MIDSA Workshop on Capacity Building to Manage Migration Centurion, South Africa: 19 23 July, 2005 EXPANDING TECHNICAL COOPERATION IN THE REGION Charles Harns Head, Technical Cooperation Service Area International Organization for Migration Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to be with you here in South Africa for this important and timely meeting. As the earlier speakers have noted, there are many challenges in migration management for the countries of southern Africa. The issues and challenges are both regional and multi-regional: the migration in and through this region affects every country in southern Africa in some meaningful way, and also directly and indirectly impacts other African countries, the countries of Europe, and places farther afield. While the migration issues are many and at times dramatic, the resources to deal with them are relatively few and the level of technical cooperation and technical assistance in the migration sector is generally quite limited when compared with other parts of the world and when compared with other areas of assistance in the area of governance. With those initial thoughts in mind, I would like to touch briefly on some of the challenges in migration management in the region, and suggest priorities and processes for expanding technical cooperation in the area of migration management. To begin, let me suggest some of the main challenges that this region faces. First, there is the area of the policy and legal framework for migration management. Meaningful efforts have been made in this area, and continue to be made, but in fact,
there is much more to do. For example, the basis for establishing labour agreements among countries could be strengthened bilaterally as well as through the regional economic communities relevant to this region. The basis for return of irregular migrants is not always clear or has not kept pace with the latest developments. Other areas of policy and law are ripe for review and revision. Our colleagues at SAMP have done fine work in this area with many countries, but there is much more that needs to be done in this area. Second, there is a need to improve major operational systems, or to update the toolbox through which cross border movement is normally managed. Here we can see great differences, and in some areas great weaknesses, in border management systems and in identity and travel documents. It is difficult to manage cross border movement, both in the spirit of facilitation and regional development, and in the spirit of adequate inspection and security, without these basic tools. While in many parts of the world the less-resourced countries have been provided substantial technical and financial assistance in these areas, in southern Africa, and generally in Africa overall, the investments have been rather weak. Third, there is the challenge of the influence of trans-national organized crime in the migration sector, particularly smuggling of migrants and trafficking of human beings. Whether these are large or small-scale enterprises, the evidence indicates that they do exist in this region or use this region as part of their routing. Here the challenge is greater than that of simply reducing irregular migration; it is the dual challenge of protecting vulnerable migrants while effectively and dramatically curtailing criminal groups that may have significant resources at their disposal. Steps are being taken and progress is evident is some areas, but much more remains to be done. Page 2
The fourth challenge I would suggest is that of managing return and reintegration of migrants. Migrants return home for a number of reasons and in different circumstances. Some return voluntarily, some under pressure, and many without adequate means for re-establishing themselves in their home country. Migrants need the opportunity to return voluntarily if possible, and regardless of the means of return, many need special support to re-establish themselves in their communities in order to break the cycle of economically induced outward migration. Let me continue with four more major challenges before looking at methods and means of expanding technical cooperation in the region to address these challenges. The fifth challenge, then, is creating national coherence within regional agreements. Within the regional economic communities, and other regional groupings, the participating countries aspire toward at least some common policies and operational frameworks for migration management. As would be expected, these agreements are difficult to reach and often are only endorsed by part of the regional group s membership. However, as these regional agreements take shape there is a need to align national policies and practices with their intent, and often this alignment is weak or in fact does not take place. To the extent that the countries in the region agree to regional approaches to migration management, support is needed to align the national policies and practices. The sixth challenge I would mention is to address root causes of economically induced migration and to do so in a practical and targeted manner. Broad development initiatives can and should result in lowering the pressure for economically induced migration. While these broad development initiatives take shape and reach their goals over time, specific development activities should be implemented to target directly the communities most affected by economically pressured migration. This is being Page 3
done in many parts of the world, but not nearly enough is being done in this regard in the southern Africa region. This kind of support should be considered a key element of technical cooperation and technical assistance to manage migration. All of the countries present here today have strong commitments to fight corruption in the government sector. However, this is a great challenge, particularly in the countries where the level of compensation for civil servants is relatively low. It is a continuing problem and government efforts to reduce corruption should be strongly encouraged and similarly strongly supported in the migration sector, as it is in other areas of governance. The perception of persistent corruption provides a disincentive to donor investment in governance improvement, just as weak civil services provide limited scope for technical assistance interventions that require full partnership. Finally, all of the areas addressed have implications for training and human resource development. If we were to look at the countries of Europe, of North America, Oceania and other highly developed areas of the world, we would find that the migration officials in those governments have many opportunities for improving their skills, and that the governments of those regions create many opportunities for technical cooperation among themselves. This is necessary in such a complicated field as migration management. The African States require such opportunities, and it is reasonable for international organizations and countries with greater resources to help the less-resourced countries in this region to establish similar opportunities and standards for human resource development in the migration sector. The Berne Initiative follow-up will contribute meaningfully to this goal, and IOM intends to be fully supportive of the countries in the region in this regard. There are a number of ways that technical cooperation on migration could be expanded in the region, and let me suggest just a few practical steps. These are Page 4
