On 13 July 2022, ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger went on mission to Niger and met HE Hassoumi Massoudou, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Niger. They signed a Seat Agreement for ICMPD. Niger is the third country in West Africa in ICMPD’s expanding portfolio, and follows Nigeria and Ghana.
ICMPD and Niger have been successfully carrying out projects in the field of Anti-Trafficking and cooperated within the FMM West Africa Project. ICMPD has served as a facilitator of an MOU between Nigeria and Niger in 2021 to suppress and punish trafficking in persons. Moreover, Niger is a key strategic partner for the Rabat Process, led by ICMPD, and has actively participated in the Dialogue’s political and thematic meetings since its creation.
Niger has developed long-standing technical know-how to crack down networks that facilitate trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, thanks to a solid legal and institutional framework. ICMPD, thanks to the Seat Agreement with Niger, will explore innovative, demand-driven initiatives in close collaboration with government institutions and International Partners to better position Niger as a key contributor to the discourse on migration management worldwide.