The Government of the Republic of Namibia and IOM officially launched the country’s Migration Profile recently (17 June), in Windhoek, Namibia. The Migration Profile, funded by the IOM Development Fund, is a country-owned tool that was prepared in consultation with government and non-government stakeholders.
The Migration Profile was jointly launched by the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, Pendukeni Ivula Ithana and the IOM Regional Director for Southern Africa, Josiah Ogina at a high level event, attended by several government ministers, members of parliament, representatives from various ministries and of the Migration Technical Working Group, Embassies, UN Head of Agencies and Civil Society Organisations.
The event reflected 18 months’ work put in by many stakeholders in Namibia to develop the Migration Profile and provide evidence for policy-making.
“The link between migration and development nowadays cannot be disputed as done in yesteryears. Policies on migration therefore should be reflective of this fact and migration issues need to be mainstreamed in overall development policy. The approach taken in developing the Namibian Migration Profile took this into account to ensure that it deals with contemporary issues,” said Minister Ithana in her keynotes address.
The launch of the Migration Profile demonstrated the commitment and leadership taken by the Namibian Government to use the Migration Profile for policy-development purposes and address the fifteen findings and recommendations, validated in December 2015.
These recommendations include many different aspects pertaining to the country, such as remittances, diaspora engagement, migration health, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, human trafficking, border management, labor migration and the migration legal, policy and institutional framework.
As a direct follow-up to the launch event, IOM Namibia organised a two-days training workshop in Swakopmund (20-21 June 2016). The workshop gathered members of the Migration Technical Working Group led by the MHAI and focused on the usage of the migration profile to further support the Government in mainstreaming migration into National Development Plans and defining the way forward towards the development of a Migration Policy for Namibia.
