By Edzorna Francis Mensah
A three-day Regional Civil Society Organization Sensitization Forum has opened in Accra, Ghana to popularize the Free Movement Protocol (FMP) and Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA) within African Civil Society.
The objectives of the forum are to popularize the FMP within African Civil Society; define the role of African CSOs in propagating free movement of people; and to identify training needs for CSOs thus contributing to the implementation of the protocol.
The African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AUECOSOCC) in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) convened the Conference in Accra from 17th to 19th May 2022
Aimed to improve Civil Society Organizations’ (CSOs) understanding of the FMP in order to increase their participation and strengthen their capacity in implementing the protocol.
In his keynote address at the conference, Deputy of Minister Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong acknowledged that “the concepts of migration and human mobility, which are common phenomena in Africa’s history, are believed to be caused by factors including poverty, conflict, lack of good governance and environmental stress”.
He said, the need to arrest the situation has led to the establishment of several policy frameworks by the AU including the Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA) and Plan of Action (2018-2030), and the AU Free Movement Protocol (FMP), to address, manage and promote migration and mobility as a result of intra-and inter-regional, continental and global migrant flows within and out of Africa.
He said, “The Free Movement Protocol (FMP) was particularly established to reduce and ultimately eliminate barriers to crossing regional borders for various purposes, including trade, work, visits, and establishment of businesses in the Member States. Notwithstanding the existence of the various policy frameworks, much remains to be done by African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) regarding their publicity or popularization”
The Deputy Minister recalled the Abuja Treaty of 1991, establishing the African Economic Community, and the commitment under Article 4 (2)(i) to conclude the Protocol on the free movement of persons, goods, services, capital, and the right of residence and establishment among the Member States.
“Notwithstanding the significance of the Free Movement Protocol to the realization of Agenda 2063, Africa’s development blueprint to achieving inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development, it is sad to mention that out of about the thirty (30) countries that have signed the protocol, only a handful have ratified”, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong added.
On his part, Albert Wilson Siaw-Boateng the Director of Free Movement Protocol, ECOWAS Commission said, a robust free movement mechanism will lead to the transfer of skills, the circulation of knowledge, cultural and technological exchanges, supplement the labor markets, among other things and cross-border cooperation and boost tourism in the region.
He stressed the point that the above when combined, will lead to peace and prosperity within the member states of ECOWAS, “while ECOWAS has made tremendous progress since its inception, we still have a long road ahead of us. Significant parts of the 1979 protocols and the additional protocols are yet to be fully implemented. We need to ensure compliance at the highest levels to fully implement those protocols. As the African Union pushes for a continental free movement protocol, the ECOWAS model presents itself for replication”.
The expected outcomes over the three-day sensitization Forum include popularisation of the Free Movement Protocol (FMP) and Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA) within African CSOs, increased dialogue on the Protocol between African CSO’s and experts, understanding of the Free Movement Protocol, and of the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the domestication and implementation of the Protocol.
ECOSOCC Secretariat noted that this meeting is one of many meetings organized with the need to provide tailor-made solutions for every regional block of Africa on the issue of free movement and labour migration.
It says, “the lessons learned from every regional block can be used to better inform the decisions made in other regional blocks. As ECOSOCC we reaffirm our commitment to ensure that the proposed solutions to all the standing issues and any new arising issues are tackled by the African Union Commission and our partners the GIZ with the urgency that is required. We do this in the hope that the solutions trickle down to all African Union Member states”.
More than 50 personalities from various Africa Countries are heavily represented and key among them is Ambassador Mrs. Amma A. Twum-Amoah the Ghanaian Ambassador to the AU UNECA, the deputy ambassador Mr. Kwasi Asante, and the ECOSOCC Presiding Officer Mr. Denise Kodhe, the cluster Chairperson for PAPS, Mr. Saffa Emmanuel Abdulia and members of the AU ECOSOCC SC, Ms. Dorothee Dinkelaker, Head of Cooperation, German Embassy in Ghana, GIZ ( AU Office), Mr. Albert Wilson Siaw-Boateng Director ECOWAS Commission as well as all local and international CSOs and media entities present.
The FMP, in particular, aims to curb and eventually eliminate barriers to regional border migration (to work, visit, trade, live, etc.) within the continent. Eliminating those barriers translates to economic growth on the continent as well as improved migration procedures for African citizens.
Despite the existence of these migration policy frameworks, policy uptake among member states and their popularization within African civil society remains low. In response, the
The Economic, Social, and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) was established in July 2004 as an Advisory Organ composed of different social and professional groups of AU Member States. The mandate of ECOSOCC is to contribute, through advice, to the effective translation of the objectives, principles, and policies of the Union into concrete programmes, as well as the evaluation of these programmes.