News

On 10 November 2022, the ICMPD Director General, Michael Spindelegger, and the Ambassador Director General of the Kingdom of Morocco Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, H.E. Fouad Yazourh, signed the Seat Agreement between ICMPD and the Kingdom of Morocco.

Between the 7^th and 9^th of November 2022, under the scope of the KOMPLEKS project, ICMPD organized a study visit for representatives of Polish local authorities and project partners to Austria.

On 4 October 2022, the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), chaired by ICMPD, met with the European Union Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, Diane Schmitt, to exchange on policy matters and strengthen cooperation to counter conflict-related human trafficking.

On 25-26.10.2022, the Anti-Trafficking Programme facilitated two meetings of the anti-trafficking stakeholders in Cabo Verde aiming at the validation of the National Strategy and Action Plan against Trafficking and at setting the next actions of the National Observatory against Human Trafficking.
 

The Strengthening Border Security in Ghana (SBS Ghana) project, funded by European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), sponsored a ten-member delegation from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo to participate in the first edition of the “Abidjan Border Forum” (ABF) under the theme “Borders and Collective Security” held from 18 to 20 October 2022 in Abidjan.

On 24 - 25 October 2022, at the Fourth Prague Process Ministerial Conference, Ministers and high-level officials from the Prague Process countries endorsed a Joint Declaration and Action Plan 2023-2027, which shall sustain and expand the Prague Process cooperation in the coming years. Organised by the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union in Prague, the conference allowed the Parties to discuss the most pressing migration issues and agree on a joint way forward in addressing them.

Between July and September 2022, under the scope of the KOMPLEKS project, ICMPD organised a first series of training on gender-based violence and risk of human trafficking of unaccompanied minors. 

During 20-21 October, the Ombudsman Office, in coordination with the Moldovan Bureau for Migration and Asylum, carried out the first forced return monitoring mission in country’s history. Forced-return monitoring aims to ensure human rights compliance during the removal operations with a view to increase transparency and accountability.

On 18 October 2022, ICMPD, as part of the SPRING project, held a webinar on fast tracking the labour market integration of people from Ukraine. The panel featured six experts and practitioners who shared their views on labour market inclusion from different angles.

The Training Institute on Migration Capacity Partnership for the Mediterranean (MCP Med TI) held its second Governing Board meeting during a 2-day hybrid event on 18 and 19 October with the presence of representatives from ICMPD, donor and partner countries, observers, and EU agencies.

As a Secretariat of the Network of Anti-Trafficking Coordinators in South-East Europe (NATC SEE), ICMPD supports the Slovenian chairmanship of the Network to mark the EU Anti-trafficking day. The Network issued a Joint Statement addressing the vulnerability of the millions affected by the war in Ukraine to exploitation, abuse and human trafficking.

On 11 and 12 October 2022, ICMPD hosted the seventh edition of the Vienna Migration Conference, (VMC2022) Europe’s leading forum on migration. The conference gathered key European and global actors in Vienna’s historic Palais Niederösterreich to discuss the old and new forces shaping international migration – and how governments, international organisations and civil society should respond. These included the impact of ongoing conflicts and instability, instrumentalisation of migration, climate change and post-COVID-19 pandemic labour shortages on the movement of people.

On 21-22 September 2002, ICMPD and the African Union Commission (AUC) jointly organised a workshop to validate the report «Mapping Issues for Formulating a Strategic Plan for the African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration» in Bamako, Mali in Addis Ababa.

MOBILAZE 2 project organized participation of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the “Effective migration management: putting policy into action” executive training course organized by the School of Transnational Governance and Migration Policy Center by the European University Institute in 5-7 October, in Florence, Italy.

The seventh annual Vienna Migration Conference (VMC) on 11-12 October will provide a chance to assess the most crucial drivers of migration, with a host of high-level speakers and experts in attendance: regional instabilities and ongoing conflicts, the instrumentalisation of migration, climate change, and post-pandemic labour market shortages.