Strengthening IGAD’s Migration Policy Implementation: From Phase II to Phase III

When skills cross borders, policies can help open doors
For Ella, crossing the border into Kenya is about more than moving from one country to another. It is about building a better future for her family. A trained plumber from northern Ethiopia, Ella hopes to use her skills to find work in Kenya and create new opportunities for her husband and young daughter. Like many families across the Horn of Africa, they are migrating in search of better livelihoods.

But as they prepare for the journey, questions remain: Will Ella’s qualifications be recognised in Kenya? What will happen when she reaches the border? Will there be reliable information to guide her? Ella’s story is fictional, but these questions are real for millions of people on the move.

More than 23 million refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are moving within and between countries in the Horn of Africa. Their experiences are shaped not only by personal aspirations, but also by the policies and systems that govern how people move, work, study and rebuild their lives.

This is where regional cooperation matters. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), working with its Member States, is strengthening migration and displacement governance across the region. With support from GIZ, on behalf of the German Government, the Strengthening IGAD’s Migration Policy Implementation (SIMPI) II project supported IGAD in three interconnected areas: migration data, recognition of qualifications and displacement policies. The work also focused on the Moyale migration corridor along the Ethiopia–Kenya border.

Better data. Better decisions. 
Under SIMPI II, IGAD and the member states developed common definitions, standards and concepts to harmonise migration and displacement statistics across the region as well as published two Population and Migration Statistics Reports. Six Member States also established National Working Groups on Migration Data, while statistical analysis software was provided to national statistical offices.

For people like Ella, these may seem like technical achievements. But better data about who is moving, where people are going, why they are moving and what support they need, helps governments make better decisions, and better decisions can lead to policies and services that respond more effectively to people on the move.

When skills cross borders
For Ella, her greatest asset is her profession. As a trained plumber, she hopes her skills will help her earn a living in Kenya. Yet, like many workers who move across borders, she may wonder whether her qualifications will be recognised. SIMPI II supported IGAD’s work on a regional qualifications framework, helping advance cooperation on the recognition and comparability of qualifications across Member States. The goal is straightforward: to make it easier for skills and qualifications to be understood and recognised across borders.

When Ella finds out that the certificate she received from her TVET training centre in Ethiopia is recognised in Kenya, she feels more confident about her decision. Her skills are not limited by the border – they can become an opportunity for her family’s future. 

Education and opportunities for refugee families
On the way to Kenya, Ella and her family meet Khalil and his two children. They are from Sudan and have refugee status. Unlike Ella’s family, Khalil’s refugee journey started because of the war in Sudan. While travelling together, Ella learns about Khalil’s concerns. His children have been away from school for some time, and he worries about whether they will be able to continue their education in their host community. 

Thanks to the Djibouti Declaration, developed and implemented by IGAD and the Member States with SIMPI’s support, refugees are better integrated into national education systems.

The IGAD Teacher Training Initiative advised by SIMPI II enhanced the skills of 755 secondary school teachers in the largest refugee-hosting communities in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Uganda. The training focused on ICT, competencies in psychosocial support, livelihood skills, and pedagogy to better integrate refugee learners into host communities and provide meaningful psychosocial support to refugee students. 

Livelihoods and self-reliance for refugees
Khalil (fictional) also worries about how he will support his family. Finding work as a refugee can be difficult, and he wants to become independent while contributing to the community that is hosting him.

Through the dialogue fora on the IGAD Kampala Declaration on Jobs, Livelihoods and Self-Reliance, exchanges between government representatives, the private sector, NGOs, international partners, and refugee entrepreneurs are fostered. These discussions uncover important barriers and opportunities for refugee inclusion in national labour markets. The inclusion progress is monitored through a newly developed monitoring framework that is supposed to collect data about access to labour markets, TVET programmes etc. 

For Khalil, these efforts create new opportunities to rebuild his life and participate in the local economy.

Building stronger communities along migration routes
On their way to Kenya, Ella’s and Khalil’s families stay in Moyale, a city that connects communities across the Ethiopia–Kenya border. For many people moving through the region, border areas are not only transit points but places where people live, trade, and build relationships.

In Moyale, SIMPI II supported the establishment of the IGAD Moyale Cross Border Development Facilitation Office. The office is used for hosting several joint consultative meetings of Cross Border Local Communities and Authorities such as the Peace Committees, the Local Migration Network, and the Cross-Border Steering Committee, as well as Cross Border Development Actors like NGOs.

The host- and migrant community received trainings on group formation and management, leadership skills, saving skills, and bookkeeping for milk value chain management. In total, 16 milk collection centres and 3 milk processing cooperatives were established and are now running without external support. An additional 750 persons received livelihood support and up to 100 representatives of local government have been capacitated to integrate mobile populations into the local education and health systems.

The Moyale consolidated Cross-Border Peace Committee was established with representatives from both countries. Through the support, the committee’s success in resolving conflicts, engaging youth and women in peacebuilding, and improving security demonstrates its potential to transform the region.

A total of 58 trading cooperatives were established in Moyale on both sides of the border to foster income generation and peacebuilding. Of these, 40 cooperatives have over 70% female membership, while 13 cooperatives are entirely women-led, demonstrating strong female participation in economic and community development.

Looking ahead: From Phase Two to Phase Three
Ella and Khalil’s stories remind us that migration policy is ultimately about people: the worker seeking opportunity, the student pursuing education, the family searching for safety and the communities receiving and supporting them. In the next phase the German Government through SIMPI will continue building on these achievements with a stronger focus on gender-disaggregated migration data. Member States will be further strengthened when it comes to collecting migration and displacement data that reflects the different experiences and needs of different genders that leads to evidence based policy making for people on the move.