 174 member states and a presence in over 100 countries.
Structure
Structure
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Our Work
Our WorkAs the leading inter-governmental organization promoting since 1951 humane and orderly migration, IOM plays a key role to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through different areas of intervention that connect both humanitarian assistance and sustainable development.
Cross-cutting Priorities
Cross-cutting Priorities
- Where we work
- Take Action
- Data and Research
- 2030 Agenda

Type: Regional consultative process on migration (region covered: Europe)
Formal association with regional or multi-stakeholder organization: None
Established: 2009
Objectives
The objectives of the Prague Process are to generally strengthen cooperation in migration management, and specifically to explore and develop agreed-upon principles and elements for close migration partnerships between the participating countries.
Current Focus
- Initiated under the Czech presidency of the EU through the endorsement of the “Building Migration Partnerships” joint declaration;
- Proceeds through Action Plans endorsed through regular Ministerial Conferences and annual Senior Officials Meetings;
- Focuses on asylum, legal migration, irregular migration and migration and development; and
- Supports the EU's Global Approach to Migration and Mobility.
Country chairing
Current Chair: Czechia
Past Chair: Lithuania (2018-2020), Poland (2011-2017)
Secretariat
- Secretariat is termed “project support unit”, and is run by ICMPD with funding from the European Union. In August 2012 - January 2016, Poland and six other leading states (Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden) implemented the EU-funded initiative “Support for the Implementation of the Prague Process and its Action Plan”, also known as the “Prague Process Targeted Initiative” (PP TI), which supported the Prague Process Secretariat.
- Members
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Members States (50 States)
- Albania
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/1999)
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Netherlands, The
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Uzbekistan
Note: Since its establishment only one new Member State joined the Prague Process - Belarus in 2010.
Member Organizations (8 organizations)
The European Commission and its 4 entities:
- European Asylum Support Office (EASO)
- European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex)
- European Training Foundation (ETF)
- European Union External Action Service (EEAS)
One process:
- Observers
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None. International or regional organizations may be invited to observe Prague Process meetings on an ad hoc basis.
- Meetings
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- February 12, 2021, Virtual event, Webinar on demography and migration in the Prague Process region
- January 28, 2021, Virtual event, Policy Talk on Migration Outlook for 2021: From COVID-19 to the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum
- December 16, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar ‘From refugee crises to labour migration – and back? Lessons for migration policies in the Western Balkans’
- November 23, 2020, Virtual event, The 3rd International Conference on Comprehensive Border Management
- November 16, 2020, Virtual event, Senior Officials' Meeting
- October 22, 2020, Virtual event, Policy Talk on the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum: What role for international cooperation?
- October 6-8, 2020, Virtual event, Online Workshop on Posted Migrant Workers
- October 6, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar on Building better return and reintegration programs
- September 24, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar on the EU Framework for Legal Migration: Lessons learned and main challenges
- September 10, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar on migration and the platform economy
- July 2, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar on maximizing labour migration outcomes in the Prague Process corridors practices on how to benchmark countries of destination in June 2020
- June 18, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar on Assessing the EU’s External Migration Policy
- June 9, 2020, Virtual event, Online Training Workshop on Identification and Profiling on the Border
- May 28, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar on the impact of COVID-19 on Ukrainian Labour migrants in the EU
- May 15, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar on the impact of Corona-crisis on migration
- April 16, 2020, Virtual event, Webinar on the possible impact of COVID-19 on the EU’s demand for high-skilled migrants
- October 8- 10, 2019, Vilnius, Lithuania,Training Workshop on Data Gathering and Exchange
- September 24-26, 2019, Podgorica, Montenegro,Training on Labor Migration
- July 23-24, 2019, Vienna, Austria,Research Coordination Meeting
- June 10-11, 2019 , Bucharest, Romania,Prague Process 10th Anniversary and Senior Officials' Meeting
- December 17 - 18, 2018, Prague, Czech Republic,Senior Officials' Meeting
- October 2-3, 2018, Skopje, Macedonia, 1st Workshop on Data Gathering and Exchange
- June 28-29, 2018, Vienna, Austria, Research Coordination Meeting of the Migration Observatory
- June 5-7, 2018, Rome, Italy , 1st Thematic Training of the Training Academy “Effective International Protection - Advanced Training for High-Quality Asylum Procedures”
- April 1-30, 2018, Vienna, Austria, 1st Research Coordination Meeting
- March 20, 2018, Brussels, Belgium, Mobility Partnership Facility ( MPF) II Steering Group Meeting
- February 20, 2018, Brussels, Belgium, Strategic Group Meeting
- December 12, 2017, Warsaw, Poland, Senior Officials' Meeting
- September 15, 2017, Prague, Czech Republic, Meeting of the Prague Process Strategic Group
- April 24-26, 2017, Prague, Czech Republic, Workshop on irregular migration
- June 13, 2017, Brussels, Belgium, Closing Ceremony of the Prague Process TI project .
- September 20, 2016, Bratislava, Slovakia, 3rd Prague Process Ministerial Conference.
- September 19, 2016, Bratislava, Slovakia, Senior Officials Meeting.
- June 15-16, 2016, Cracow, Poland, Senior Officials Meeting.
- May 25, 2016, Vienna, Austria, Project Steering Committee Meeting.
- April 5, 2016, Warsaw, Poland, Sixth Core Group Meeting.
- February 11-12, 2016, Sofia, Bulgaria, National Contact Points meeting on the Knowledge base, data collection and analysis.
- December 7-8, 2015, Prague, Czech Republic, Senior Officials' Meeting .
- July 6-7, 2015, Budapest, Hungary, Senior Officials' Meeting.
- February 12-13, 2015, Lisbon, Portugal, Workshop “Applied Knowledge in a Migration Policy Dialog: data collection, exchange, and application”.
- October 28-29, 2014, Berlin, Germany, Senior Officials' Meeting.
- May 6-7, 2014, Yerevan, Armenia, Pilot Project 2 (Legal Migration) and Pilot Project 3 (Migration and Development) Joint Workshop.
- March 19-20, 2014, Nuremberg, Germany, Pilot Project 4 Final Conference.
- February 27-28, 2013, Prague, Czech Republic, Senior Officials' Meeting.
- January 2013, Chisinau, Moldova, Expert-level Workshop on Migration Profiles.
- November 20, 2012, Warsaw, Poland, Core Group Meeting.
- November, 2011, Poland, Ministerial Conference.
- Documents
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- Bratislava Ministerial Declaration
- Prague Process Factsheet
- Discussion paper "Five years of the Prague Process: taking stock and moving forward"
More documents are available on https://www.pragueprocess.eu/en/resources/repository
- Contact Information
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Prague Process Secretariat
ICMPD Headquarters
Gonzagagasse 1, 5th floor, Vienna, Austria
E-mail: PragueProcess@icmpd.org
Tel: +43 1 504 4677 0Website
https://www.pragueprocess.eu