In a workshop held in Addis Ababa, the United Nations Migration Agency, IOM, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) officially launched the project titled: “Integrating migration into national development plans: towards policy coherence and achievement of the SDGs at national and global levels” p. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Ethiopia and stakeholders to implement migration-related SDGs and to report on the stipulated targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

One of the outcomes of the workshop was the endorsement of a joint semi-annual work plan (Jan-June 2018) of the subgroup on Prevention within the framework of the National Anti-Trafficking and Smuggling Taskforce.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Berhanu Aberra, Director General, Overseas Employment Directorate, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) said, “Organizing the efforts of different government offices and partners is essential to effectively combat irregular migration.” According to the Director, the Government of Ethiopia has set an ETB 20 billion revolving fund to support small and micro finance institutions so as to create more job opportunities for young Ethiopians. He informed the workshop that his office is working on rigorous awareness raising campaigns on irregular migration. However, despite these efforts, the challenges to curb irregular migration are enormous and for that reason, cannot be tackled individually.

The Deputy Chief of Mission for IOM Ethiopia, Mr. Zhao Jian, noted that there is a correlation betweenwell-managed migration and the attainment of sustainable development, hence its incorporation in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development-- SDG 10.7.

This capacity building project on mainstreaming migration-related SDGs in national development plans and policies is currently being implemented in Ethiopia and Ghana; it begun in Sep 2017 and is scheduled to end in August 2019.

In Ethiopia, key activities of the project include the formation of an inter-agency mechanism on migration and awareness raising on migration-related SDGs, and capacity development on reporting on migration-related indicators and targets, among others. IOM has agreed with MoLSA to support the strengthening of the Prevention Subgroup that the Ministry is leading under the National Anti- human trafficking and Smuggling Taskforce, to implement its activities as well as track progresses on migration-related Sustainable Development Goals in Ethiopia.

The project is funded by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sub-Fund of the Peace and Development Fund, of which China is a major donor.

The workshop was attended by Mr. ZHANG Gaohui, Section Chief for Political Affairs from the Embassy of China in Ethiopia.

For further information, please contact Alemayehu Seifeselassie at IOM Ethiopia, Tel: +251.11. 5571707 (Ext. 455), Mobile: +251.91.163-9082 Email: salemayehu@iom.int