Regional Cooperation on Migration Policy (CRPM)

In sub-Saharan Africa, 70 per cent of migration movements (departures, transits, arrivals and returns) are intra-continental. These migration flows give rise both to vulnerabilities that must be prevented and significant benefits that must be put to good use.

The main areas of focus for this phase included:

• a comparative analysis of partner countries’ migration policies;
• development of a common framework of monitoring indicators by adapting – to the African context – the EMIX indicator for measuring public policies aimed at mobilising the diaspora; and
• establishment of multi-stakeholder dialogue mechanisms, by drawing on a consortium of CSOs led by FORIM.

The review of Phase 1 highlighted positive points that should be continued:

• The appropriate positioning of the various stakeholders led to a strong sense of ownership of the project amongst its partner organisations and beneficiaries.
• Peer-to-peer cooperation between different countries was seen to be a powerful tool for capacity building for departments facing common challenges but with varying levels of experience.
• A dialogue framework established at the regional level helped shift the focus away from national discussions and facilitated closer ties between different groups of stakeholders within the same country (institutions, civil society, research).
• A focus on the role of diasporas in development was seen to be an important topic for the partner countries.

Phase 1 helped lay the foundations for regional cooperation on migration by establishing multi-stakeholder dialogue mechanisms on migration policies and by strengthening the capacities of the institutions involved.

Phase 2 of the Regional Cooperation Project on Migration Policies builds on the regional momentum established during Phase 1 with Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal.

This second phase, launched in May 2024, continues the aim of making migration policies firmly rooted within a framework of regional cooperation. The CRPM 2 now includes the Comoros and Madagascar.

The CRPM 2 is based on:

• a multi-stakeholder dialogue approach, co-development and the taking into account of partner countries’ priorities;
• the linking of institutional support, knowledge generation and multi-stakeholder dialogue facilitation;
• special attention to engaging diaspora communities and ensuring the sustainable reintegration of returning migrants.

To this end, the CRPM 2 project has three main objectives.

1. Support the establishment of national schemes to engage the diaspora in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea

In Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, the CRPM 2 project contributes to:

• strengthening national capacities for coordinating, managing and monitoring diaspora schemes;
• supporting institutions responsible for mobilising diaspora communities when organising consultation missions in Africa and France;
• bringing together members of the diaspora and local stakeholders (local authorities and CSOs) in order to identify opportunities for action in the regions;
• funding two calls for proposals for local development projects led by diaspora communities;
• building on the lessons learned from the pilot scheme, with a view to potentially rolling out the scheme on a larger scale.

2. Facilitate a regional framework for dialogue on engaging the diaspora and achieving sustainable reintegration

At the regional level, the project provides partner countries with a framework for strategic and operational cooperation and dialogue.

On our side, we meet the knowledge needs of public authorities through action-research studies carried out by a network of researchers from West Africa and France. The findings are disseminated through a communication and advocacy strategy at the regional and international levels.

Finally, we are providing capacity building for CSOs and boosting their cooperation with institutional stakeholders on migration issues.

3. Support beneficiary countries in optimising pathways to sustainable reintegration

The project supports institutional stakeholders in their work to develop an integrated and long-term approach to the sustainable reintegration of returning migrants. It is helping to implement a local-level scheme to support the work of CSOs and local authorities, which play a key role in migrant support.

A cross-cutting method is used to include women’s participation in the analyses, strategies and schemes put in place to address “Migration and Development” issues in reintegration processes and in multi-stakeholder dialogue.