based both on the specific needs of this region, and on IOM s experience in providing technical cooperation programmes around the world. First, establish migration-specific multi-year programme frameworks with projectised approaches to specific issues. IOM s Capacity Building in Migration Management (CBMM) framework has proven a useful basis for prioritising and detailing objectives and for suggesting initial action steps. The CBMM framework addresses policy and law, operational systems, training issues and inter-governmental dialogue in an integrated manner. Framework programmes work best when they have base support for the common features of programme management, and when the frameworks are further detailed into specific projects that can be enacted in support of the overall programme goals. IOM is in the process of finalizing such a programme design for southern Africa and will be launching it soon, along with specific projects to support the framework. Specific projects are important because they allow all concerned the governments, IOM and the donor to assign priorities and to manage inputs toward measurable, achievable goals. As part of the framework enactment, enhance regional policy dialogue and intergovernmental technical cooperation to inform and advance the agenda. Technical assistance should not be something that is done to a country. Rather it is part of a process of joint priority setting and joint activity between partners. The agenda for migration management in southern Africa should be shaped primarily by the countries of the region, through consistent policy and technical dialogue, and should be influenced and supported by other countries with an interest in migration in this region, no matter where those other countries are. Clearly, MIDSA is the core dialogue for this purpose in southern Africa. Page 5
As mentioned, technical cooperation is, at its heart, a process of partnership among countries, supported by those and other countries, and enacted with the assistance of international organizations and other partners. For this kind of cooperation to take root, capacities for partnership should be comparable among the involved countries. One of the driving forces behind technical cooperation methodology is the striving for development of comparable capacities among the concerned countries. For intergovernmental technical cooperation to truly take root in southern Africa, we should identify where the gaps are in capacity among the countries and, through the programme framework and specific projects, set a practical path to narrow those differences. The gaps analysis on border management, reported on by IOM s regional office in Pretoria during this meeting, will be helpful in that regard. The fourth step I would suggest as essential in expanding technical cooperation in the region is the provision of on-going and consistent technical support within the region, for the region. IOM is among the actors committed to doing this and, from our side, I am pleased to announce here that IOM will be placing a technical cooperation specialist in the region to serve as a special resource for further policy and programme development in the migration sector. The specialist will augment the services now provided directly through the IOM offices in the region and through the Technical Cooperation Service at IOM headquarters in Geneva. The specialist will serve the SADC region and some additional countries in Eastern and Western Africa. A second specialist, focussing primarily on Western and Northern Africa, and the Middle East, is envisaged for 2006, posted to a location in that region. IOM is committed to providing the full range of our services to African States. The placement of this specialist as a field-based arm of IOM s Technical Cooperation Service in the region is a concrete measure that will enable IOM to significantly expand its services to many African States. Page 6
Finally, to expand technical cooperation in migration management in the southern Africa region, the programmes and projects should be conceived as partnership with actors on and off the Continent. There are many partners to consider and whose input and advice will be helpful. On the Continent, the African Capacity Building Foundation is one such group and IOM and the ACBF are now finalizing plans for initial cooperative activities that will benefit southern Africa, and in fact the Continent as a whole. Other important partners include the European Commission as well as many specific European countries, the United States and Canada, and African countries outside of this region. IOM will be working with all concerned to help shape common agendas for expanded technical cooperation in the migration sector for southern Africa. Let me sum up here with a few key and broad recommendations regarding technical cooperation in the migration sector that I hope will prove useful in advancing the MIDSA agenda. First, technical cooperation in the migration sector should be linked with and integrated into the national development plans in several sectors. It is directly relevant to development goals in the area of governance, in democracy building, in the area of human rights, and in the area of security. National development plans should clearly articulate the ways in which improved migration management would contribute to goals in these sectors, and should set clear and meaningful objectives to mark progress toward those goals. Second, and complementary to the first recommendation, technical cooperation in the migration sector should be linked with the foreign assistance or foreign aid strategy, where it exists. While much can be done with national resources, it is reasonable for the less-resourced countries to benefit from foreign assistance to help build their Page 7
migration management capacities. Initiatives such as the European Commission s AENEAS programme and the UK s Global Opportunity Fund come to mind as among the foreign assistance mechanisms that are possibly relevant for building capacities in the migration sector for this region. Third, and as mentioned earlier, migration management agendas are difficult if not impossible to pursue unilaterally. Bilateral and multi-lateral planning and action is needed in most areas of migration management, and technical cooperation should be envisaged in that light. Fourth and mentioned earlier, technical cooperation in the migration sector should be operationalised through specific projects that can be clearly evaluated. No matter how broad and inclusive the agenda for cooperation, it is always helpful to approach it in meaningful and practical ways, in stages, and in a manner that can demonstrate results. Finally, all efforts in strengthen the migration sector of governance should show a balance between the enforcement, facilitation and protection features of the migration sector. Specific projects may address one or the other of these main pillars, but programme and strategic frameworks should always proceed from a more inclusive vision of I will close by noting that IOM has many Services and many arms of the Organization that can assist the countries of this region in articulating their needs and priorities, and in devising strategies and building capacities to improve migration management. One of our main arms, particularly for the more complex technical areas of migration governance, is the Technical Cooperation Service, and information on the Service has been provided to you as part of the materials for this meeting. Page 8
Additionally, our Member States have access to a special fund called the 1035 Facility, which can be used to fund small projects that are meant to prepare for or seed larger initiatives. Information on that fund is also provided in your information packets. If you have not done so recently, I would suggest that you visit IOM s website at (www.iom.int) to gain a complete view of the Organization, our Membership and the areas of work we are engaged in with partners across the spectrum of migration management. I look forward to participating with you in the working groups this afternoon and tomorrow, and would welcome any comments or questions. Thank you. Page 9