IOM Urges Malawi to Champion Global Migration Compact Implementation
Malawi became a GCM champion country in 2021, demonstrating its commitment to promoting safe, orderly and regular migration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
LILONGWE, Malawi - The United Nations Network on Migration has called on the Malawi government to demonstrate its commitment and leadership in aligning migration governance with the principles of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), writes Martin Kamlaike.
Monami Maulik, a Civil Society and Stakeholder Liaison Officer at the UN Network on Migration Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, made the call at the end of a two-day consultative workshop in Lilongwe themed "Translating the Global Compact Migration into Action."
"Malawi here represents the first country in the Southern Africa region to embark not only in embracing the Global Compact on Migration (GCM), but acting as a champion country as well and now embarking on the process to implement a National Implementation Plan along the GCM," Maulik said.
The workshop, supported by the European Union, brought together government officials and stakeholders to enhance engagement and deepen understanding of the GCM.
According to Steve Kayuni, Malawi's Secretary for Homeland Security, the country is currently developing a GCM National Implementation Plan to outline its strategies and actions to accelerate GCM implementation within the national context.
Alina Zalewski, Head of Programmes of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Malawi, expressed the importance of enhancing regular access to migration pathways to protect migrants and Malawians going abroad from exploitation.
She also emphasized the need to build sustainable resilience against disasters to prevent forced migration.
Malawi became a GCM champion country in 2021, demonstrating its commitment to promoting safe, orderly and regular migration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
The consultative workshop provided an opportunity to ensure that Malawi's GCM National Implementation Plan embodies a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, as guided by the UN Network on Migration's six-step framework.