Abidjan, June 17, 2021 (ECA) – The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) initiated on Tuesday a coordination mission to the national authorities and the United Nations System in Côte d'Ivoire, with a view to increasing the country's capacity to manage migration issues.
The visit, which took place from 8 to 10 June, 2021, was held as part of a project led by the ECA in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
On June 10th, ECA and its partners held a work session with the representatives of the General Directorate of Ivorians Abroad of the Ministry of State, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and the Diaspora, a national partner for this project. The meeting was an opportunity to review the inception reports of studies on "Migration statistics" and "Skills recognition”, with the aim of involving member countries in the various phases of the project and allowing them to bring substantial added value to its content.
The meeting took place with the participation of representatives of a number of ministries and national structures involved in migration issues including the General Directorate for Ivorians Abroad, the National Office of Civil Registration and Identification, the National Population Office, the National Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Justice. An ECA representative and both consultants selected for the studies also took part in the meeting.
The project, which covers Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, aims to increase these countries’ capacity to design migration policies and programmes tailored to their needs, based on factual data, and in line with their ambitions to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Agenda 2063 for Africa's Development, and the recommendations of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). The ongoing programme also aims to provide a framework for intra-African dialogue and exchange on migration issues, so as to provide these countries with an opportunity to share their experiences and good practices.
In their respective interventions, Director General for Ivorians Abroad Issiaka Konate, and ECA migration expert Sarah Boukri, on behalf of Ngone Diop, Director of the ECA Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, underlined the importance for African countries of origin, destination and transit of migrants to design their migration policies on the basis of reliable statistics and to define appropriate policies for the recognition of skills, in order to better support their efforts for safe, orderly and regular migration on the path towards sustainable development.
Two analytical reports will be produced as a result of this initial visit. They will provide an in-depth examination of migration statistics and migration skills in Côte d’Ivoire, with the goals of helping officials identify relevant policy options in these areas and designing a capacity building programme to support them in doing so.
For more information, please contact: Tahirou Gouro, Communications Officer, ECA-SRO/WA,
Email: gouro2@un.org
Sub-Regional Office for West Africa
428 Avenue du Fleuve Niger
B.P. 744
Niamey, Niger