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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.

Against this backdrop, this first Thematic Meeting on legal migration organised within the framework of the Khartoum Process was designed to take stock of the existing legal and policy instruments regulating labour migration in the region and to facilitate knowledge sharing amongst the partners. Additionally, it aimed to explore the operational side of the policies in place, to provide updates related to the existing legal frameworks, and contribute to a shared understanding of the related challenges and good practices amongst the participating states and organisations.

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 Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP) was adopted at the Valletta Summit on Migration in 2015 by the partners of the Rabat Process and the Khartoum Process. This infographic highlights the progress that has since been achieved by the involved stakeholders. The infographic provides up-to-date insights into the JVAP Database, which contains information about projects and policies in Africa and Europe, addressing the five thematic domains of the JVAP.

Resources:

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JVAP-Infographic_New_EN.pdf.pdf

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.

Following the Thematic Meeting on Awareness Raising Campaigns, hosted by The Netherlands between the 19th-20th of June, a series of videos have been produced to capture some of the content of the meeting. A number of speakers present at the meeting have agreed to summarise their views in a short video format. 

In this first video of the series, Bram Frouws, Head of Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), talks about Mixed Migration trends in the Horn of Africa with focus on Eastern & Southern routes, and shares some thoughts & findings on risks, drivers, decision making, information sources and risk awareness.

The rest of the series will be made available in the Media section of the Khartoum Process website here.