Brussels, 22/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - The African/Caribbean/Pacific (ACP) Observatory on Migration will be officially launched in Brussels on 25 October. This research body, inaugurated by the ACP group, and the European Commission will provide reliable information on migration flows in ACP countries, improve the management of South-South migration and contribute to developing policies better conceived for placing migration to the service of development (see EUROPE 10195).
The Observatory will be officially launched on Monday during a ceremony presided by Koos Richelle, Director General of EuropeAid at the European Commission, and Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Secretary General of the ACP Group. Andris Piebalgs, European Development Commissioner, will attend the closing session on Wednesday 27 October.
“South-South migration flows tend to receive less attention than South-North movements. Yet, the number of people migrating from a southern country to another is extremely important and has an impact on development. The ACP Observatory on migration will help us to have a clearer view on these migratory flows and to shape adequate policies”, Piebalgs said on Friday.
The Observatory will cover six ACP regions (the four African sub-regions, the Caribbean and the Pacific) and will be set in place, as a preliminary measure, in 12 pilot countries: Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Papua-New Guinea, Senegal, Tanzania, East Timor and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Observatory will endeavour to make up for the existing shortfalls in data and information and improve knowledge on the migratory flows from ACP states to allow the needs of migrants to be better taken into account. It will seek to strengthen research on migration of labour, migration and health, remittances, brain drain/gain, forced migration and climate change.
The Observatory will encourage the establishment of networks and cooperation between research institutes, private researchers and government agencies. Placed under the responsibility of the ACP Group secretariat, it will be funded by the EU. The project's total budget amounts to around €9.4 million. The EU will contribute to this with some €8 million from the 9th European Development Fund (EDF). The ACP Observatory on Migration is one of the initiatives financed under the intra-ACP Migration Facility which aims to include migration issues into national and regional development policies and strategies, with the ultimate objective of reducing poverty. (A.N./transl.jl)