In a context marked by humanitarian crises caused by increasing flows of irregular migration from Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, ministers from more than fifty countries of origin, transit and destination met for the first time in order to respond to the questions raised by the challenges of migrations. The declaration and the action plan adopted at the first Euro-African Conference on Migration and Development, which was held in Rabat on 10-11 July 2006, reflected a common vision of the point of solving these challenges.
The aim of Rabat Process is to create a framework for dialogue and consultation within which concrete, practical initiatives are implemented. The European Union has asked the African partners to pursue a policy aimed at preventing and reducing illegal migration. This is however just one aspect of a migration policy which, in order to be consistent, also aims to improve the organization of legal migration and promote the connections between migration and development.
Two years later, the Second Euro-African Conference on Migration and Development was organized in 2008. This meeting confirmed the vitality of the process and resulted in the adoption of an ambitious three-year cooperation programme.
Then, on November 23rd 2011, the Third Euro-African Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development was held in Dakar, Senegal, consolidating the achievements in the implementation of the three-year Paris Cooperation Program, and adopting a new strategy called the Dakar Strategy for the years 2012-2014.
1. Dakar Strategy
Dakar Strategy is based on the development of robust and beneficial cooperation among the countries on the West Africa Migration Route. Also, this Strategy has made possible the implementation of numerous bilateral, sub-regional, regional and multilateral initiatives.This Strategy was the result of the undertaken activities by means of the Rabat Process Support Project.
It was founded on the three pillars also reflecting the spirit of the Rabat Declaration.
- Organising legal migration
- Fight against irregular migration
- Strengthening the relationship between development and migration