Lilongwe, Malawi – The Government of Malawi, as the chair of 2022 Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa  with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Government of the United States of America (USA) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), is hosting the 21st Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) technical Conference from the 07th  November to 10th  November 2022, in Lilongwe, Malawi. The Conference will focus on the theme "Strengthening Migration Management policy and practices in Southern Africa through Scaling-up Interventions that Facilitate Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration".

The meeting, which is attended by Senior Officials from ministries of member states of SADC, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), and institutions with migration-related functions and responsibilities, as well as partners from the United Nations (UN) Agencies and Academia; will table its discussions along five themes. Themes are on Resilience to Climate Change and Disaster Risks; migration health governance; aligning with the SADC Regional Migration Policy Framework for Southern Africa (2022-2030) with a focus on Labour Migration, Diaspora Engagement and Remittances; governance for border management and migrant protection; and collection, analysis, dissemination, and the use of harmonized migration data for development.

“Migration is one of the oldest poverty reduction strategies”, said Hon. Jean Sendeza MP., Minister of Home Affairs of Malawi. “MIDSA is the most important opportunity for our region to find common positions and lasting solutions to matters affecting migration”.

As a regional consultative process for Southern Africa, the MIDSA recognizes the inherent migration dynamics in the region, following the GCM declaration. Over the last twenty-two years, MIDSA has promoted inter-state dialogue on a wide range of regional migration issues, including, inter alia; integrated border management, harmonization of data collection, migration and health, mixed and irregular migration, and the nexus between migration and climate change and economic development.

“MIDSA has been established to ensure a shared understanding and policy coherence on the multi-faceted nature of migration among the SADC Member States, thereby improving inter-state and intra-regional cooperation for improved migration governance”, said Mr Ashraf El Nour, IOM Regional Director for Southern Africa. “IOM is committed to supporting member states in Southern Africa to manage human mobility in mutually beneficial ways among member states and their populations”.

As this is the first MIDSA after the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) 2022 that SADC member states attended, there is a unique opportunity, within the remit set by the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the IMRF declaration, to help set the tone and ambition from 2022-2026. To this end, MIDSA 2022 will present an opportunity and briefing for all regional stakeholders to inform them of the preparations for IMRF 2026.

For more information, please contact Mr Wonesai Sithole WSITHOLE@iom.int .