Supporting the establishment of an African Consultative Forum on Migration and Development (AFCMD) May 2011 to May 2013
Background
The idea to establish an ACFMD was the first of three key priority areas in the Action Plan presented by the African government officials at an ADPC workshop during the GFMD event in Mexico in November 2010.[1] The African government officials explicitly articulated the urgent need to create an ACFMD in order to exchange information and share specific country experiences among themselves, something which is currently not possible as they lack a mechanism to facilitate such a process.
The objective of this programme is to facilitate the establishment of an African Consultative Forum on Migration and Development (ACFMD), which will stimulate the regular exchange of good practices among African policymakers dealing with diaspora and development related issues. More concretely this programme aims to:
- Enable African governments to deliberate and consult on matters of common interest with the specific aim to improve migration management;
- Facilitate the development of formal channels of communication between diaspora and African governments;
- Facilitate a process in which diaspora-oriented officials in Africa meet on a regular basis, exchange best practises and gain access to the latest updates of the M&D discourse;
Not all countries in Africa are in the same stage in their dealings with Diaspora and development related issues. Countries such as Mali, Mauritius, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal, for example, are leading the way, while many others have only recently joined the field. The establishment of the ACFMD will provide opportunities to learn from experiences and good practices of those at the forefront in the field of migration and development. The AFCMD will function as a focal point for the wealth of good diaspora-oriented policies and practical experiences that already exist on the continent and that can be shared and exchanged.
Countries and government bodies involved
The countries that would benefit from the activities of this project are all located in sub-Saharan Africa. This choice is determined by the concern that most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa are still trailing behind the rest of the world in terms of economic growth and development, with a great number of them actually regressing. The countries involved in the activities of the project are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Southern Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia.
Activities 2011
- Partner meeting with the African Union (AU) held in Abuja
- Participation in GFMD 2011 in Switzerland
- Policy supporting research
Activities 2012
- Brainstorming meeting for non-state actors in Port Louis, Mauritius, January 2012
- ADPC and PANiDMR workshop in Accra in September 2012
- GFMD Event in Mauritius in 2012
Final activities 2013
Please look at the Publications menu for reports of the events mentioned above.
[1] A diverse group of diaspora-oriented African government officials, holding high-ranking positions with great responsibilities in their respective governments participated in the workshop. They represented the following countries in Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda. For more information, see the ADPC electronic newsletter published in December 2010. See also the report that served as a background document for the workshop at the GFMD event in Mexico. The report was the outcome of a preparatory meeting (prior to the GFMD event) held in Addis Ababa on 13-14 October. Fifteen African government officials participated in this meeting and agreed an Action Plan, which identified key policy priorities that can be translated into realisable programmes within a feasible period of time. Both the newsletter and the report can be found on the ADPC website under the menu publications.