Kenya Launches Joint Operations Centres to Strengthen Border Security and Trade


IOM and Government of Kenya have launched a Joint Operations Centre at the Lunga Lunga OSBP which serves over 2,500 people each day. Photo: IOM Kenya/ Moses Otunga

Kwale, Kenya – In a groundbreaking move to bolster national security and facilitate trade, the Government of Kenya has launched a Joint Operations Centre at the Lunga Lunga One-Stop Border Post in Kwale County bordering Kenya-Tanzania.

The Joint Operation Centre (JOC) unit acts as a central point for gathering, researching, compiling, and sharing information, aimed at improving operations, security, and intelligence exchange at ports of entry and exit.

IOM supports the Government of Kenya to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular cross-border mobility and trade and to effectively address transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons as well as smuggling of migrants and goods within Kenya and the Horn of Africa through Coordinated Border Management.

“The establishment of the Joint Operation Centre will significantly enhance the effectiveness of multi-agency efforts in securing our borders and improving the overall operations of the BCOCC,”Chege Macharia, Deputy Commissioner, Border Control & Enforcement, Kenya Revenue Authority.

The Lunga Lunga OSBP serves over 2,500 people each day, including cross-border traders, travelers, and migrants. The established JOC at Lunga Lunga will further enhance efficient movement of persons and goods by countering threats at the border and creating synergy among border control and security agencies at the OSBP.

“Through the JOC, the Government of Kenya is moving towards enhanced coordination and information sharing to counter threats and facilitating seamless movement of people and goods while ensuring border security and addressing key challenges relating to border management,” said Dimanche Sharon, IOM Kenya Chief of Mission.

This initiative, funded by Global Affairs Canada, supports the Border Control and Operations Coordination Committee 5-year Strategic Plan and IOM’s strategic vision of facilitating pathways for regular migration of prioritizing whole-of-government, whole-of-society approaches to safely connect people, goods, services, knowledge, and innovation.

IOM will continue working with the Ministry of Interior through, State Department for Internal Security and National Administration that brings together all agencies with a border mandate in its efforts in spearheading inter-agency cooperation on border management, enhancing skills of frontline border officials, essential infrastructure, and advanced IT solutions, as well as offer expert technical guidance.

For more information, please contact Cynthia Meru at IOM Kenya, Email: cmeru@iom.int

Second Regional (Continental) Review of the Global Comact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration for Africa

Second Regional (Continental) Review of the Global Comact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration for Africa

8 - 10 October 2024 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

KEY MESSAGES FOR AFRICAN MEMBER STATES

In the past few years, the African Non-state Actors Platform has been deliberate in its       engagements in the GCM Regional Review process, particularly ensuring the diversity of voices and participation of civil society, diaspora actors and trade unions. This is not simply about recognition at the dialogue but most importantly about advancing the concerns of migrant populations from various sub-regions at this Second Regional Review in Addis Ababa, and towards the second International Migration Review Forum in New York in 2026.    

As African Non-State Actors, our ambition is to go beyond sharing human stories, and humanising migration governance discourse, but also wanting to directly impact the hearts of policymakers to shape policies and practices that impact real lives behind numbers and global frameworks like the GCM. To achieve this, there is an urgent need for meaningful partnership and intentional commitment between member states and non-state actors, including civil society, academia, the private sector, migrant organisations, diaspora actors, and the  trade unions.          

In preparing for the Second GCM Regional Review in Addis Ababa, the African Non-State Actors also note the difficulties for stakeholders (states and non-states) in obtaining visas to enter Ethiopia. We note with disappointment that our colleagues had to spend several hours overnight at the airport. This puts into context the challenges that Africans face in moving within Africa due to rigid visa regimes.

Within the context of the insights gathered from the Stakeholders Consultation on the GCM Review held in Dakar from 3 – 4 September, and the Virtual GCM Exchange on Building Brides with Champions for Impact held on 3 October, key messages are proposed to African member states in light of this Second African Regional Review of the GCM. In this regard, we present the following recommendations:

Legal pathways have to work for migrants             

  • Prioritize the harmonization of existing policies and frameworks surrounding legal pathways in the continent, while also committing to meaningful implementation of these strategies.
  • Strongly Prioritize renewed commitment to regional integration, through investing political and economic instruments that will remove artificial barriers to free movement in the sub-region.
  • Strongly urge the ratification of existing regional migration frameworks - such as the AU Free Movement Protocol.
  • Strongly invest in economic growth and development both at the country, sub-regional, and regional levels, with aim of creating sustainable jobs and improving people’s standard of living, which will in-turn minimize irregular migration in the sub-region.
  • Urge member states and stakeholders to invest skills and capacity building to advance socio-economic development and achieve the ‘Africa We Want’.

Protection of Migrants and Migrant Workers

  • Protect human rights of migrants and migrant workers by adapting and implementing the GCM Objectives and other international instruments on labor migration standards.
  • Enhance social protection, access and integration through regular pathways for migrant workers regardless of their migratory status, at both transit and destination countries
  • Encourage bi-lateral agreements to promote the protection of labor migrants, women, and children, as well as enhance safe and right-based movements
  • Prioritize the protection of migrants’ rights against racist and xenophobic attacks, both within and outside Africa.
  • Member states must stop the politicization of migration, which usually creates a negative narrative around migrant populations and sets the scene for coordinated xenophobic attacks and racism.

