The Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) of the Khartoum Process took place in Nairobi, Kenya, on 8th May 2018, following a Steering Committee meeting, and was chaired by the 2018 Italian Chair of the Process. The meeting was dedicated to the Khartoum Process state of play, an update on the related projects, and the implementation of Thematic Meetings’ Conclusions through a possible stock-taking exercise in the coming months. The roadmap to the 2018 Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP) SOM, which is scheduled to take place in mid-November 2018 in Addis Ababa, as well as the contribution of the Khartoum Process to this important meeting, were deliberated upon. The questions of governance, namely the future chairmanship of the Process in 2019 and the expansion of the Steering Committee, were addressed.
The SOM was followed by the Thematic Meeting on Data Collection and Management, on the 9th of May, which was hosted and chaired by Kenya. The Meeting offered the participating states an opportunity to share practical insights and knowledge on the data collection mechanisms as well as data management, analysis, and dissemination. An overview of key concepts and definitions was provided, thereby laying ground for the informed discussion regarding the data collection and management practices in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region as well as in the individual countries, such as Kenya, Italy, and Malta. Data collection management that ensures the accumulation of country-specific or regional findings for the purposes of informed policy- and decision-making was placed in the centre of the discussion. Additionally, the use of the available data, including for the purposes of optimisation of migration management, was deliberated upon. As a means of discussing possible ways forward and setting priority actions that could help reduce data gaps, on the one hand, and promote a better use of existing data sources, on the other hand, the Regional Operational Centre Khartoum (ROCK) Meeting charted the avenues for the operationalisation of data. Furthermore, an overview and a live demonstration of the activities and outputs of the Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography (KCMD), which include accurate and relevant knowledge and analysis to the EU policymakers pertaining to the migration data, was provided. In conclusion, with the aim to offer the Khartoum Process participants an opportunity to share their country’s experience, good practices, and approaches as well as related challenges pertaining to the Data Collection and Management, a round-table discussion resulted in a fruitful exchange on the subject matter and laid the ground for further activities in the framework of the Khartoum Process.
