By Spy Uganda
Experts from the African Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, East African Community and EUI alumni will on Wednesday July 20 meet at a high-level event in Kampala to discuss findings of the forthcoming report on Migration Governance and Migration Diplomacy in Uganda.
The event, co-organised by the European University Institute (EUI) and the Uganda Council on Foreign Relations (UCFR), also features an award-winning short film about the EUI’s Young African Leaders Programme.
According to organizers, on 21-22 July, 25 African experts will participate in an EUI executive training about migration governance in Kampala.
To mark the launch of its executive training on ‘Migration and Mobility in Africa’, the EUI organises a kick-off event with UCFR on 20 July at the Fairway Hotel in Kampala, Uganda.
UNCFR’s General Ivan Koreta, EUI President Prof Renaud Dehousse and Ambassador Attilio Pacifici of the EU Delegation to Uganda will open the event. Uganda Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hon. Henry Okello Oryem will deliver a keynote speech, after an introduction by Ambassador Francis Katana, Executive Director of UCFR.
The Executive Director of UCFR, Ambassador Francis Katana said: “The partnership between UCFR and EUI offers great opportunity for collaboration in the areas of research and evidence based programming”. The research on migration governance and the recommendations thereof will form the basis for further partnership in policy advocacy and diplomatic engagements in tackling migration changes in Uganda, Africa and the EU”.
The event takes place as the African Union and the EUI are finalising a new partnership with a shared mission to promote research and evidence-based policymaking.
The African Union and the EUI will enhance their collaboration in common areas related to, among other topics, regional integration processes, Africa-EU partnership, social sciences and humanities, as well as international cooperation and migration. The EUI and UCFR signed a memorandum of understanding back in 2020.
EUI President Prof Renaud Dehousse said: “Relationships between continents are of crucial importance in tackling today’s and tomorrow’s challenges, and Africa and Europe have specialities. We are delighted to meet our partners of the African Union and the Uganda Council on Foreign Relations in Kampala, fostering an ever closer relationship with the objective to teach and train young African talents on urgent policy matters, such as the governance of mobility and migration.”
The governance of mobility and migration from a transnational perspective will be at the heart of the event.
Prof Grace-Edward Galabuzi of the Makerere Institute of Social Research will present the new report “Migration Governance and Migration Diplomacy in Uganda: An Agenda for a Migrant-Centred Approach” in a session chaired by Dr Linda Oucho of the African Migration and Development Policy Centre.
Next, a high-level panel will discuss the report’s recommendations. Chaired by the EUI’s Prof Andrew Geddes, the panel features Mr Geoffrey Wafula Kundu of the African Union Commission, Dr Fathia Alwan of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Dr Sanusi Tejan Savage of the International Organization for Migration and Prof Mehari Taddele Maru of the EUI.
“The Ugandan government has identified migration as an important source of employment and economic development. This raises important questions that are forcing governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to solicit better, more robust and nuanced explanations of labour migration to support evidence-based decision-making, commented Prof Andrew Geddes, Director of the EUI’s Migration Policy Centre. “There is a need to bring migration to the top of the policy agenda of African governments and civil society and to establish effective migration governance by: formulating comprehensive national migration strategies; enhancing the policy capabilities of the key institutions with a mandate on migration; and, developing inclusive collaborative platforms for the relevant states and institutions to engage with one another.”
In conclusion, Dr Fabrizio Tassinari and five African fellows will introduce the EUI’s Young African Leaders Programme which is funded by the European Union. Their presentation is followed by a screening of African Renaissance: Young African Leaders in Florence, a short film about the fellowship programme which aims to develop local leadership skills and capacity in policy-making.
On Thursday 21 and Friday 22 July, 25 African experts will take part in an interactive in-person training covering the normative, institutional, collaborative and financial frameworks for effective transnational governance of African migration and mobility. The EUI’s School of Transnational Governance has awarded 10 merit-based scholarships for the training, which is co-organised with the EUI’s Migration Policy Centre.
