EU-IOM Joint Initiative in North Africa

Launched in December 2016 with funding from the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration is the first comprehensive programme bringing together African countries, IOM and the EU round the shared aim of ensuring that migration is safer, more informed and better governed for both migrants and their communities.

The EU-IOM Joint Initiative enables migrants who decide to return to their countries of origin to do so in a safe and dignified way, in full respect of international human rights standards and in particular the principle of non-refoulement. In close cooperation with partnering state and non-state actors, it provides assistance to returning migrants to help them restart their lives in their countries of origin through an integrated approach to reintegration that supports both migrants and their communities, has the potential to complement local development, and mitigates some of the drivers of irregular migration.

The EU-IOM Joint Initiative covers and closely cooperates with 26 African countries in the Sahel and Lake Chad, the Horn of Africa, and North Africa.

The initiative has three regional components:

• The North Africa component of the initiative is implemented in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Its objective is to contribute to the strengthening of migrant protection and sustainable reintegration systems in North Africa. 
• The Central and West Africa component is implemented in 13 countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and The Gambia) through 14 specific actions including the regional one. It aims to make sure that the migration process is safer, more informed and better governed for both migrants and their home communities. 
• The Horn of Africa component of the initiative is implemented in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. The programme aims to improve migration management in the region, and to address the trafficking and smuggling of migrants within and from the Horn of Africa. The priority of the programme is to strengthen the rights of migrants and protect them better from violence, abuse and exploitation. The overall objective is to make migration in the region easier and safer.

Objectives

Beginning in June 2019, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative in North Africa aims to contribute to the strengthening of migrant protection and sustainable reintegration systems in North Africa and:

• To improve protection and enable the voluntary return of stranded migrants and migrants in transit in North Africa.
• To support targeted countries to enhance the sustainability of reintegration through an integrated approach addressing economic, social, and psychosocial dimensions.
• To increase the capacities of North African countries and relevant stakeholders to develop or strengthen return and reintegration policies and processes, including identification and referral.

For more information about the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration, visit www.migrationjointinitiative.org.