Migration from anywhere involves a certain amount of risk, and migration routes across Africa are some of the most dangerous. In pursuit of safety, security, and a better life, African migrants travel across oceans and deserts to reach various parts of Europe, Middle East and the Far East Asian countries. Migration routes are not only about movement out of Africa but also within the continent. One such a route is the Southern, where migrants move from the East and Horn of Africa toward the south, with the ultimate goal of reaching South Africa and other a few other Southern Africa countries. Due to the vulnerable movement context, many migrants run out of money before they reach their intended destination. This scenario triggers a vicious cycle that sometimes ends in human trafficking. Nasty experiences such as abductions and forced labor, or, for girls and women, forced prostitution and forced marriage, the risk of becoming trapped in modern slavery looms large over each journey as unscrupulous smugglers and criminals turn a lucrative profit.
Kenya MRP Partners Coordination Meeting
In 2024, the MRP formally included two countries of the Southern Route7, Kenya and Tanzania. To practically advance this inclusion and identify concrete next steps in implementing the Southern Route components of the MRP 2024, the MRP Coordination Unit convened an in-person meeting for MRP partners from Kenya and Tanzania on 26 March 2024 in Nairobi. Nineteen MRP partner representatives from the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Secretariat for Kenya, Counter Human Trafficking Trust East Africa (CHTEA), Candle of Hope, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Salvation Army, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and World Vision Kenya attended the meeting. The outcomes of the meeting included an improved overall understanding of the MRP structure and operational modalities, mapping of country-level coordination mechanisms, a working understanding of MRP reporting and data systems, and an overview of the MRP communications and visibility strategy. The discussion culminated in the drafting of the MRP Action Plan for the partners to operationalize the agreed coordination and programming activities that will contribute to the successful implementation of the MRP 2024
The Regional Migrant Response Plan (MRP) for the Horn of Africa to Yemen and Southern Africa is a multi-stakeholder, multi-year and multi-country coordination framework bringing together governments, the United Nations (UN), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) as well as international and national NGOs in Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania and Yemen to strengthen humanitarian, protection and development assistance to migrants and host communities in vulnerable situations. While the framework is implemented by a wide range of 48 UN agencies, governments and NGOs (as stated in the Q3 report for 2023), the coordination of the framework is overseen by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and managed through the Migrant Response Plan Coordination Unit and the MRP Regional Coordination Committees for Regional Directors and technical focal points comprising 16 partners. The regional coordination meetings are complemented by three thematic working groups and country-level coordination meetings.