Better Regional Migration Management (BRMM) program

With funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the Government of the United Kingdom, the Better Regional Migration Management (BRMM) on Labour Mobility and Regional Integration for Safe, Orderly and Humane Labour Migration in East and Horn of Africa aims to enhance labour migration governance and the protection of migrant workers and their family members’ human and labour rights, through intra and inter-regional cooperation on a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society” approach. This includes supporting regional integration and facilitating mobility for transformative, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, in addition to empowering youth and women.  The project has a major Communications and Visibility component that encompasses strategies to combat xenophobia, racism and all other forms of discrimination and bigotry.

The project stakeholders include those responsible for enhancing migration governance. In Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, these will include the President, Governors, Lawmakers, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Internal Security, Labour and Immigration, and Border Control, Ministries of Gender, Youth, Health, the Judiciary, key donors, and other members of influence from the international community. Also targeted are migrant workers and their families and those responsible for their protection and well-being such as the police, military, industry regulators, as well as units in charge of issuance of work permits and identity documents. Civil society and media also play an important role as influencers in this project. The initial phase of the project ran from 1 August 2021 to 31 March 2022 under the following pillars:

• Pillar 1:  Mobility, Regional Integration, Social Cohesion including EAC Common Market Protocol/IGAD FMP, and others (AfCTA)
  
  • Includes support for Regional Consultative Processes (RMFM established in 2020 and EAC RCP established in 2022) and the five technical working groups that the 11 member states work with jointly to address labour migration governance and harmonization of labour migration policies, foster labour mobility, and protect the fundamental human, labour, and social rights of migrant workers migrating within the continent and from Africa to EU, GCC Member States and other countries. 
  • Includes a Communication and Visibility component promoting inclusion, tolerance, social cohesion, regional integration, gender and youth empowerment, and migrants’ rights and members of their families based on the IOM DISC initiative
• Pillar 2: Ethical Recruitment, BLMAs, Consular cooperation, Migrant workers, and their families rights
• Pillar 3: Returning migrant workers and members of their families’ vulnerabilities, protection needs and risks, return and reintegration in the East and Horn of Africa  
• Pillar 4: Gender-responsive migration governance in the EHOA region

The programme supports the Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration (RMFM) and the five Technical Working Groups (TWGs) that the 11 East and Horn of Africa (EHoA) member states work jointly to address labour migration policies, foster labour mobility and protect the fundamental human, labour, and social rights of migrant workers migrating intra and inter-regionally.

The BRMM programme is closely aligned with the Global Compact for Migration (GCM). The GCM aims to reduce risks and vulnerabilities that migrants face at different stages of migration by respecting, protecting, and fulfilling their human rights and providing them with care and assistance. It recognizes that safe, orderly, and regular migration can benefit Countries of Origin, Transit, and Destination and that this can only occur through international cooperation. The cross-cutting objectives of the GCM are all central tenets of the BRMM programme, but in particular, the following:

• International cooperation, recognizing the need for regional and bilateral discussions around migration and harmonization.
• Sustainable development – The BRMM programme is rooted in both the GCM as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The 4 BRMM Outputs, layering off of the GCM objectives, emphasize the important recognition that migration is a multidimensional reality of major relevance for the sustainable development of countries of origin, transit and destination, which requires coherent and comprehensive responses. Migration contributes to positive development outcomes and to realizing the goals of the Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially when it is properly managed.