East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 23rd January,2024: The Directors of Labour and Employment from the EAC Partner States have considered and approved the EAC Policy and Legal frameworks governing labour migration and the outcome of the national and regional consultations during the regional meeting of Experts in Bujumbura, Burundi.
The overall aims of the policy are to advocate for the protection of migrant workers; strengthen labour migration governance and maximise the benefits accruing from labour migration
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 20th November, 2023:The East African Community remains committed to partnering with all stakeholders to develop policies and guidelines to ensure that human rights violations and challenges facing refugees in East Africa are addressed.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, Productive, Social and Political Sectors, Hon. Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, further said that the EAC was working to address state fragility, establish and monitor regional peace mechanisms, implement democratic electoral processes, promote regional/bilateral mediation and reconciliation processes and support transitional justice processes in the region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 3rd May, 2023:The President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. William Samoei Ruto, has called on the members states of the East African Community (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to remove barriers to the free movement of people, goods and services in order to enhance regional integration in Eastern Africa.
President Ruto said the free movement of people, goods and services was necessary for sustainable growth and development of the East and Horn of African region.
The President said it is the responsibility of the member states in the region to eliminate national boundaries that have since become roadblocks and impediments to the movement of people and commodities across the region.
Dr. Ruto described national boundaries as old-fashioned and divisive, and urged the region to work together to build bridges of friendship.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 29th April, 2023:The President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E William Samoei Ruto is expected to grace the launch of the flagship report titled ‘The State of Migration in the East and Horn of Africa’’ on 2nd May, 2023 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
The inaugural report, co-published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Office for the East and Horn of Africa, the East African Community (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) sheds light on the mobility dimensions of regional integration in the East and Horn of Africa region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 17th April, 2023: The East African Community (EAC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at renewing and strengthening cooperation in addressing issues on refugee and asylum seekers in need of international protection, across the region.
The MoU was signed at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania by the EAC Secretary General, Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki and the UNHCR Regional Director for the East, Horn and Great Lakes Regions, Ms. Clementine Nkweta-Salami and will among other things, promote the rights of East Africans to seek and enjoy asylum for persons in need of international protection in accordance with international refugee law and uphold the non-derogable principle of non-refoulment within the region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 1st April, 2022: Ministers responsible for EAC Affairs, Labour/Home Affairs and Directorates of Immigration from the EAC Partner States have endorsed the establishment of the EAC Regional Consultative Process (EAC-RCP) on Migration in the region and recommended the same to the Sectoral Council of Ministers responsible for EAC Affairs and Planning for approval.
The decision came during the 2nd Regional Conference on establishment of the EAC-RCP on Migration which took place in Nairobi, Kenya. The EAC-RCP will provide a platform for information-sharing and policy dialogue dedicated to deliberate specific migration issues in a comprehensive manner amongst the EAC Partner States.
… Ministers call for fast-tracking of the establishment of the Regional Consultative Process
East African Community, Kigali, Rwanda17thFebruary , 2022: The East African Community (EAC) Conference to establish Regional Consultative Process (RCP) on Migration concluded in Kigali, Rwanda.
The main objective of the conference was to consider and discuss the proposal for the establishment of the Regional Consultative Process on Migration for the EAC as a platform for regional information-sharing and policy dialogue dedicated to discuss specific migration issues in a cooperative manner among EAC Partner States.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 11th February, 2022: Partner States Ministers in charge EAC Affairs; Interior / Home Affairs; Labour and Directorates of Immigration from EAC Partner States, the EAC Secretariat, International Organization for Migration (IOM) as well as other UN agencies will be meeting in Kigali, Rwanda from 14th -16th February, 2022 to establish a Regional Consultative Process on Migration (RCP) in the region.
The three-day meeting will provide a framework for the EAC Partner States to have an informal, discrete and non-binding dialogue on migration and governance issues in the region for the first time.
The objective of the RCP is to help Partner States to move away from a securitized approach to migration to broaden understanding of migration by appreciating that migrants and increased mobility in East Africa can contribute to national development, reducing poverty and lowering the unemployment rate among the youth, and other benefits.
The region has an estimated population of 195 million including nearly 5 million international migrants, over 2.8 million refugees and asylum seekers, and nearly 2.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region, with all countries being nations of origin, destination and transit for migrants, the displaced and other groups on the move.
With an increase in the flow of labour migrants from the region to destinations like the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), increased climate change-induced migration, forced displacement and migration, conflict-driven migration and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mobility, an RCP on migration for the region is timely.
The formation of first RCP dialogue process can respond to migration challenges in the region and maximize the development opportunities migration can bring.
The EAC region would not be the first regional economic community in Africa to enhance its approach to migration governance through an RCP. The Migration Dialogue for West Africa (MIDWA), the Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA), the Migration Dialogue for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Region (IGAD-RCP), the Migration Dialogue from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Member States (MIDCOM) and others are operational.
It is hoped that the establishment of a REC for the EAC region will be in tandem with the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and the Global Compact for Migration.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, the EAC Secretary General, Hon Dr Peter Mathuki, said that the proposed RCP would benefit EAC through the creation of effective networks for migration governance and establishing a policy framework for migration and governance.
“The RCP will present a significant opportunity to improve the governance on migration, to address challenges associated with contemporary migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development in the region,” said Dr. Mathuki.
On his part, Mr. Mohammed Abdiker, the IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa, said that the RCP was the results of the recognition by Partner States on the need to continuously dialogue and cooperate on migration issues at the national and regional levels.
For more information, please contact:
Simon Peter Owaka Senior Public Relations Officer Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 768 552087 Email: sowaka [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 3rd February, 2022: The regional meeting on the establishment of the EAC Regional Consultative Process on Migration (RCP) organized by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with International Organization for Migration (IOM) is scheduled to take place from 14th – 16th February 2022, in Kigali, Rwanda.
The overall objective of the meeting is to share experiences on migration governance in the regional and international perspective.
The meeting will be conducted through a session of Senior Officials on 14th February, 2022, session of the Coordination Committee (Permanent /Principal/Under Secretaries) on 15th February, 2022 while the Ministerial Session will be held on 16th February, 2022.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 19th November, 2021: East African workers and laborers are set to benefit through prompt intervention of challenges affecting labor mobility and employment, following a commitment to operationalize a regional technical working group.
This follows extensive deliberations between the East African Community (EAC) and the East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) on strengthening the labour, employment and migration agenda, held today at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
