Objectives
- Draw particular attention to the experiences gained from the implementation of the EU-IOM Actions;
- Offer a space for discussion among return and reintegration experts, practitioners and policymakers on opportunities, challenges and innovative solutions to advance work on migrant protection, dignified return and sustainable reintegration;
- Inform future programming in follow-up to the EU-IOM Actions.
The seminar brought together representatives of the governments, EU institutions and research institutes, allowing them to take stock of practices and to review experiences, challenges and opportunities emerging from the EU-IOM Actions.
Format
The seminar was public and delivered online on Zoom platform. To allow broader participation of stakeholders from different geographical regions, simultaneous translation was available in English and French.
In light of the virtual set-up, the seminar was held over 2 days, on 24 and 25 May 2022, with one session per day (2h each):
- Session 1: Fostering sustainable reintegration through partnerships
Partnerships and coordination have been key elements in working towards sustainable reintegration in the context of the EU-IOM Actions.
Strong partnerships have been built and synergies achieved with national and local authorities, civil society organizations, private sector and local communities that helped harnessing partners’ services, expertise and geographical coverage expanding the support provided to returnees, while increasing local ownership and sustainability of the reintegration support overall.
This session shared an overview of lessons learned, good practices and challenges experienced in relation to partnership building in the context of reintegration. In particular, it looked at how synergies and cooperation established with different actors in the context of the EU-IOM Actions helped fostering a more sustainable reintegration.
- Session 2: Strengthening systems for sustainable reintegration
Systems strengthening has been a key priority in the framework of the EU-IOM Actions to ensure the transfer of knowledge and technical and operational capacities to relevant state and non-state actors, such as national and local authorities, local civil society organizations and community groups. This with a view to ensure they are equipped to better protect and assist returning migrants beyond the life cycle of the programmes.
The interventions to strengthen the capacity of actors involved in return and reintegration activities have run in parallel with the support to establish and/or strengthen the national coordination mechanisms, building on enhanced data and research.
This session addressed and reviewed lessons learned, good practices and challenges on capacity strengthening and structural level assistance to governments and civil society on migrant protection, return and reintegration.
Recordings and Agenda
Rationale
In line with the European Union (EU) external policy and migration priorities, IOM and the EU have jointly developed a set of programmes focusing on migrant protection, dignified voluntary return and sustainable reintegration, the EU-IOM Actions: EU-IOM Joint Initiative in Sahel and Lake Chad, North Africa and Horn of Africa; Pilot Action on Voluntary Return and Sustainable, Community-Based Reintegration; Improving Reintegration of Returnees in Afghanistan (RADA) and Sustainable Reintegration and Improved Migration Governance (Prottasha).
The seminar aimed to take stock of the implementation of these programmes, with the specific objective of sharing lessons learned as well as opportunities and challenges experienced throughout the implementation in view of their closure and foreseen follow-up actions.
Background
The cross-regional seminar on lessons learned from the EU-IOM Actions was organized under the framework of the EU-IOM Knowledge Management Hub (KMH).
The KMH was established in September 2017 in the framework of the Pilot Action on Voluntary Return and Sustainable, Community-Based Reintegration funded by the European Union (EU) to strengthen learning across return and reintegration programmes, and support the development and harmonization of approaches, processes and tools on these topics.
As part of its component on knowledge management tools, a total of five cross-regional knowledge sharing workshops have been foreseen. Following the first workshop on sustainable reintegration co-organized with the AU and EU in November 2018, the KMH organized the second cross-regional seminar on the return and reintegration of children and their families in March 2021and the third one focused on the interlinkage between sustainable development and reintegration in December 2021, bringing together more than 500 policy makers and practitioners globally. A fifth seminar focused on victims on trafficking is planned in Fall 2022.