On 7 – 9 November 2022, ICMPD organised workshops with the Libyan authorities focused on strengthening the management of consular crises abroad as well as improving communication and outreach to Libyans living abroad within the framework of the EU- and Swiss co-funded LIBMITAF project.
Strengthening the engagement of Libyans living abroad
The first workshop on 7 November was a brainstorming session with participants from the Immigration and Expatriate Affairs Department of the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to talk about how ICMPD can support the Department in its efforts to strengthen the engagement of Libyan nationals who live abroad. The work with the Immigration and Expatriate Affairs Department is a continuation of the previous efforts done through the “A Study on Libyans Living Abroad: Profiling of Libyans Living Abroad to Develop a Roadmap for Strategic and Institutional Engagement”, which presents a first mapping of the Libyan community abroad and the existing Libyan institutional and policy frameworks for engagement of Libyan nationals abroad. The Study, which was presented at the working session by Dr. Martin Russel, international expert on diaspora engagement, highlights that the engagement of Libyan communities abroad can be seen as a “potential key contributor in the short, mid and long-term future of Libya”. The discussions on 7 November came at a timely moment to define the concrete next steps to support the important efforts of the Immigration and Expatriate Affairs on this topic.
Consular crisis management and preparedness
A dedicated two-day working session was organised on 8 – 9 November on the topic of consular crisis management and preparedness with participants from the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior. The importance of having the necessary tools and competencies in place to support nationals living abroad in times of crises has become particularly evident during the last years following the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. As such, the aim of the working session, which capitalizes on ICMPD’s previous experiences through the EU-funded MICIC project: “Supporting an Evidence-Based Approach for Effective and Cooperative State Action” and ICMPD’s work on the topic in Libya since 2020, was to jointly discuss key concepts and lessons learned on consular crisis management and to identify the key training and policy needs of the Libyan stakeholders. Megan Pilli, Capacity Development Specialist for ICMPD and expert on consular crisis management training, joined gave a general introduction to consular crisis management and contingency planning. A good practices sharing exchange with Tamar Kikvidze, Project Manager in the ICMPD Georgia Office, and Khaled Shorman, expert joining from Jordan, allowed for a reflection and discussion on concrete experiences in other countries. As a next step and main outcome of the working session, a draft training plan was jointly put together with the participants.
The “Libya’s Migration Technical Assistance Facility” (LIBMITAF) project is co-funded by the European Union and the Swiss Confederation (represented by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, acting through the Peace and Human Rights Division (PHRD)). Read more about the project here.