The Chief Director for the Ministry of the Interior, Mrs. Adelaide Anno-Kumi, launched the United Nations and European Union Building Migration Partnership Project aimed at contributing towards safe, orderly and regular migration to accelerate the work of the United Nations, Governments and stakeholders, migrants and communities for sustainable development.
The project is part of the European Union’s renewed commitment to build a longstanding cooperation through the UN Network on Migration to pioneer capacity building support on migration and mobility to partner countries.
Mrs. Anno-Kumi, who described migration as the movement of people from one place to another usually as a result of economic, political, social and environmental factors, said it has assumed an important role on the global agenda as the prospects for its social and economic development has given recognition from policy makers and leaders of nations.
She explained that the Global Compact for Migration which is the first internationally negotiated agreement on common approach to international migration in all dimensions endorsed by world leaders in Marakkesh, Morocco in December 2018 as part of its overriding objectives enjoins Member States to put in measures to manage their migration programmes in order to derive the necessary benefits.
She said considering the importance of migration, the Government of Ghana has put measures in place to tackle issues relating to migration such as trafficking in persons which are yielding results.
According to her, the common approach led by the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection with support from institutions such as the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Attorney’s General’s Office has resulted in the rescue of trafficked persons and the arrest and prosecution of traffickers.
‘This initiative has resulted in Ghana maintaining its second tier ranking by the United States Department of States report on Trafficking in Persons’, she stated.
The Chief Director disclosed that Ghana has embarked on a programme to strengthen its borders not only to enhance security and prevent terrorism but to prevent irregular flow of migrants.
She commended the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for their support in the renovation of two Border Posts at Hamile in the Upper West Region and Kulungugu in the Upper East Region with modern facilities like the Migration Information and Data Analysis Systems.
She also thanked the European Union and the United Nations Office in Ghana for funding and supporting Ghana’s migration governance drive.
The Chief Director stated that the Ministry of the Interior is looking forward to collaborate with IOM to build a national coordinating mechanism with other relevant stakeholders as part efforts in implementing the National Migration Policy.
