Thematic Meetings

Under the French Chairmanship, the Khartoum Process convened for the first time to address the issue of “Missing Migrants” within its framework. The webinar brought together 63 participants from Khartoum Process Member States, as well as regional and international organisations. Discussions highlighted the strong political interest of Member States in addressing the issue of missing migrants and the need for a cooperative, operational, and humanitarian approach to the issue of missing migrants. As stated by the Khartoum Process Chair, Ambassador Baumgartner: “[The Webinar] is a crucial step to fulfil our collective commitments and to place human dignity at the heart of migration governance”.

As the first meeting under the French Chairmanship, this Thematic Meeting was co-hosted by France and Kenya and focused on “Legal Identity: A Cornerstone of Access to Rights and Services and Effective Migration Governance”. The two-day event brought together 66 participants from Khartoum Process Member States, regional and international organisations, civil society, and academia. Discussions underscored the vital role of civil registration and legal identity (CRLI) in promoting human rights, social inclusion, and well-functioning migration systems.

The Khartoum Process successfully held its Thematic Meeting on Innovative Strategies for Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings and Migrant Smuggling on 10–11 December 2024 in Mombasa, Kenya. The two-day event brought together approximately 50 participants from member states, international organisations and the civil society to address the evolving challenges of human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

On September 11-12, 2024, Finland and Somalia, co-hosted the Khartoum Process thematic meeting in Helsinki, focusing on leveraging migration for sustainable development. The event gathered over 80 participants, including representatives from 13 diaspora, youth, and women organisations, to discuss how these groups can influence and contribute to migration governance and development policy.

Finland presented the National Dialogue Method, a participatory process designed to foster inclusive, constructive conversations between diverse groups in society, ensuring that diverse perspectives are considered in the policymaking process.

On 14-15 November 2023, member States of the Khartoum Process gathered in Stockholm upon the initiative of Sweden and Somalia to discuss whole-of-government approaches on migration.

Responding to a variety of current migration challenges requires a wide range of government actions. Return, readmission, and reintegration are only a part of wider migration policies, which include other elements such as protection, labour migration and skills development, the migration and development nexus etc. As recalled by the Sustainable Development Goals Indicator 10.7.2 and the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration para 15, migration is a multidimensional topic that cannot be addressed by one policy sector alone. In practice planned and well-managed migration policies thus require a comprehensive “whole-of-government” approach. The Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP) includes such an approach throughout its five domains, where partnerships, cooperation and coordination amongst institutions are underlined throughout the Action Plan.

On 4-5 October 2023, the Khartoum Process Flagship Thematic Meeting on “Exploring the Potential of Mobility in the Context of Climate Change” took place in Berlin, Germany, co-chaired by Germany and the African Union Commission. Building on the priority outlined during the Chairmanship of South Sudan on the nexus between human mobility and climate change, Germany, the current Chair of the Khartoum Process, has picked up the thread with various events on the topic that culminated into the Khartoum Process flagship thematic meeting on 4-5 October 2023, in Berlin, Germany.

The meeting brought together approx. 100 participants from the Khartoum Process and Rabat Process member States, as well as experts from international organisations and civil society organisations to discuss the opportunities and challenges stemming from the mobility and climate change nexus, whilst paying particular attention to the situation of women and children. 

Over 60 representatives from the Khartoum Process participating States, international and regional organisations as well as academia and civil society representatives met in Nairobi, Kenya on 4 – 5 July 2023. Hosted by Kenya and co-hosted by Germany, the thematic meeting of the Khartoum Process entitled Building Resilience and Ensuring the Protection of and Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The two-day discussions provided participants with a deeper understanding of internal displacement dynamics and intersecting issues, particularly within East Africa and the Horn of Africa region. Participants could explore durable solutions to internal displacement and discuss possible ways forward in line with the UN Action Agenda on internal displacement.

