The MADE West Africa programme, implemented by ICMC Europe (International Catholic Migration Commission) in partnership with AFFORD (African Foundation for Development), the CMS (Centre for Migration Studies of the University of Ghana) and FORIM (Forum of International Organizations of Migration Issues), has recently launched a set of eight roadmaps which aim at maximising the positive potential of mobility for the development of the ECOWAS area. The roadmaps establish country-specific and realistic commitments in three specific thematic areas: promoting intra-regional migration for development, protecting migrant worker’s rights and the engagement of diaspora in development. The country roadmaps cover Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Togo, Ghana and Senegal. In addition to the eight roadmaps, a ninth document addresses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the pursuit of the roadmaps.

The roadmaps are the outcome of inclusive, multi-stakeholder and multi-governance processes in each country and constitute the culmination of MADE West Africa’s work from 2017 to 2020. Each document identifies 5-6 key objectives and provides contextual information as well as good practice examples.

MADE West Africa (short for “West Africa - Migration and Development, Partnership for Rights-based Governance of Migration and Mobility”) is funded by the European Union as part of a “Rabat Process call for proposal”. The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) Europe – the main coordinator of MADE West Africa - engages with the Rabat Process on an ongoing basis. The organisation took part in the civil society consultations preceding the adoption of the Marrakesh Action Plan and has been invited to participate in the forthcoming label workshop on migration and development, where they will present the roadmaps.

Access the roadmaps here:

Promoting intra-regional migration for development

Protecting migrant workers’ rights

Engagement of diaspora in development

Shared lessons learnt: cross-cutting synergies and Covid-19

In a supplementary document, MADE West Africa provides an overarching synthesis of findings and suggestions, particularly taking into account the impact of the Covid-19 health crisis:

“While the crisis will surely impact implementation, in many ways the pandemic has only highlighted or exacerbated what we already aimed to overcome. In this way the importance of human mobility, migration protection, and development continue to prove vital in providing solutions to global issues, of which Covid 19 is no exception.” – MADE West Africa website.