• 2nd Action Plan 2011-2013
   
• What is the Africa-EU Migration, Mobility and Employment Partnership?
• Achievements/milestones
• Future Challenges and priorities

What is the Africa-EU Migration, Mobility and Employment Partnership?

The Africa-EU Migration, Mobility and Employment Partnership was launched during the 2nd Africa-EU Summit in December 2007, Lisbon, Portugal where the First Action Plan (2008-2010) was adopted.

The seventh Africa-EU Partnership aims to provide holistic responses to the issues of Migration, Mobility and Employment in the interest of both partners, with the particular objectives to create more and better jobs for Africa and to better manage migration flows.

Better management of migration and stimulation of employment are essential elements of strategies against poverty and other national development and codevelopment strategies in African countries. The benefits of international migration must be maximized and related issues solved. In this context, the fight against trafficking in human beings is a major priority.

The partnership aims to ensure sustainable development and the implementation of relevant international agreements and declarations, relying in particular on the Tripoli Declaration on Migration and Development and the Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action for Promotion of Employment and Poverty Alleviation.

The partnership has three priority actions:

1. Implement the Tripoli Declaration on Migration and Development

Goals

• To facilitate mobility and free movement of people in Africa and the EU and to better manage legal migration between the two continents
• To address the root causes of migration and refugee flows
• To find concrete solutions to problems posed by illegal or irregular migratory flows
• Address the problems of migrants residing in EU and African countries

Expected outcomes

Migration

• Better utilisation of potential synergies between migration and development
• Concrete progress towards tackling the critical human resource situation in the health sector and other sectors of concern
• Enhanced cooperation on migration management in Africa and the EU
• Improved co-operation in all domains in the fight against illegal or irregular migration, including reaching agreements on the issues of return and readmission of illegal migrants to their country of origin, as foreseen by the Tripoli Declaration
• Enhanced capacity to ensure international protection for persons in need of it
• Better integration of African migrants in their respective EU and African countries of residence

Mobility

• Further reduction of obstacles to free movement of people within Africa and within the EU
• Enhanced mechanisms to facilitate circular migration between Africa and the EU
  

2. Implement the EU-Africa Plan of Action on Trafficking of Human Beings

Goals

• To effectively combat trafficking in human beings through a victim-centred approach, in particular of women and children
• To address the root causes of trafficking in human beings in countries of origin, as well as in countries of destination
• To contribute to the empowerment of women and children

Expected outcomes

• Measurable reduction in trafficking of human beings, in particular of women and children
• Enhanced awareness on trafficking in human beings among all stakeholders and especially high risk groups
• Protection of victims of trafficking
• Legislative frameworks and effective instruments in place to arrest and prosecute the organizers of trafficking

3. Implement the Ouagadougou Declaration and Action Plan on Employment and Poverty Alleviation

Goals

• To create more, more productive and better jobs in Africa, in particular for youth and women in line with the UN "Decent Work for all" Agenda

Expected outcomes

• Progress towards creating an enabling non-discriminatory business environment for private sector development; investments in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders; encouragement of entrepreneurship and self-employment
• Improved employability and productivity of workers and a better match between supply and demand of labour
• Improved understanding of the informal economy with a view to a progressive formalisation of the informal sector
• Enhanced understanding and implementation of the internationally adopted Decent Work principles
• Implementation of the EU's commitments on Policy Coherence for Development, particularly in the areas of trade, fisheries and agriculture

Achievements/milestones

Significant progress has been made in the implementation of each of the 33 actions identified in the 2008-2010 Action Plan . Achievements inventoried by African and European Partners in their roadmap include the following:

• An African Remittances Institute will be established. Funded by the EC and administered by the World Bank under the guidance of the AUC and the EC, the institute will be instrumental in supporting cheaper, faster and more secure remittances flows from Europe to Africa.
• Initiatives on Diaspora including a joint AUC/World Bank initiative on ‘global mapping of African Diasporas’, as well as the commitment by both the EC and AUC towards the establishment of a network of African Diaspora organisations.
• The AUC launched in 2009 the Initiative against Trafficking campaign (AU.COMMIT) to foster the implementation of the Ouagadougou Action Plan. A workshop organised in this framework took place in Abuja in March 2010.
• With the support of ECOWAS, France, Spain and the EC, the Centre for Migration Management and Information in Mali was inaugurated in October 2008. The EC is considering supporting similar initiatives in Africa.
• An operational network of migration observatories across Africa will become fully operational at the end of 2010.
• EC programmes such as Erasmus Mundus, Tempus and EDULINK foster student mobility and twinning partnerships among higher education institutions in Europe and Africa. The Nyerere programme is expected to be launched by the AUC in autumn 2010 to promote similar exchanges within ACP countries. A ‘Pan-African University’ will create a network of African universities, creating five regional hubs.
• On employment:
  • The EC and the AUC will hold a Workshop on Employment, Decent Work and Social Protection. The EC is also supporting   programs fostering employment at the national level (e.g. Senegal).
  • An African Guarantee Fund has been established by the African Development Bank, Denmark and International Finance Corporation. The fund will boost the development of small and medium enterprises in Africa.
  • The AUC adopted in 2009 an Agenda for Productivity in Africa, Guidelines for Social Dialogue in Africa and a Programme on upgrading the Informal Economy in Africa. 

Future Challenges and priorities

Among the challenges identified by the Joint Task Force of the partnership in its Joint Assessment Report of October 2009 are:

• The strengthening of implementation mechanisms. Further commitment of AU/EU states to lead on specific actions would be beneficial. The AUC seeks to address capacity building on migration related issues within its Member States and Regional Economic Communities by favouring exchange of expertise and training.
• The strengthening of involvement of non-state actors and international organisations.
• The further development of the employment component of the partnership, a challenge of particular importance in times of economic crisis.

The Joint AUC-EC Task Force Meeting of March 2010 proposed to use the following principles in establishing the next action plan, which will be adopted at the 3rd Africa-EU summit in November 2010:

• Use the current priorities (Diaspora, remittances, employment, trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants, higher education) as a basis for the future action plan.
• Besides the topics identified in the political dialogue, identify a more limited list of priorities and concrete activities.
  € 3M funding has been made available to underpin the Africa-EU political dialogue on migration, mobility and employment at continental and regional levels. A Senior Officials Meeting will be organised in September 2010 to discuss implementation of the partnership and to elaborate on the future Action Plan.