State Minister Dr. Markos Tekle led the Ethiopian delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration hosted by the Government of Morocco this week in Marrakech (December 10-11). 164 of the 193 members of the United Nations have now adopted the Global Compact which includes 23 distinct objectives and nearly two hundred actions to achieve these objectives which include protecting the lives, security and human rights of all migrants; strengthening measures to combat trafficking, improving migration management and regular migration pathways; gathering and disseminating information; promoting productive employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in urban and rural areas of origin, especially for young women and men; unlocking the potential of migration for inclusive development; and addressing the drivers of migration as well as ways to facilitate safe and dignified returns and reintegration.
It needs action at multiple levels, from the global to local, and national and sub-national auctions will be key to many of the goals. The Compact is the culmination of 18 months of intense negotiations to forge common grounds and UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out this was now the beginning of an “era of implementation” in international cooperation on migration governance. Agreement on the Compact is a major success for multilateral diplomacy and a clear sign of the collective will to support safe, orderly and regular migration. So the conference was an opportunity to see practical efforts to implement the Compact; identify ways to carry out the Compact in line with implementation of the SDGs; and discuss what can be achieved before the first International Migration Review Forum in 2022.
State Minister Dr. Markos stressed the Compact represented a commitment of all actors towards international cooperation, solidarity with migrants who often find themselves in the receiving end of many challenges and dedication to maximize the positive contribution of Migration to the development of origin, transit and destination countries. He said implementation of the Compact should give priority to supporting developing countries to build capacity for building a comprehensive policy and strong national coordination mechanisms. Countries like Ethiopia, he said, should be supported to mainstream the Compact in their national development plans and put in place the necessary tools for implementation. Dr Markos said a stronger role should be given to regional and sub-regional organizations as building blocks for regional integration and share in implementation.
The State Minister referred to challenge Ethiopia faced as a major labour-source for the Gulf countries and called for a platform for dialogue between sending and receiving countries to improve working conditions of migrant workers and ensure their rights were observed. He called for increased investment on youth employment to stem irregular migration and human trafficking. Ethiopia, he said, believed increasing employment opportunities at home should be supported by efforts at promoting circular migration in safe, regular and orderly way.
Dr. Markos also met with Simon Mordue Deputy Director- General of Migration and Home Affairs of the European Union on the margins of the conference. Dr. Markos underlined the impact of the changes in Ethiopia for regional peace, stability and integration. He pointed out the importance of creating economic opportunities to prevent youth from falling prey to traffickers and detailed Ethiopia’s efforts in job creation through labour-intensive light manufacturing and the building industrial zones. He called on the EU to intensify its support to Ethiopia in job creation and for return and reintegration of migrants. Mr. Mordue emphasized the EU’s desire to collaborate with Ethiopia in return and reintegration, and in fighting human trafficking. He underlined the EU’s plan to pilot ‘circulation migration’, allowing citizens from origin countries to come to European countries and return home after working for a specific period. He said the EU would support Ethiopia in realizing the commitments in the Global Compact on Migration.
