Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Burundi
On Tuesday July 23, 2024, at the Kiriri Garden Hotel, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, Mr Ferdinand Bashikako accompanied by Mrs Emanuela MUSCARA, the Representative of the International Organization of Migrants (IOM) in Burundi, opened a multi-stakeholder workshop for validating the report on migration governance indicators in Burundi.
In her speech, Mrs Emanuela MUSCARA, the Chief of Mission of IOM Burundi, said that that workshop is the completion of the process of evaluating the Migration Governance Indicators in Burundi – MGI in acronym, which were designed to monitor the progress made with regard to target 10.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which calls on the Governments in facilitating migration and mobility in an orderly, safe, regular and responsible manner, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.
Mrs Emanuela MUSCARA reported that in 2015, IOM developed the Migration Governance Framework (MiGOF). That framework provides the ideal approach by which a State can determine what it needs to manage migration well, taking into account national circumstances that vary from one country to another. In the same year, in order to measure that governance framework, IOM developed with Economist Impact the Migration Governance Indicators, a standard set of nearly 100 indicators allowing States to take stock of their migration governance structures. The IGM assessments are carried out at the request of governments to concretely implement the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration adopted by the majority of the United Nations Member States, including BURUNDI in 2018. The ultimate goal is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of migration management systems, which allows for the targeted and effective reforms to be implemented. The GMI assessment process in Burundi has been conducted since October 2023, she added.
The Migration Governance Indicators status report highlights examples of aspects that are well developed in Burundi and aspects that could be strengthened. On this point, Mrs Emmanuela welcomed some concrete actions carried out in recent months by the Government of Burundi, with the support of IOM, to address certain challenges related to migration, including the development of the National Labor Migration Policy as well as the development of the standard operating procedures on the ethical recruitment process; the consolidation of the disaster risk management system and the development of the national action plan to combat human trafficking as well as standard operating procedures to combat human trafficking.
As for the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, he said that today’s world is characterized by unprecedented mobility, and the need to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration is felt. The need to address the challenges and maximize the opportunities offered by that mobility has been recognized with the inclusion of migration in the 2030 Agenda for a Sustainable Development.
Burundian legislation on migration already exists through Decree-Law No. 01/25 of November 5, 2021 revising the Decree-Law of March 20, 1989 regulating migration in Burundi. By investing in the signing of agreements on labor migration since 2021, the Government of Burundi wanted to reduce, if not forever combat, illegal migration for Burundians who clandestinely left the country in search of work, and thus minimize the illicit trafficking of migrants and the abuses of which some become victims in destination countries, he added. It should be noted that in Burundi, the process of analyzing migration governance indicators was undertaken by the IOM and the Economist Impact, in collaboration with the team of the focal points representing the various sectoral Ministries and the representative of the private recruitment agencies. Those indicators will enable the Government of Burundi strengthening or improving the migration governance, with the aim of implementing the vision of His Excellency the President of the Republic: “Burundi, an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060.”