The Minister for the Interior, Mr. Ambrose Dery on Wednesday, opened a two day “Workshop on Creating Awareness Of the 2017 Migration Policy for Africa Among Member States”.
The two-day workshop which began on July 18, 2018 in Accra is to expose participants to the revised African Union Migration Policy Framework for Africa which was first adopted in 2006 in Banjul, Gambia.
It is also to create awareness on the Migration Policy Framework for Africa among Member States, Regional Economic Communities, CSOs and other stakeholders as well as increase their knowledge level on the migration governance and the link between migration and development.
In his address during the opening, Mr. Dery indicated that Migration, had assumed an important role in the global agenda as its prospects for social and economic development was increasingly gaining recognition from policy makers and leaders of nations.
According to him, the benefits of migration are numerous and cited migrant remittances and knowledge acquisition as some of the benefits.
“The benefits of migration are numerous. For example the flow of migrant remittances into the African continent is now projected to outweigh foreign direct investment and official development assistance. For instance in 2016 remittance to the continent was Thirty-Three Billion Dollars (US$33 billion). Furthermore, migration has unlocked new channels and opportunities for Africa as brain gain initiatives contribute to national development in our respective countries.” He revealed.
Mr. Dery further revealed that, the contribution of migrants had played a great role in shaping Ghana’s national development over the years thus necessitating a proactive approach by Government to harness the benefits of the large Ghanaian diaspora.
“In January 2017, His Excellency the President of the Republic reached out to Ghanaians in the diaspora to support the massive transformational programmes this government is rolling out. This culminated in the organization of the National Diaspora Homecoming Summit held last year, where Ghanaians in the diaspora met to deliberate on their role in the development of the country.” He said.
Whilst enumerating the positives of migration, the Minister bemoaned the challenges associated with it including human rights violations, child marriage, sexual exploitation, violence and unpaid labour and sometimes being employed in jobs considered as 3D jobs (dirty, dangerous and degrading) despite having higher education or skills-training qualifications and called for Africa to position itself to negotiate its position on the Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration initiated by the United Nations.
“As Africa positions itself to negotiate its position on the Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration initiated by the United Nations, I am happy that one of the Six Thematic areas of Africa’s position is seeking to address the need for effective management of migration which is dependent on strengthening of mechanisms towards preventing conflicts and finding a holistic approach to migration governance especially in the area of poverty reduction and migration data collection.” He said.
He implored the participants to critically examine and deliberate on the Framework for the good of all.
The workshop was under the auspices of the African Union and had an array of participants with rich experience in migration and its related issues from all Member Countries.
