The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) in collaboration with the International Office for Migration (IOM) will organise a national consultation meeting to discuss and present a national consensus on current and topical issues of migration relevant to Sierra Leone.

The meeting which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 23 May, 2018 at the MFAIC Conference hall will serve as a prep for the planned international conference on Global Compact on Migration proposed in December 2018, in Morocco.

It could be recalled that, the process to develop the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (“Global Compact”) started in April 2017 following the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants that was adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2016. The process set motion a period for multi-stakeholder dialogue as a prelude to the hosting of the Intergovernmental Conference on migration.

According to the Deputy Director General for Policy, Dr. Michael Kargbo, the upcoming meeting is planned in such a way that it will factor in the opinion of all relevant stakeholders in Sierra Leone including direct actors concerned with migration.

Key among the issues to be discoursed at the conference include; migration trends in Sierra Leone, combatting trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling in Sierra Leone; drivers of irregular migration and promoting safe migration and panel discussions on protection of labour rights and a safe environment for migrant workers and introduction to the migration governance framework and the sustainable development among other issues.