Harare – A three-day IOM-supported Government of Zimbabwe workshop this week brought together multiple stakeholders tasked with conducting an in-depth situational analysis of migration in the country to aid the design of a robust National Migration Policy (NMP).

“Migration is cross cutting as a number of sector ministries have migration mandates,” said Alois Matongo, Director for Policy and Research in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage.

“It therefore calls for collective effort among state and non-state actors to come up with an overall migration policy that speaks to all aspects of migration. This workshop is evidence that we have started the development process of the NMP on a strong footing.”

Matongo rallied stakeholders to remain steadfast to the NMP development process as a true whole-of-government approach to migration governance.

Guided by the Africa Union Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018-2030), the NMP will be an overarching migration management framework for monitoring and regulating internal and international migration as well as proper data collection and dissemination on migration trends. The policy will also address issues relating to diaspora cooperation, border governance, dignified treatment of migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers and the role of civil society in migration management.

“Through this National Migration Policy development initiative, Zimbabwe is making a statement about its whole-of-government vision for managing migration at a time when the migration and development nexus is becoming louder,” said IOM Zimbabwe Project Manager Daniel Sam in his remarks, further highlighting the importance of stakeholder involvement in migration policy development.

Eight thematic areas, including migration governance, diaspora cooperation, border management, irregular migration, labour migration and education, became the focus of the workshop’s participants. Stakeholders concurred that the revised migration policy will not only strengthen current migration management efforts, but also adequately address identified gaps.

As a way forward, stakeholders came up with a road map for the development of the draft policy, set for release in February 2019.

The NMP will usher in coordinated and coherent migration management system in Zimbabwe – one that complements other sector-specific polices on migration established in the past three years, including the Diaspora Policy (2016) and the draft National Labour Migration Policy.

The formulation of the NMP is in conjunction with the Government of Zimbabwe, within the framework of the Promoting Migration Governance in Zimbabwe and the Comprehensive Border Assessment and Immigration Policy for Enhancing Capacity on Integrated Border Management in Zimbabwe projects, with funding resources from the European Union and the IOM Development Fund, respectively.

For further information, please contact Gideon Madera at IOM Zimbabwe, Tel: +263 242 704285, Email: gmadera@iom.int