On 16 January 2020, the Seat Agreement between the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was officially signed at the Nigerian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
ICMPD welcomes the trust instilled by the Nigerian Government, and looks forward to continue the close collaboration with the Government in the pursuit of making migration and mobility of people in the region orderly, safe and regular, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.
The signing of this Seat Agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and ICMPD is significant in renewing and further strengthening ICMPD’s commitment to provide an alternative approach to migration management in Nigeria. The negotiation, which started in 2015, saw both parties through a very rigorous and intense process that provided deeper insights on the potential benefits for cooperation between both entities.
In Nigeria, ICMPD has been working closely with key national institutions, including amongst others NCFRMI, NIS, NiDCOM, NAPTIP, NCCE, NERDC – through its three-pillar approach that focuses on research, migration dialogues and capacity building to contribute to better migration management, policy development and cooperation.
For example, in the context of the EU funded Migration EU Expertise Project (MIEUX), ICMPD worked with Nigerian institutions to enhance their capacities to better manage borders and curb irregular migration, especially at maritime borders and with regards to investigation and prosecution of irregular migration cases. In the area of labour migration, the project also supported the delivery, collection and analysis of reliable data on labour migration in order to promote the design of appropriate policy responses.
Within the framework of the EU and ECOWAS funded FMM West Africa project, ICMPD worked with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) on the infusion of Trafficking In Persons (TIP) issues into school curricula in Nigeria. In order to facilitate the rollout of the infused curricula, ICMPD also partnered with the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), to mainstream TIP issues into the Nigerian Certificate of Education (NCE) Minimum Standards, to conduct training of trainers and introduce a dedicated course on TIP into the Nigerian Colleges of Education curriculum.
With the support of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior and in close cooperation with the Nigerian Government, ICMPD is implementing the SUPREM project - a pilot project developed in response to the challenges related to the return of irregular migrants. The project aims to create a structural framework for Private-Public-Partnerships (PPP) and multi-stakeholder dialogue to foster sustainable and dignified return and reintegration.