Hosted by the current Chair of the Rabat Process, the first Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Rabat Process since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic will take place on 17th and 18th November 2021 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

The meeting will bring together senior representatives of the Rabat Process partner countries to take stock of the implementation of the Marrakesh Action Plan, which is the current strategic framework of the Rabat Process, and review the achievements of Equatorial Guinea’s Chairmanship of the Dialogue.

It is the first meeting of this kind since February 2019, when the last Senior Officials’ Meeting was held in Burkina Faso. The previously scheduled Senior Officials Meeting, which was to be hosted by the French Chairmanship in 2020, was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event will also mark the handover of the Chairmanship to Spain, the next Rabat Process partner country assuming this role. In this respect, an important step will be taken with the presentation and validation of the 2021/2022 programme of Spain, as future Chair.

The main objectives of the Senior Officials' Meeting in Malabo are as follows:

  • Taking stock of the implementation of the Marrakesh Action Plan 2018-2020 under the Chairmanship of Equatorial Guinea;
  • Handover of the Dialogue Chairmanship to Spain, European member of the Steering Committee ;
  • Exchange and approval of the Spanish Chairmanship Programme (November 2021 - December 2022);
  • Follow-up of the JVAP implementation ;
  • Presentation of the Reference Countries’ actions contributing to the implementation of certain pillars of the Marrakesh Action Plan;
  • Formulation of recommendations for the operationalisation of the Marrakesh Action Plan;
  • Presentation of current migration issues.