Mozambique - Increased cooperation among countries in Southern Africa to manage the growing flows of migrants within the region is a key step towards greater economic integration and development, according to IOM Mozambique Chief of Mission Katharina Schnoering, speaking this morning at a joint European Union (EU) – IOM seminar in Maputo, Mozambique.

The EU-IOM seminar brings together government officials, partner agencies and civil society to examine various aspects of Mozambique’s and Southern Africa’s changing migration dynamics. The event is organized under the framework of the European Year of Development 2015, which focuses on the topic of demography and migration for the month of September.

Enabling migrant voices was also a key aspect of the seminar, with migrant mine workers from several community-based organizations sharing their stories and reiterating the importance of inter-regional cooperation on migration.

“Rather than heading to traditional migration destinations like Europe, most migrants from Southern Africa are circulating within the region,” noted IOM regional specialist Jo Rispoli. “Presently, 80 per cent of migrants from Southern Africa are still living within the same region.”

However, many of these migrants remain in precarious circumstances, often undocumented and without access to basic health and social services.

With support from the IOM Development Fund, IOM is working to expand bilateral agreements and inter-country cooperation through a new regional project launched last month, which will strengthen government capacity to implement labour migration programmes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“Ultimately, this project will bring together selected SADC (South African Development Community) Member States in order to facilitate South-South labour mobility arrangements, with a view toward protecting the fundamental rights of migrant workers and their families,” said IOM programme manager Jason Theede.

The project builds on IOM’s ongoing “Voices from the Underground” project, which is funded by the European Union to promote the rights of migrant mineworkers in Southern Africa.

Greater opportunities for legal, well-managed labour migration to neighbouring countries can broaden employment opportunities for Southern Africa’s burgeoning young adult population, while also filling critical skills gaps in destination countries, according to Rispoli.

For more information please contact Jason Theede at IOM Mozambique, Tel: +258 823 357 002, Email: jtheede@iom.int