On 5 - 7 October 2022, Ethiopia, with Germany as co-host, welcomed delegates from Khartoum Process (KP) and Rabat Process (RP) partner countries and organisations to Addis Ababa for a Thematic Meeting (TM) on Climate Change and Migration: Addressing Impacts & Adaptation Strategies for Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change. This meeting, addressing climate mobility for the first time in the framework of both dialogues, aimed at establishing an understanding of the nuanced nature of the climate change - human mobility nexus, with a focus on the regions involved; establishing a conceptual framework for mainstreaming climate mobility into migration governance and other connected areas such as urban planning, while sharing experiences on strategies and initiatives at the local, national, and regional levels on human mobility in the context of climate change. Furthermore, the meeting intended to explore the role of migration dialogues such as the Khartoum Process and the Rabat Process in deepening intergovernmental cooperation and facilitating collaborative responses to climate-induced mobility. This should also include identifying areas for further exploration and recommendations for further implementation and cooperation among and within the dialogues.

On 12 – 13 July 2022, Kenya, with Germany as co-host, welcomed delegates from Khartoum Process partner countries and organisations to Mombasa, Kenya, for a Thematic Meeting (TM) on Legal Pathways: Talent and Skills Mobility Partnerships to Match Labour Market Needs. This meeting built on the successful outcomes of the TM  on Legal Frameworks and Policy Development:  Optimising the Benefits of Organised Labour Migration hosted by Egypt in 2019, narrowing down the focus of the extensive topic of labour migration, to explore specifically the matter of talent and skills mobility partnerships to match labour market needs.

The meeting objectives were to:

• Establish a conceptual framework for discussions on enhancing the effectiveness of skills mobility partnerships;
• Share experiences on practices and procedures at the national and regional level on labour migration governance in general and skills mobility in particular;
• Understand the constraints of governments in the formulation of policies that promote easy, safe and predictable pathways for migration;
• Identify areas in national and regional policies and frameworks that need improvement to promote better cooperation on talent and skills mobility;
• Propose recommendations for further implementation.

On 24 and 25 November 2021, Switzerland, with Ethiopia as co-host, welcomed delegates from the Khartoum Process to Geneva for a Thematic Meeting on “Return, Reintegration, and Integration: Finding Durable Solutions”.

The objectives of the meeting were to facilitate the sharing of good practices and harness the strong cooperation built under the Khartoum Process, which benefit the region and the migrants concerned. The Thematic Meeting capitalised on the knowledge and inputs shared by a broad range of experts on the three thematic pillars (return, reintegration and integration) during a Virtual Roundtable held on 21 September 2021. The roundtable was organised as a means of setting the grounds for in-depth deliberations, establishing a conceptual framework of durable solutions in all three fields for the discussion and identifying priority areas for further exploration.

On 21 September 2021, Switzerland and Ethiopia co-hosted a Virtual Roundtable titled Return, Reintegration and Integration: Finding Durable Solutions.

The thematic focus of this virtual roundtable is at the core of several guiding documents in the framework of the Khartoum Process. The Declaration of the Ministerial Conference of the Khartoum Process from 28 November 2014 lists addressing irregular migration, including through cooperation on return, in particular voluntary return, and readmission as one of the thematic priorities of the Khartoum Process. Similarly, the Joint Valletta Action Plan outlines strengthening cooperation in order to facilitate the return and sustainable reintegration of irregular migrants as a priority under Domain 5: Return, Readmission and Reintegration.

While members of the Khartoum Process have undertaken significant progress and efforts towards strengthening dialogue and cooperation under this thematic priority, the interrelated topics of return, reintegration, and integration were last explored in the framework of the Process in 2016, on the occasion of the Thematic Meeting on Return, Readmission and Reintegration, co-chaired by Ethiopia and Italy.

Following the three webinars in the 4Ps Revisited Webinar Series, on Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution, the Khartoum Process Secretariat, in cooperation with the Khartoum Process Chair – The Netherlands – organised on 30 June 2021 the last webinar in the series. Naturally, this last webinar focused on Partnership.

The issue of partnership being a cross-cutting one, the first three webinars naturally touched on the importance of partnerships in all areas of work linked to the fight against human trafficking. On these occasions, it has been illustrated how the prevention of this crime, the protection of the victims, and the prosecution of the criminals cannot be successfully achieved without multi-agency, multi-level, cross-border cooperation and partnership.

