Support for The Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa

Main results to date:

• Strengthen the capacities of the ECOWAS Commission to lead an intra-regional dialogue on free movement and migration issues and act as a platform for policy development and harmonisation;
• Strengthen the capacities of national institutions of ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania in the areas of migration data management, migration policy development, border management, labour migration and counter trafficking;
• Non-state Actors and local Authorities are actively engaged in information and protection activities for the benefit of migrant and cross-border populations.

Main activities:

• Capacity-building activities of the two key ECOWAS Commission Directorates: Free Movement of Persons and Humanitarian and Social Affairs;
• Develop guidelines on regional and national referral mechanisms of ECOWAS network of national focal points;
• Capacity-building activities targeting key institutional counterparts at the national level through a Demand Driven Facility;
• Support projects of non-State Actors and Local Authorities.  

Main accomplishments to date:

• Baseline studies and assessments done;
• The Migration Dialogue for West Africa (MIDWA) is in place and has taken place twice. A research paper on irregular migration from West Africa to North Africa and Europe was developed and presented at the 2015 MIDWA meeting on 6 October, 2015;
• A MIDWA web-page as centre-point for the communication and sharing of information relevant to all aspects of migration within West Africa has been established;
• With the support of the project, the new ECOWAS Action Plan on combatting trafficking in persons (2016 – 2020) was finalized and presented at a technical validation meeting in Abuja on 10 November 2015;
• Demand Driven Facility Guidelines have been finalized;
• A draft regional migration policy has been developed;
• Implementation guidelines for the ECOWAS Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Framework were developed;
• Recruitment of 3 ECOWAS Staff completed.

Source of funds: 10th EDF (2013/023-123)

Total budget (EUR): 26.45M

Implementing period:  69 Months (31/05/2013 to 28/02/2019)

Implementing agency:  IOM, ICMPD, ILO

Geographical region:  West Africa