Nigeria - IOM and ILO have organized a 10-day training in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire for 12 NGOs on Free Movement, Migration and Project Management. The course is supported by the Non-State Actors (NSA) Fund and will run from 10-21 October 2016.

The NSA Fund is part of the “Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa” project (FMM West Africa) and aims to maximise the development potential of free movement of persons and migration in the West African region.

The fund aims to contribute the effective implementation of the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Residence, and Establishment, and the Common Approach on Migration.

The NGOs were selected from 12 ECOWAS member states. Each is represented by two key staff members, who will be responsible for project implementation.

The training will focus on the following thematic areas: free movement of persons; cross-border cooperation; protection of migrants; empowerment of migrant workers; reintegration of returning migrants; and the gender and migration dimension. Other thematic areas on the agenda are: project implementation; general management; and procedures for awarding contracts.

The main objective of this training is to build the capacity of the participants to implement efficient and sustainable programs that support free movement of persons and migration in the ECOWAS region.

The training will improve participants’ knowledge of migration policy and strategies to allow them to actively contribute to the implementation of the Protocols on Free Movement and the Common Approach on Migration.

The training will be conducted by trainers from IOM, ITC/ILO (Turin), the African Union, ECOWAS, UNODC and UN Women.

The FMM-project is jointly funded by the European Union (EU) and the ECOWAS Commission. A consortium of partners implements the project: IOM, ILO and ICMPD.

For further information please contact Frantz Celestin at IOM Nigeria. Email: fcelestin@iom.int