On 26 May 2021, the third webinar the 4-Module Series titled Trafficking in Human Beings:  The 4Ps Revisited was organised by the Khartoum Process Secretariat in coordination with the Khartoum Process Chair, The Netherlands.

This third webinar addressed the topic of Prosecution, with a focus on international cooperation.

Over 100 delegates joined experts from the region and from international organisations in exploring good practices and current challenges linked to the issue of prosecuting human traffickers.

The second webinar in the 4-Module Webinar Series titled Trafficking in Human Beings: The 4Ps Revisited was carried out in the framework of the Khartoum Process on 28 April 2021.

The objective of this webinar was to present regional and national good practices linked to the protection of victims of trafficking by exploring structural and policy responses, as well as the direct support and assistance provided to victims. The virtual event gathered over 140 participants from a broad geographical range, welcoming delegates from Khartoum Process member states and institutions, international organisations, NGOs, and academia, laying the grounds for a rich exchange.

 On 31 March 2021, more than 100 attendees and panelists met online during a 2-hour long webinar on the Prevention of trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation.

The webinar was the first in a 4-Module Webinar Series titled Trafficking in Human Beings:  The 4Ps Revisited, each tackling one of the 4Ps of THB – Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership.

The objective of this first webinar was to present regional and national initiatives linked to the prevention of exploitation for the purpose of forced labour, through improved management of labour migration, as well as to discuss the means of reducing fraudulent or abusive recruitment practices and promoting better-informed, rights-based migration.

Two thirds into 2020, the trio of linked crises — the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying economic and protection crises — have been affecting mixed migration dynamics all over the world. Countries along the migration route between the Horn of Africa and Europe are no exception to this reality.

Understanding the medium- and long-term implications of COVID-19 on migration for Khartoum Process partners poses a series of questions: How will the crisis impact mixed migration drivers, the aspirations of potential migrants and their capacity to move? In light of a potential increase in the aspirations (or need) to migrate, and rising border restrictions, will the demand for smuggling services increase? How is the crisis impacting the journeys of people on the move and their exposure to protection violations? How does this affect particularly vulnerable groups, such as families with children and women traveling alone? What are the implications for national and regional migration policies and responses?

The current global COVID-19 pandemic, the health security measures, and the ensuing travel restrictions have widespread consequences for people across our regions. Although the pandemic and consequent measures have limited the possibility for Khartoum Process partners to meet in person, this has not prevented the dialogue and cooperation from continuing.

To mitigate the impact of the pandemic on Khartoum Process activities, as well as address some of the pandemic’s consequences, The Netherlands, in its capacity of Chair of the Khartoum Process, has been exploring new formats of activities for the short- to medium-term, until the international situation will allow for the resumption of in-person meetings.

The first such activity took place on the 2^nd of July, in the form of a virtual meeting, gathering online over 50 participants.

On 23^rd – 24^th of October 2019, the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative (Khartoum Process) convened a Thematic Meeting on Migration for Development: Harnessing the Potential of Diaspora. The meeting was hosted and chaired by Eritrea and co-chaired by Switzerland.

The meeting has been attended by Khartoum Process partners representatives (Khartoum Process countries, the African Union Commission, the European Commission, the European External Action Service, IOM, UNHCR, GIZ), representatives of UNCDF, IFAD, AFFORD, World Bank / KNOMAD, and ADEPT, as well as relevant private sector representatives from MFS Africa and Homestrings.

On the 24^th-25^th of September 2019, Egypt, together with Portugal as co-chair, hosted the Khartoum Process Thematic Meeting on Legal Frameworks and Policy Development: Optimising the Benefits of Organised Labour Migration.

This meeting was organised in response to the expressed interest of the Khartoum Process membership to address the Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP) in its entirety, alongside the priorities charted in the Rome Declaration, with the corresponding focus on addressing the challenges of trafficking of human beings and smuggling of migrants.

As underlined in the Analysis Report of Khartoum Process prepared for the JVAP Senior Officials’ Meeting in Malta in February 2017, legal migration should be further strengthened by encouraging policies that promote regular channels for migration, whilst recognising that progress has been made in respect to specific references to increased opportunities for students and researchers.