Dialogue on migration management underway in Accra
Senior technical representatives from 27 countries have converged on Accra to dialogue on the effective management of international and internal migration.
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The participants are from relevant government agencies of countries that are part of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (GCM), Champions Country Initiative in Africa, Arab states, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 19, 2018, the GCM is a framework that seeks to tackle all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.
The three-day meeting, which was opened in Accra yesterday, is a follow-up to an earlier dialogue that took place in January 2023 in Rabat, Morocco.
It is being organised by the Regional UN Network on Migration in West and Central Africa, in collaboration with the government.
Among issues being discussed are data collection — promoting actionable steps for enhanced cross-regional information sharing to accelerate GCM implementation; ensuring migrant protection through cross-regional collaboration, strengthening responses to migrant smuggling, coordinating efforts to combat trafficking in persons, and preventing loss of life and opportunities for the future; regular pathways as a driver for development and protection and cross-regional collaboration, among others.
The Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery, said the meeting served as an interim measure for migration management in the country and also provided a platform for dialogue and collaboration for actors on migration.
He said the NCM also laid foundations for the establishment of a migration commission as provided for in the country’s migration policy.
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Giving an update on the country’s progress on the compact, Mr Dery said it was helping the government to ensure consistency across policy domains by integrating migration into national development plans.
He added that migration had been integrated into the country’s development policy framework and that broad consultations had been held with stakeholders to formalise the national implementation plan for the GCM in the country.
The minister urged the participants to focus on forging right partnerships towards the implementation of the compact in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Concerns
The United National Resident Coordinator, Charles Abani, said as long as stakeholders considered migration as a problem and not an enabler of solutions, key actors would struggle to effectively address challenges of migration and reap its developmental opportunities.
To build social cohesion and peace, he said, there was the need for all to embrace migration positively.
Mr Abani also wondered why persons who had benefited from government’s investment in education were leaving their countries to offer their expertise elsewhere after benefiting from the system.
He, however, urged governments, particularly in Africa to create an enabling environment for citizens to stay and give back to their communities.