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The Government of Zimbabwe will today launch Zimbabwe’s National Migration Policy (NMP). Officiating the launch will be the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Honourable Kazembe Kazembe. IOM assisted with technical support in the development of the National Migration Policy which seeks to contribute to addressing the challenges posed by migration and to tap into the positive benefits of migration for Zimbabwe’s social and economic development.
The launch of the policy is a culmination of an intensive process of consultation and collaboration overseen by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage as the chair of the Interministerial Committee on Migration and with technical backstopping by the Department of Immigration and at least 17 government ministries and departments with migration related functions to share information and enhance coordination within government across a range of migration issues. The activities were made possible by the EU under the Promotion of Migration Governance in Zimbabwe Project as well as the Africa Regional Migration Program funded by PRM.
The National Migration Policy was developed through an inclusive, whole-of-government participatory process and is premised on the African Union (AU) Migration Policy Framework for Africa and the Plan of Action (MPFA) which provides comprehensive and integrated policy guidelines to AU Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to take into consideration in their efforts to promote migration and development and address migration challenges on the continent.
This overarching policy represents an integrated, coordinated, and holistic framework to manage migration for national development. The overall objectives of the National Migration Policy are to stipulate the core areas of policy intervention, to provide the framework for the implementation of migration and development strategies and actions for the national benefit, to ensure that the nexus between migration and development is mainstreamed in legal and institutional domains and ensure that there is coherence and coordination across policies, laws, and institutions while leveraging migration for sustainable development.
The NMP identifies 20 core policy components including Migration Governance, Labour Migration, and Migration Data among others and it provides key strategies to achieve the different policy objectives.
Speaking ahead of the launch of the National Migration Policy, IOM Zimbabwe Chief of Mission Mario Lito Malanca congratulated the government of Zimbabwe on the launch of the policy, highlighted the importance of continued cooperation with partners, and reiterated the importance of effective implementation of the policy for Zimbabwe to reap the benefits of migration.
“The Government of Zimbabwe had demonstrated their sincere commitment to managing migration in an effective way through the adoption of this policy. The policy is a living document and a dynamic tool which if implemented well – as the government has committed to do – will advance the socio-economic well-being of migrants and society,” Mr. Malanca said.