As if symbolically, the year 2018 ended with the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration, adopted on African soil, specifically in Marrakech. Africa was very present in the collective imagination of the thousands of stakeholders who came to celebrate this new gospel on migrants. In fact, our continent was the silent godfather of this important moment in human history — crystallizing all the fears and challenges that today push for the absolute necessity of better “migration management.”
Not so much because of the well-established fact that Africans have long moved a great deal, and mostly within their own continent, but rather because of the disastrous image reflected to a well-meaning world population: the disorderly and pathetic arrival of migrants knocking at the doors of wealthy countries — countries that themselves became prosperous partly thanks to a certain kind of migration.
So if African populations move mainly within their own continent, shouldn’t Africans’ priority be to work toward making these movements safe and beneficial for everyone? Isn’t the real challenge within this continent to give everyone the chance to choose where they live, work, and… dream?
We have tried to take our share of responsibility in this challenge, according to our skills and resources, but above all our deep conviction that any action in this direction must be carried out with the greatest quality and in keeping with our identity as an African international organization.
Our commitment to a quality approach in supporting the thousands of vulnerable migrant children and young people has also given us the legitimacy to initiate, in addition to the real assistance provided to them, a genuine framework for understanding migration in our region. The Observatory set up will gradually provide an objective, evidence-based picture of the reality of child and youth migration in our region. To achieve this, the involvement of states is a necessity — but genuine collaboration among African actors is a historic obligation.
