By Alfred Fornah
National stakeholders in the migration sector in Sierra Leone met on the 15th February,2022 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation offices in Freetown to discuss the country’s progress in the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM).
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the consultations, the United Nations Resident Coordinator (RC) in Sierra Leone, Babatunde Ahonsi, said, “the GCM reflects a growing understanding of the benefits linked to human mobility,” and that it provides us with a structured framework to look at migration in a comprehensive, forward-looking manner.
According to the RC, through its 23 objectives, the Compact offers a range of guiding goals that can be inspiring, if not foundational, for policymaking to the benefit of migration. He stated that the forum serves as the primary global platform to discuss and share progress on the implementation of all aspects of the Global Compact, including its relationship with the 2030 Agenda and the participation of all relevant stakeholders.
In her statement, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ms Mamadi Gobeh Kamara, said that the engagement was timely because it coincides with the finalization of the Government’s policy on migration – to finalize a profound work undertaken by Government and non-governmental organizations and to develop a national document that deals with migration issues.
The Head of Office of IOM Sierra Leone, James Bagonza, commended the Government of Sierra Leone for moving forward with the review of the GCM. “Sierra Leone’s report, which will be discussed today, is a chance to identify existing gaps in the migration landscape, and it is also a chance for the UN Network on Migration in Sierra Leone to contribute to the discussion and look at concrete ways to close these gaps”, he said.
Mr Bagonza added, “As a leading agency with respect to IOM’s role as secretariat of the United Nations Network on Migration, we feel privileged to bring together diverse stakeholders to this discussion. We are confident our exchanges here will also be critical to identifying how to improve thematic migration policies and programmes in Sierra Leone in the long run.”
In December 2020, Sierra Leone held its first national consultation and submitted a Voluntary National Report (VNR) on the GCM. The national review process of the progress of the implementation of the GCM Report will feed into the sub-regional review, the continental review, and then the first International Migration Review Forum that will be held in New York in May this year.
