In partnership with Jigjiga University, The Ethiopian Society of Sociologists, Social Workers and Anthropologists (ESSSWA) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) the "1st National Conference on Migration, Trafficking in Persons and Child Labor Abuse in Ethiopia" was conducted from 03-04 March 2017 in Jigjiga town.

The workshop which brought together 80 participants from Federal and Regional Government officials, was attended by international organizations and researchers from Jigjiga, Adama, Wolayita Sodo, Arbaminch, Addis Ababa, Mekelle, and Gondar universities.

The workshop helped to connect different actors that will explore approaches at National, Regional and local community level and form cooperation mechanism on migration related tasks. 

The outcome of the workshop will inform the engagement of academia's help to elaborate the situational response best practices, identifying concrete problems and gaps, forward recommendations and increase commitments in the aspect of migration in Ethiopia through prevention, prosecution, protection and partnership approaches.

The research topics included Ethio-Political Analysis of Human Trafficking and Identity Crisis: A Philosophical Enquiry of the Practices of Human Trafficking in Ethiopia, an Assessment of the Illegal Labor drain to the Arab states; its Operations, Causes and Impacts on Sending Households, in South Wollo. Other research topics also focused on Public Awareness on Human Trafficking and Challenges for Intervention in Mettema Woreda: A Critical Focus on Practical Implications and Human Trafficking in Eastern Ethiopia: Navigating the Causes, Nature and Routes. The driving forces of irregular migration in Tigray Region, Consequences and the status of reintegration of returnees and the dynamics of human trafficking in North Wollo were also the among the presented topics. Moreover, a comparative analysis on child rights protection in Ethiopia and Kenya and exploring challenges, prospects of child protection practices in Bahir Dar city woreda court with special attention on selected police stations were also among the topics the academia presented.