Technical Meetings

On 12 – 13 July 2022, Kenya, with Germany as co-host, welcomed delegates from Khartoum Process partner countries and organisations to Mombasa, Kenya, for a Thematic Meeting (TM) on Legal Pathways: Talent and Skills Mobility Partnerships to Match Labour Market Needs. This meeting built on the successful outcomes of the TM  on Legal Frameworks and Policy Development:  Optimising the Benefits of Organised Labour Migration hosted by Egypt in 2019, narrowing down the focus of the extensive topic of labour migration, to explore specifically the matter of talent and skills mobility partnerships to match labour market needs.

The meeting objectives were to:

• Establish a conceptual framework for discussions on enhancing the effectiveness of skills mobility partnerships;
• Share experiences on practices and procedures at the national and regional level on labour migration governance in general and skills mobility in particular;
• Understand the constraints of governments in the formulation of policies that promote easy, safe and predictable pathways for migration;
• Identify areas in national and regional policies and frameworks that need improvement to promote better cooperation on talent and skills mobility;
• Propose recommendations for further implementation.

On 24 – 26 May 2022, South Sudan hosted a Regional training for officials of border management agencies on international cooperation to combat cross-border crime.

During the 2.5 days training event, officials of border management agencies operational at the border and professionals in charge of border management and law enforcement policy in the Khartoum Process African region and the neighbouring Central African Republic were invited to exchange and expand their knowledge on challenges and good practices on cross-border cooperation to address cross-border crimes, such as trafficking in human beings, smuggling of migrants, and terrorism.

A total of 28 participants of different ranks and seniority in law enforcement agencies from 8 countries attended and were led throughout the learning process by ICMPD experts in border management and trafficking in human beings (THB). Their presentations and interactive exercises were complemented by contributions by Brig.Gen. Emmanuel Ndayegamiye from the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO) and online by Mr. Akseli Saviranta from Frontex.

On 24 and 25 November 2021, Switzerland, with Ethiopia as co-host, welcomed delegates from the Khartoum Process to Geneva for a Thematic Meeting on “Return, Reintegration, and Integration: Finding Durable Solutions”.

The objectives of the meeting were to facilitate the sharing of good practices and harness the strong cooperation built under the Khartoum Process, which benefit the region and the migrants concerned. The Thematic Meeting capitalised on the knowledge and inputs shared by a broad range of experts on the three thematic pillars (return, reintegration and integration) during a Virtual Roundtable held on 21 September 2021. The roundtable was organised as a means of setting the grounds for in-depth deliberations, establishing a conceptual framework of durable solutions in all three fields for the discussion and identifying priority areas for further exploration.

On 21 September 2021, Switzerland and Ethiopia co-hosted a Virtual Roundtable titled Return, Reintegration and Integration: Finding Durable Solutions.

The thematic focus of this virtual roundtable is at the core of several guiding documents in the framework of the Khartoum Process. The Declaration of the Ministerial Conference of the Khartoum Process from 28 November 2014 lists addressing irregular migration, including through cooperation on return, in particular voluntary return, and readmission as one of the thematic priorities of the Khartoum Process. Similarly, the Joint Valletta Action Plan outlines strengthening cooperation in order to facilitate the return and sustainable reintegration of irregular migrants as a priority under Domain 5: Return, Readmission and Reintegration.

While members of the Khartoum Process have undertaken significant progress and efforts towards strengthening dialogue and cooperation under this thematic priority, the interrelated topics of return, reintegration, and integration were last explored in the framework of the Process in 2016, on the occasion of the Thematic Meeting on Return, Readmission and Reintegration, co-chaired by Ethiopia and Italy.

Following the three webinars in the 4Ps Revisited Webinar Series, on Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution, the Khartoum Process Secretariat, in cooperation with the Khartoum Process Chair – The Netherlands – organised on 30 June 2021 the last webinar in the series. Naturally, this last webinar focused on Partnership.

The issue of partnership being a cross-cutting one, the first three webinars naturally touched on the importance of partnerships in all areas of work linked to the fight against human trafficking. On these occasions, it has been illustrated how the prevention of this crime, the protection of the victims, and the prosecution of the criminals cannot be successfully achieved without multi-agency, multi-level, cross-border cooperation and partnership.

On 26 May 2021, the third webinar the 4-Module Series titled Trafficking in Human Beings:  The 4Ps Revisited was organised by the Khartoum Process Secretariat in coordination with the Khartoum Process Chair, The Netherlands.

This third webinar addressed the topic of Prosecution, with a focus on international cooperation.

Over 100 delegates joined experts from the region and from international organisations in exploring good practices and current challenges linked to the issue of prosecuting human traffickers.

The second webinar in the 4-Module Webinar Series titled Trafficking in Human Beings: The 4Ps Revisited was carried out in the framework of the Khartoum Process on 28 April 2021.

The objective of this webinar was to present regional and national good practices linked to the protection of victims of trafficking by exploring structural and policy responses, as well as the direct support and assistance provided to victims. The virtual event gathered over 140 participants from a broad geographical range, welcoming delegates from Khartoum Process member states and institutions, international organisations, NGOs, and academia, laying the grounds for a rich exchange.

 On 31 March 2021, more than 100 attendees and panelists met online during a 2-hour long webinar on the Prevention of trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation.

The webinar was the first in a 4-Module Webinar Series titled Trafficking in Human Beings:  The 4Ps Revisited, each tackling one of the 4Ps of THB – Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership.

The objective of this first webinar was to present regional and national initiatives linked to the prevention of exploitation for the purpose of forced labour, through improved management of labour migration, as well as to discuss the means of reducing fraudulent or abusive recruitment practices and promoting better-informed, rights-based migration.