Promoting safe, orderly and regular migration from and within the Horn of Africa

Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme in the Horn of Africa

+ Show all
  • Commissioning Party

    German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

  • Cofinancier

    European Union (Global Europe: Nachbarschaft, Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und internationale Zusammenarbeit Neighbourhood, NDICI)

  • Country

    Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda

  • Lead executing agency

    More

  • Overall term

    2016 to 2025

  • Products and expertise

    Safety, peace, reconstruction

Two men in protective gear are working in a van a computers.

Context

The countries in the Horn of Africa region are places of origin, transit and destination countries for people who have left their homes. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of migrants in the Horn of Africa at around 5.7 million (2021), 51 per cent of whom are on the move within the region. Often out of necessity, many travel irregularly with no visa or valid papers.

They frequently turn to smugglers to facilitate their journey, putting themselves at great risk, for example, of becoming victims of human trafficking. The countries in the Horn of Africa often lack the infrastructure, legal frameworks and expertise to manage safe and legal migration.

A passport is being stamped.

Objective

National authorities and institutions manage safe, orderly and regular migration by applying a human rights-based approach, and address human trafficking.

Approach

The programme operates in three interconnected components:

  1. Supporting migration governance in order to create the legal principles and framework for regionally coordinated migration management. For example, the project assists representatives of government and civil society organisations to regulate work and residence rights for migrants and develop national migration laws.

  1. Helping institutions to combat human trafficking and people smuggling. The project supports integrated border management and refers migrants to a range of social services, as well as arranging training for civil servants and civil society stakeholders in the investigation and prosecution of human traffickers.

  2. Protecting the victims of trafficking and vulnerable migrants. The project promotes civil society organisations that provide various services for migrants and victims of human trafficking, for example accommodation, medical and psychosocial care and legal advice.

The programme is implemented together with British Council, Civipol, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). GIZ lead the implementing partnership.

Last update: October 2023

Two women and children fill in workbooks together.

Additional information