The Rabat Process Secretariat elaborated a 5-point plan to improve and structure the monitoring and evaluation of the dialogue activities, with the overall aim to make migration cooperation better.
At the Senior Officials Meeting held on 2-3 May in Brussels, the Rabat Process Secretariat presented a paper on its pursuit of a high-quality dialogue, including concrete suggestions to strengthen monitoring and evaluation processes. These suggestions, targeting five different areas, aim at ensuring quality, impact and relevance of the dialogue:
1. Improved information management
Generating and sharing information is at the core of a dialogue. Hence, effective information management and sharing mechanisms are essential. The Rabat Process Secretariat is working on tools to improve the dissemination of knowledge, to facilitate the exchange of best practices, experiences and skills between the partners of the Rabat Process. In particular, to further strengthen the network of National Focal Points (NFP) – the beating heart of the Rabat Process – the Secretariat is developing new functionalities for its website, such as a private area for Focal Points, in order to facilitate access to information. The creation of a series of "welcome documents" that can be downloaded from this private area will help the new NFPs to fulfil their role. To better serve the dialogue’s members, the Rabat team is exploring the potential of new relevant communication channels between NFPs.
2. More dynamic monitoring of the implementation of the Rome Programme
This year, the implementation of the Rome Programme comes to an end. To contribute to the monitoring of the results of the latter, the Secretariat presented a progress report at the Rabat Process Senior Officials’ Meeting held in May. This meeting was based on an analysis of activities undertaken by the partners of the dialogue. The report will be updated in time for the second Senior Officials’ Meeting in October. The aim is to clarify which aspects have been of priority for the dialogue, and thereby contributed to reflections and the definition of the next multi-annual cooperation programme, to be adopted at the Ministerial Conference of 2018.
3. Consolidated monitoring of the Technical Programme and the Thematic Meetings
Rabat Process Thematic Meetings and Technical Programme are key tools in ensuring the operationalisation of the dialogue. The Rabat Process Secretariat already collects information and evaluates these activities, using as assessment forms and attendance lists. Information collection will be improved and expanded: for instance by adding indicators and inserting new questions to ensure that participants have benefitted from the meetings and trainings. Information collected will be systematically analysed to gain deeper insights, thereby ensuring both qualitative and quantitative monitoring of the dialogue.
4. Development of new tools
The Secretariat will work on a set of tangible indicators, with the aim to monitor the implementation of conclusions and recommendations issued by dialogue meetings more closely. Furthermore, new tools to better guide decision-making processes will be developed based on discussions at thematic meetings. These tools could be guidelines, manuals or in-depth studies conducted in the run-up to thematic meetings.
5. Reinforcement of inter-dialogue exchanges
Strengthening exchange between different migration dialogues is essential to ensure coherence and create synergies. Close contacts are particularly essential between the Rabat Process and the Khartoum Process, but they should also be maintained between other dialogues contributing to the dynamism of the Joint Valletta Action Plan.
