About

The Khartoum Process is a platform for political cooperation amongst the countries along the migration route between the Horn of Africa and Europe.

The Khartoum Process was set up on 28 November 2014, at the Ministerial Conference held in Rome, Italy.

Also known as the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, the inter-continental consultation framework aims at: 

• establishing a continuous dialogue for enhanced cooperation on migration and mobility
• identifying and implementing concrete projects to address trafficking in human beings and the smuggling of migrants 
• giving a new impetus to the regional collaboration between countries of origin, transit and destination regarding the migration route between the Horn of Africa and Europe.

The objectives of the Khartoum Process

The Dialogue seeks to create: 

a common understanding of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants

opportunities for balanced partnership

a spirit of shared responsibility and enhanced cooperation

As per the Rome Declaration, the main focus of the dialogue is tackling human trafficking and people smuggling. Since then and due to the ever-changing nature of migration realities and challenges, the Khartoum Process has expanded its scope to address concerns within the five domains of the Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP) and beyond.

JOINT VALLETTA ACTION PLAN (JVAP)

In November 2015, a Summit on Migration took place in Valletta, Malta. European and African Heads of State and Government gathered around the objective to strengthen cooperation between the two continents.

In a spirit of solidarity, partnership and shared responsibility, two texts were adopted:

• A political declaration underlining the concern of participating States and organisations regarding humanitarian consequences of irregular migration and their commitment towards the improvement of the management of migration flows.
• The Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP), which lays down a series of priorities aiming at supporting Valletta Partners with the enhancement of migration governance between Europe and Africa. The JVAP became the regional framework to address migration policy. It is built around five domains, each addressing a specific area.

The five domains of the Joint Valletta Action Plan

The Joint Valletta Action Plan Follow up

The Khartoum Process and the Rabat Process were identified as suitable existing mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the JVAP.  Focal Points from these regional migration dialogues covering Europe, North, West, Central and East Africa, became JVAP Partners. The JVAP Follow-up is a stakeholder-driven process, JVAP Focal Points demonstrating ownership by providing as much information as possible on their initiatives to populate a Database. This reporting enables decision makers to develop fact-based migration policies and share good practices.

For more information on the JVAP Follow-up and its tools, please refer to the dedicated reference portal: www.jvapfollowup.org

The following countries are signatories of the Declaration of the Ministerial Conference of the Khartoum Process, also known as the Rome Declaration:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Tunisia and the United Kingdom*.

Since this Declaration, Libya was also invited as a Member of the Khartoum Process upon the establishment of a Government of National Accord, and Norway, Switzerland and Uganda have also become Members of the Process.

*Note: In light of Sudan's ongoing inability to fulfil their role as Steering Committee (SC) member, Somalia was elected to temporarily fill the vacant Steering Committee seat until Sudan's return.

*Note: The UK has withdrawn from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020 and is no longer a Member State of the EU

Key stakeholders

Click here to view a governance chart

Steering Committee: The Khartoum Process is led by a Steering Committee comprised of:

• six EU Member States (Italy, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands)
• six African partner countries (Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda)
• the European Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the African Union Commission. 

Chair: The current Chair of the Khartoum Process is Egypt.

Secretariat: The Secretariat provides day to day administrative assistance to the Khartoum Process, including the preparations of the meetings of the Steering Committee and of Senior Officials Meetings. The Secretariat acts on instructions from the Steering Committee and is jointly managed by the African Union Commission and the European Commission, with technical and logistical assistance provided by ICMPD through the Support Programme of the Africa-EU Migration and Mobility Dialogue (MMD).

ICMPD supports the Khartoum Process Secretariat by:

• providing logistical and technical assistance in support of the implementation of activities;
• providing background research, data collection and analysis for the preparation of tasks and activities;
• providing coordination to ensure coherence within and across the MMD components, especially through the MMD Dialogues (Continental Dialogue, Khartoum Process and Rabat Process).

The Khartoum Process is a regional dialogue for cooperation among the countries along the migration route between the Horn of Africa and Europe. The EU provides financial assistance to support the organisation of core events (i.e. Steering Committees, Senior Officials’ Meetings and Thematic Meetings) and the participation for all of the African members of the Khartoum Process. Additionally, several initiatives promote the implementation of the main objectives of the Khartoum Process.

Below are some examples of ongoing regional initiatives, which aim at supporting the Khartoum Process priorities and objectives, as charted by the Rome Declaration.

RELEVANT REGIONAL INITIATIVES

• Better Migration Management (BMM)
• Regional Operational Centre in support of the Khartoum Process and the AU-Horn of Africa Initiative (ROCK)