Erbil, Iraq– As part of ICMPD’s long-term objective to strengthen the Iraqi Government’s knowledge and expertise in the area of migration management – and in follow-up to a previously funded project by the Swiss State Secretariat of Migration (SEM), ICMPD conducted the 1st Workshop on Supporting a Whole of Government Approach to Migration Management in Iraq.
With senior representation from relevant ministries from Iraq’s Central Government and Kurdish Regional Government, the workshop focused on establishing the practical meaning of a Whole of Government Approach (WoGA) in the Iraqi context by introducing key concepts and theoretical frameworks. Further, the workshop explored the WoGA application to Iraq’s migration governance context in order to identify inherent challenges and build on existing needs.
ICMPD experts provided best practice examples of WoGA from the Middle-east and other regions as well from other projects from within Iraq (such as the Integrated Border Management project of ICMPD which engages Iraqi Ministry of Interior and law enforcement agencies). The workshop engaged the participants in several critical thinking exercises which were followed by moderated interactive discussions. The exercises and discussions allowed participants to apply a WoGA in the context of an important migration governance topic – that is – reintegration of returning Iraqi migrants.
A follow-up workshop will be organised towards the last quarter of 2023 with the aim of stimulating a discussion on how to apply a WoGA to reintegration support programmes of the Government of Iraq across its governorates, in particular facilitating the participants to propose solutions for how WoGA can be utilised to address ongoing challenges in catering to the diverse needs of Iraqi returnees (whether internally displaced persons or voluntary returnees from abroad).The workshop was organised under the project, Whole of Government Approach to Migration Management in Iraq (IMAG), funded by SEM and implemented by ICMPD in Iraq.