Good data collaboration

  • Strongly call for collaborative approach on scientific and valid data to reflect the reality of migration challenges, particularly on issues of missing migrants, communities affected by climate migration, urban-migration impact, promote skills mobility and formulate rights-based pathways based on evidence.
  • Advocate for the integration of population and multi-sectoral data to enhance evidenced-based migration programs and interventions.

Go beyond just counting your diaspora: 

  • Acknowledge the role of diaspora organisations in supporting the development of both countries of origin and destination.
  • Create the space for diaspora organisations to contribute to the discussions on migration and development; opportunities to drive meaningful partnership.  
  • Urge states and other stakeholders to provide funding support for diaspora organisations in carrying out their activities.

GCM Processes

  • Bring civil society, diaspora and trade unions with you to GCM-related fora as well as the second IMRF. Beyond stakeholders’ participation in meetings, member states need to support them and include them in national-level dialogue and regional reporting on GCM.
  • Meaningfully engage diaspora, civil society, and trade unions. We need to enhance dialogue opportunity for candid discussions between states and non-state actors and scale-up regional and national initiatives that work for migrants.

The above statement was issued by the Civil Society Organisations from the East and Horn of Africa as way of bringing their voice to the table in Addis Ababa. The Regional Review Mechanism was convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to bring African Member States together in an effort to sustain the GCM implementation momentum and peer review processes.

The following CSO organisations attended the convention from Kenya: Counter Human Trafficking Trust-East Africa (CHTEA), Candle of Hope Foundation and TDH (Kenya Office).

 

Global School Meals Coalition: CSO Reflection Forum – School Meals

Children in school face many challenges with hunger being a big challenge to them. Very often they go to school with empty stomachs and may return home to find nothing to eat. This is a major cause of school drop outs and difficulties in them pursuing their education. On October 24th, 2024, various civil society organizations who are members of the Global School Meals Coalition and who may have interest in the issue of meals in schools convened at the World Vision Head Office in Nairobi.

The main outcomes of the event were, the fact that the Global School Meals Coalition is government led, the commitment by the government of Kenya to incorporate school meals in its national climate change agenda, to do a follow up on the commitment by the government of Kenya on the issue of school meals, civil society organizations were encouraged to join the coalition and the various initiatives undertaken by CSOs in making sure school going kids don’t lack food. The discussants agreed among themselves and registered to engage with the government on the issue of meals in school. CHTEA was among the organisations at the table owing to education interest for both secondary, tertiary and university levels.

World Vision appreciated the participants from various CSOs for embracing the discourse. A brief background of the subject of the day was made citing that hunger was a major challenge to schoold regardless of where they were located. The Global School Meals Coalition was introduced as well as the circumstances that led to its formation. It was noted that food for children both in school and at home is a global challenge that requires the effort of everyone to tackle it. Participants were encouraged to feel free to engage and help to chart a way forward.

The coalition is a government led initiative and has seen the membership of 103 countries and 3 regions (continents) globally. There is a push for governments to make commitments to the coalition on actions they will take in actualizing the agenda of the coalition. Kenya was acknowledged as among the first to make her commitment with president William Ruto committing to introduce universal coverage, meaning a scale up from 1.8 million to 10 million children by 2030. The country is incorporating school meals into its national climate change effort, integrating planet friendly measures such as clean cooking initiatives. The Kenya commitment was shared among discussants in hard copies for perusal.

CSOs were encouraged to join the coalition as it provided an opportunity to engage the government on the issue of school meals which is of public interest. It was further stated that since it is the work of the government to provide food for the children in school, joining the coalition will enable the CSOs to push the government to make it a national agenda.

Kenya’s NAHUSOM Network Takes Shape

The Heads (CEO’s, Executive Directors, Coordinators, Team Leaders, e.t.c.) of National Civil Society organizations of Kenya who’s focus is on countering Human Trafficking, irregular Migration, Labour Exploitation, Forced Marriages/FGM  and allied dynamics met on 13th September 2024 at the Center for Domestic Training and Development (CDTD), in Westlands and resolved to among other things affirm the priority to form this broad network.

During the meeting, the heads resolved to:

  1. Limit NAHUSOM to National/local CSO’s in order to create a facilitative environment where a genuine platform for proper advocacy and programming gets most attention.
  2. Register for membership as well as pay a minimum annual fee of Ksh 10,000 (USD$100)
  3. Launch NAHUSOM at a breakfast at a date to be determined by a task force team
  4. Domicile the network’s secretariat at CHTEA and provide the requisite infrastructure for operations (tailor-made bank account, secretariat lead, communication infrastructure, etc)
  5. Establish a technical team to support the secretariat with technical input. To be headed by CDTD.

The essence of this network is to leverage on a consortium approach to programming and fundraising as well as a mechanism to engage with the Government of Kenya, the UN agencies, International organizations, regional, continental and global initiatives as well as donor agencies. The network envisages the use of consortium methodology in resourcing so as to maximize on scale.

Above: A group photo of the meeting of the Heads of Organizations during the NAHUSOM meeting at CDTD on 13th September 2024