IOM's Regional Office for West and Central Africa, in cooperation
with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Commission, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), will co-facilitate a
three-day training on the protection of migrants in the ECOWAS
Region. The workshop will bring together 16 participants from
Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, representing Committees
to Combat Trafficking in Persons, NGOs active in the field of
migration, Refugee Status Eligibility Committees and National Human
Rights Institutions.

"The workshop is an opportunity for the participants
representing counter-trafficking, refugee and human rights
protection fields, to share their knowledge and harmonize regional
practices," says Abye Makonnen, IOM Regional Representative.
"Creation of networks and increasing opportunities for
cross-sectoral collaboration are keys to taking these issues
forward in each of the countries."

The training will provide participants with up-to-date
information and a regional perspective on different migration
issues, as well as looking at ways to enhance cooperation in the
protection of vulnerable migrants, such as victims of trafficking,
unaccompanied minors, refugees and asylum seekers. Training will
include a review of the ECOWAS Protocols of Free Movement,
Residence and Establishment, and a discussion on the implementation
of an international migration framework from a protection
perspective.

The event is being conducted within the context of ECOWAS'
Migration Dialogue for West Africa, and follows on the
recommendations of the November 2008 Dakar conference on the
protection of refugees in mixed migration flows in West Africa.

The workshop is funded by the US State Department, Bureau for
Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and is one of 10 such
trainings planned for the region in 2010. The first training in the
series was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 7-9 April with
participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo.

For more information, please contact:

Lamine Daffé

Programme Assistant

IOM Dakar Counter-Trafficking Unit

Tel: +221 338696239

E-mail: "mailto:ldaffe@iom.int">ldaffe@iom.int

or

Elina Saaristo

Regional Counter-Trafficking Strategy and Policy Officer

Tel. +221 778197250

E-mail: "mailto:esaaristo@iom.int">esaaristo@iom.int