Activities

On the 5^th of March 2020, Khartoum Process partners’ representatives met in The Hague, The Netherlands, for the 7^th Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Process. Delegates had the opportunity to take stock of the work carried out during the Eritrean Chairmanship, discuss governance matters, and agree on a way forward for the finalisation of the Joint Valetta Action Plan update, initiated in April 2019.

This meeting also marked the Chairmanship handover from Eritrea to The Netherlands. As a result, the work plan for the Chairmanship of The Netherlands was also broadly defined on this occasion.

Participants confirmed the value and relevance of the Khartoum Process as a forum to discuss issues of common interest for the countries along the migration route in the Horn of Africa and Europe in order to identify concrete areas of cooperation.

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.

In the framework of the Khartoum Process, Senior Officials' Meetings are the main fora for policy dialogue, offering a unique opportunity for Members to exchange views on the progress made individually and jointly and the way forward in achieving the aims of the Process. 

The most recent Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) took place in Asmara on 7^th March 2019 and marked the beginning of the Eritrean Chairmanship of the Khartoum Process. The chairmanship of the Process is ensured on an alternating basis from among African and European participating States. With Italy as the outgoing Chair, Eritrea took up this role for the year of 2019.

The Regional Training on Countering Trafficking in Human Beings was a two-day event elaborated and implemented as a means of delivering on the commitments made under the Italian Chairmanship of the Khartoum Process. The programme represented a first-of-a-kind activity in the framework of the Khartoum Process and was designed in consultation with the host country and based on the inputs provided by KP national focal points by means of a pre-training needs assessment, to ensure a tailored-fit content that addresses national and regional priorities in the fight against trafficking in human beings.

The event gathered over 40 participants from Khartoum Process member states and regional organisations such as IGAD, as well as representatives of international organisations such as IOM, UNDP, and UNCHR.

On the 14^th and 15^th of November 2018, around 280 Senior Officials from across Europe and Africa met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The participants met to follow up on both the conclusions established during the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) in Malta last year, and the progress made under the five domains of the Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP), adopted at the Migration Summit in Malta in 2015.

The SOM gave an opportunity to all partners to reiterate the core principles of solidarity, partnership, and shared responsibility. The participants also expressed their commitment to respond decisively and to jointly manage migration flows in all their aspects. The meeting focused on the state of play of the JVAP, including analysis and suggestions for a way forward. The partners also discussed the Khartoum and Rabat Processes which, as key dialogues, are mandated to monitor and report on the implementation and progress of the Joint Valletta Action Plan. The current situation of the different bilateral and European instruments contributing to the JVAP objectives was also examined. The meeting concluded with recommendations for the way forward for the JVAP.

Between 18-19 September 2018, Sweden, together with Kenya as co-host, hosted the Thematic Meeting on the Protection of Women and Girls on the Move from Africa to Europe. 

The 2017 Thematic Meeting on International Protection and Asylum in Berlin, Germany, explored the issue of protection challenges of populations on the move, with the conclusions of the meeting highlighting the need for further concerted action to address the specific protection challenges faced by migrant and refugee women and girls. Earlier this year, at the Thematic Meeting on Awareness-Raising Campaigns in The Hague, The Netherlands, delegates examined how sharing information with refugees and migrants can help reduce risks and facilitate access to services.

On 10^th - 11^th July 2018, the Khartoum Process (EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative) convened a Thematic Meeting on Law Enforcement and Capacity Building, which was hosted and chaired by Egypt and co-chaired by Italy. During the Meeting, the delegates shared their knowledge, experience and good practices pertaining to law enforcement responses to human trafficking, international police cooperation and investigation, as well as capacity building. To address these important issues, the first day of the meeting was dedicated to targeted presentations of good practices in the area of capacity building, international cooperation and law enforcement.