Better Migration Management

Addressing the needs of vulnerable people on the move in the East and Horn of Africa requires a collaborative, cross-border approach. Towards this, IOM is implementing the Better Migration Management (BMM) programme in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda. This is the third phase of a regional, multi-year, multi-partner programme born out of the Khartoum Process, which is a platform that supports states in identifying and implementing concrete projects to address the trafficking of human beings and the smuggling of migrants.

BMM started during its first phase in 2016. It is funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and coordinated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). IOM is one of the implementing partners of the programme alongside the British Council, CIVIPOL, GIZ and UNODC.

The programme is implemented in collaboration with the African Union, the East African Community and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. Its overall objective is to enable national authorities and institutions to manage safe, orderly and regular migration by applying a human rights-based approach and addressing human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.

IOM implements three interconnected components:

1. Strengthening migration governance to create legal frameworks for regionally coordinated migration management;
2. Supporting institutions to combat human trafficking and smuggling of migrants through integrated border governance; and
3. Protecting victims of trafficking and vulnerable migrants.

Amongst other key achievements, since the first phase of BMM, IOM has supported the drafting and revision of national migration policies in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan,  reviewed and validated Somalia’s national immigration act and regulations, and revised national labour regulations in Uganda; it has also provided an evidence base to contribute to migration policy development through a mapping of migration policy in the East and Horn of Africa and a Migration Governance Indicators assessment in Kenya.

BMM has strengthened the capacity of border authorities to facilitate safe and regular migration and combat human trafficking by training over 3,400 individuals in specialised techniques and developing the region’s first Integrated Border Management Training Manual. It has also provided critical support to border operations through infrastructure, equipment and technology in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti, and strengthened cross-border coordination through operationalizing integrated border management committees in Somalia and South Sudan. 

Furthermore, over 1,400 government and non-governmental protection actors have been trained on topics such as caring for trafficking victims, migrant protection, case management, gender mainstreaming, and mental health and psychosocial support. In addition, BMM has provided support to institutions through operationalizing national referral mechanisms in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda, a national Trafficking in Persons database for case management in Uganda and establishing Migrant Response Centers in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti. IOM has raised the awareness of over 3,650 migrants and community members on the risks of irregular migration, safe migration pathways and other related topics, and with co-funding, has provided 11,000 vulnerable migrants with critical services, food and non-food items in Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and Djibouti.

BMM Programme - IOM Overview