Swakopmund – The UN Migration Agency (IOM) began a three-day National Migration Workshop on 19 November in Namibia, in partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration. The programme continues through Wednesday, 21 November.

The main objective of the workshop is to launch the National Committee on Migration Management (NCBMM), a coordinating body comprised of government institutions, UN agencies, civil society and non-governmental organizations. The Committee will be responsible for overseeing development of the Namibian Comprehensive National Migration Management Policy and providing a roadmap for its implementation.

This initiative follows the 18-month IOM Development Fund project that aims to strengthen migration management mechanisms of the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN).

Addressing the participants during the opening session, Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration Hon. Frans Kapofi affirmed, “Migration is a topic close to all our hearts.” He added that migration wil continue for years to come and emphasized the need for government to put in place a strategy for improved migration management.

IOM Namibia’s Head of Office, Jeremias Mendes, referred to the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) as one of the key instruments that will guide the management of migration globally. The GCM will be essential in helping Namibia align its migration management policy to the global standards of migration governance, he said.

Mendes stressed that “there is a growing need to strengthen the migration management to better protect national borders but also to ensure that migrants’ rights are protected.”

The workshop marks the beginning of a process that will continue through 2019 with the submission of the draft migration policy to the GRN cabinet for final endorsement and implementation.

For more, please contact Jeremias Mendes at IOM Namibia, Tel: +264 61 231 639, Email: jmendes@iom.int