Establishment of Knowledge Platform for Migration Governance in Africa

Summary of the Project

The aim of the initiative is to establish a network of expertise for migration governance for Africa. The network would serve as a platform devoted to strengthening the interface between research, policy and practice in the field of migration dynamics within the context of African countries. It would also provide a unique opportunity for African migration policy experts to exchange knowledge and cross-fertilize ideas in the field of migration governance from the perspective of migration dynamics in Africa. To this end, the work of the platform would be largely dedicated to building a crucial network of African migration policy experts for the continent.[1] Such a network is urgently needed due to the complexity of prevailing migration dynamics and related issues, which represent huge policy and institutional challenges to many African governments at this juncture. African governments are dealing with mounting challenges emanating from the different facets of migration and human mobility while lacking sufficient policymaking capacity, institutional experience and resources to deal with them effectively. Furthermore, the platform would operate as a forum through which government policymakers, researchers and practitioners in Africa can learn from each other and share good practices (both policies and programmes) in the field on a regular basis in the form of South-South exchange. Specifically, the platform would be a source for policymaking government institutions involved in mainstreaming migration-led development into national development plans and country strategies.  The motto of the platform is organizing a knowledge network for better migration governance in Africa.

The project will, in the first instance, undertake a mapping exercise to identify existing African migration policy experts on the continent and abroad. Currently, they remain scattered across countries and regions in Africa and do not have the means to network, let alone to work together. To address this challenge, the project will develop a database of African migration policy experts that will be a key pillar for the operation of the platform. Having an inventory of readily available African experts will finally address the lack of organized knowledge network in Africa. Likewise, having an established pool of readily available African migration policy experts on the continent is a precondition to ensuring that robust and sustainable migration governance is achieved in Africa in the short- and medium term. In practice, this means utilizing their expertise to strengthen institutional capacity for all aspects of migration governance on the continent. They can be called upon to provide different services, such as: (i) capacity building training workshops; (ii) direct technical assistance (TA) in the form of consultancy, coaching and mentoring services; (iii) undertaking applied research aimed at generating a solid knowledge base; (iv) presenting a menu of policy-supporting options informed by evidence gathered in the context of migration dynamics in Africa and beyond that benefits diverse migration-oriented institutions at the continental, regional, national and local levels; (v) serving as a backstopping instrument and source of expertise available to African policymakers on diverse matters related to migration; and (vi) providing knowledge input that significantly improves the ongoing policy dialogue on migration between Europe and Africa.

Key objective

The overall objective of the project is:

“To establish a knowledge platform that fosters better migration governance in Africa” 

The work of this project will contribute to:

• Providing a database of African migration policy experts, who can be called upon to offer expertise in the efforts to strengthen institutional capacity for better migration governance in Africa;

• Mobilizing broader political support for (the added value of) the work of the platform among migration and development community circles in Africa and beyond;

• Establishing diverse, integrated outreach communication tools for the platform so that it operates as a clearing house for information sharing and knowledge management for all of its beneficiaries.

Expected results of the initiative   

• Establish a knowledge platform for migration governance in Africa
• Develop a database of 35 African migration policy experts that can be called upon to offer expertise in the efforts to strengthen institutional capacity for better migration governance in Africa
• Platform webpage developed and become operational
• Organized 11 webinars on key thematic and policy areas on the topic of migration governance within the context of Africa
• Produced 11 policy papers based on the 11 webinars
• Published all policy papers created during the project period on the platform
• Three Platform position papers produced that contribute to policy discussions around EU-AU relations on migration and mobility prior to the EU-Africa summit next year
• Presented the output and outcomes from the activities of the project to GIZ in Eschborn.

This initiative is supported by GIZ

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