WE, the participants in the North Africa Regional Conference, held in virtual format on 18th April 2024, under the chairmanship of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Togo, as a prelude to the 9th Pan-African Congress, scheduled to take place from 29th October to 2nd November 2024 in Lomé, under the theme “Renewal of Pan-Africanism and Africa’s role in the reform of multilateral institutions: mobilising resources and reinventing itself for action”;
REPRESENTING our national governments, local and regional bodies and civil society organisations;
RECOGNISING the strong role and commitment of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in his capacity as Champion of the African Union on the issue of migration, in the development and implementation of the African Agenda on Migration, putting forward a new vision for the management of African migration and governance in Africa;
WELCOMING the efforts made and the work carried out by the Republic of Togo and the High Committee in charge of the Agenda of the Decade 2021-2031 of Roots and African Diaspora aimed at supporting African diasporas in a logic of co-development and shared growth;
WELCOMING also the relevance of the theme “Pan-Africanism and Migration” of this regional conference in Rabat and the excellent conditions in which the proceedings took place;
WELCOMING the current revival and renewed interest in a renewed pan-Africanism, which will help further federate the initiatives of African countries and other stakeholders and mobilise them around noble and common causes;
STRESSING the need to strengthen cooperation, integration and unity of action on the African continent in order to promote better governance of migration;
RECALLING the importance for African countries to align their national migration management strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 of the African Union;
EMPHASISING the importance of strengthening the role of the Regional Economic Communities as central pivots for the actions of the African Diaspora on the continent;
REAFFIRMING the important role of the African Union in the orderly and coordinated management of migration by establishing a number of mechanisms, including the Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA) and its Action Plan 2018-2030;
RECOGNIZING the progress made at global level since the adoption, in Marrakesh on 10 December 2018, of the “Global Compact for Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration” (GPM), as well as by the United Nations General Assembly on 19th December 2018, and intended to cover international migration in all its dimensions through a global and comprehensive approach;
RECALLING the achievements and progress made in African cooperation on migration management, and reaffirming our commitment to contribute to global discussions with a view to finding appropriate solutions to the challenges posed by migration, tailored to the specific characteristics of the African continent;
RECOGNISING the need to strengthen relations between the African Diaspora and the continent with a view to involving Africans abroad and Afro-descendants more closely in the quest for prosperity and economic and social development;
EMPHASISING the need to develop and implement more programmes and projects offering the Diaspora and Afro-descendants more chances and opportunities on the continent;
AWARE of the contribution of the diaspora and Afro-descendants in promoting the African continent abroad and of the importance of bringing about a profound change in the narrative about African diasporas;
IDENTIFYING the root causes and opportunities of migration and the need to invest more in the development of the African continent;
AGREE on the following conclusions and recommendations:
1- REGARDING PAN-AFRICANISM, MIGRATION AND GOVERNANCE
- WORK in the interests of our continent by encouraging African countries to strengthen their regional cooperation to better manage migratory flows through Regional Economic Communities (RECs);
- IMPLEMENT harmonised policies and coordination mechanisms for migration and governance ;
- MOBILISE the ways and means necessary to change the narrative on human mobility and migration;
- MAINTAIN close contact with the different generations of migrants and Afro-descendants;
- MOBILISE migrants and Afro-descendants as part of the renewal of pan-Africanism around the issue of reforming multilateral institutions and ensuring that Africa is better represented in global governance;
- REITERATE the need for the continent to have reliable and verifiable data on migration flows and trends in Africa.
- CALL, in this regard, on the African Migration Observatory to strengthen the capacity of Member States to collect reliable data and statistics on African migration;
- ADDRESS the underlying causes that drive African citizens to migrate, targeting poverty, discrimination and displacement due to climate change and natural disasters;
- COMBAT vulnerability factors and violations of human rights and international law in relation to migration;
- ENSURE the right to life in the context of migration, while guaranteeing access to essential services and eliminating all forms of discrimination;
- ENSURE that bilateral and multilateral agreements with partners are consistent with African human values and objectives in terms of migration management and governance;
- DIVERSIFY and BROADEN the pathways for safe, orderly and regular migration, taking into account the specific needs of vulnerable migrants.
2- REGARDING PAN-AFRICANISM, MIGRATION AND THE DIASPORA
- RECOGNIZE the substantial contribution of the African Diaspora to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular target 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals;
- ENCOURAGE the commitment and positive contribution of members of the African Diaspora to the economic, social and cultural development of their countries of origin, by facilitating the transfer of skills, investments and knowledge;
- PROMOTE investment opportunities for diasporas in their countries of origin and across the continent;
- ENCOURAGE African countries to draw up national strategic plans for money transfers in receiving countries, with a view to highlighting priority areas for improving the formalisation of transfers;
- ENCOURAGE the adoption of incentive measures to further promote the contributions of members of the African diaspora to the development of their countries of origin;
- REAFFIRM the relevance of the Rabat Declaration, resulting from the Forum on Reducing the Costs of Transferring Remittances from the African Diaspora, held in Rabat on 12 January 2023 and CALL FOR:
- IMPROVEMENT in the communication and collection of strategic data on remittance flows and the characteristics of African markets to inform the actions of decision-makers;
- PROMOTION of the channelling of remittances towards productive investment, in particular through appropriate programmes providing local support, incentive and support measures, as well as financial products capable of channelling their financial flows more towards economic activities;
- PROMOTION of an enabling and favourable environment from a legal and juridical point of view, guaranteeing the efficiency of the market and lowering the cost of money transfers, through the diversification of channels and the elimination of exclusivities;
- CREATION of synergies between the Diaspora, local authorities, civil society and the private sector in African countries, in order to set up development projects and promote the integration of migration into sectoral development strategies at national, regional and international levels;
- ENCOURAGE African embassies around the world to establish a “Year of Africa” in their respective countries of residence;
- PROMOTE the creation of bridges between North African and sub-Saharan immigration, particularly in the countries of residence;
- SET UP a network of African researchers on migration, to produce comparative studies and analyses on the challenges and trends of African migration;
DECIDE to submit the conclusions and recommendations of the Rabat Regional Conference, entitled the “Rabat Declaration”, to the 9TH Pan-African Congress of Lomé.
