Senior officials of the Rabat Process partner countries and organisations met in Madrid on 20 October 2022 to prepare the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Euro-African Dialogue on Migration and Development, Rabat Process.
The Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) paved the way for the 6th Rabat Process Ministerial Conference, to take place on 13 and 14 December 2022 in Cádiz, Spain. The Ministerial Conference will lead to the adoption of the next multiannual cooperation programme which will guide the activities of the Rabat Process and its partners for the period of 2023-2027. The SOM was also the occasion to renew the governance of the Dialogue with a view to achieving greater inclusiveness.
Preparing the ground for a successful Ministerial Conference and renewed Governance of the Dialogue
Spain, as Chair of the Rabat Process and host of the upcoming Ministerial Conference, invited the senior officials of the Rabat Process partners to Madrid, in order to jointly work on the outcome documents and prepare this high-profile event that will be attended by the Ministers responsible for migration of the Rabat Process partner countries, as well as by the involved regional and international organisations.
Towards a new multiannual strategic framework
The main focus of the SOM was to discuss and draft a new political declaration and action plan that will eventually be examined and adopted at ministerial level in Cádiz. The documents will build on the Marrakesh Political Declaration and Action Plan - the current multi-annual strategic framework of the Rabat Process, adopted at the previous ministerial conference in 2018 - and on the Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP), which was adopted by the Rabat Process and Khartoum Process partners in 2018.
The new multi-annual strategic framework – the Political Declaration and Cadiz Action Plan (2023-2027) - will take into account how the international context has evolved since 2018 and address new challenges that have arisen since then. It will propose concrete actions to be implemented under each of the five pillars that structure the JVAP and Marrakesh Action Plan
A renewed governance of the Dialogue
In addition, the SOM was also the occasion to consider proposals by the Spanish Chairmanship for a renewed governance of the Dialogue, allowing for greater representation of all partner countries. It was decided that:
- The Steering Committee will be enlarged by 2 African and 2 European members.
- The reference countries will continue to play an important role in promoting the strategic priorities pursued by the Rabat Process. The importance of geographic parity was emphasised and the duration of the role should be linked with the period covered by the action plan.
- Permanent observer status will be formally granted to relevant international organisations. Their participation in political meetings will remain subject of approval of the Steering Committee.
Outcome
The SOM ended with the formal adoption of the provisional texts of the Political Declaration and Cadiz Action Plan and decisions on the renewed governance of the Dialogue.
