Morocco’s migration policy aims primarily to ensure better integration of migrants into the Moroccan society, said Ahmed Skim, Director of Migration Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking at the opening of the 2nd meeting of the Board of the IOM-UNDP Global Program on Migration for Sustainable Development (M4SD), in Rabat on Monday, Skim said that this program fits perfectly within the framework of the migration policy adopted in 2013 by Morocco.
This policy seeks to ensure better integration of migrants into the Moroccan society, particularly through support to concrete initiatives at the local level, in terms of facilitating access of migrants to basic services, but also support to public institutions to effectively integrate migration-related issues in their respective sectoral strategies at national and regional levels, he explained.
The contribution of migrants to development is a crucial issue today, both in host countries and in countries of origin, he said, noting that the universality of human rights means that these migrants must have access to education, employment, health and especially security.
For his part, the Swiss Ambassador to Morocco, Guillaume Scheurer, recalled that this initiative is promoted by Switzerland and the United Nations Development Program, pointing out that the annual meeting of the global program is an opportunity for different stakeholders to meet and interact.
The meeting reviews the progress of the objectives set and plans future actions, he said, stressing that this meeting is particularly relevant and useful because at the international level, migration contributes significantly to fostering development.
The Swiss diplomat, who welcomed Morocco’s initiatives in migration policies, highlighted the importance of cooperation of all actors, including public authorities, private sector and civil society activists to ensure better governance and collective response to the challenges of migration today.
For her part, the Deputy Head of IOM Morocco, Botella Teresa said that this dialogue will generate a lot of knowledge and good practices for the deployment of new partnerships for better governance of migration, at all levels of the state.
Referring to the leadership of Morocco in migration strategies, she noted that the Moroccan policy is in line with the objectives of sustainable development and can be taken as an example in the African context, insofar as it includes several actors in the governance of migration.
She further noted that this meeting is a moment of reflection and an opportunity for a fruitful exchange between the representatives of 11 countries, around the good practices of each country in order to identify the best ways to follow so that migration has a positive impact on sustainable development.
Launched in 2019, the IOM-UNDP Global Program is in Phase III of a long-standing effort to pave the way for a more integrated methodology for migration governance, promote policy coherence and foster community benefits in line with national and local development priorities.
The program aims to show the extent to which integrating migration into development and other sectoral policies yields results on the ground that directly contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda SDGs, thereby linking policy and practice.