Rabat Closure of the work of the North Africa Regional Ministerial Conference, which was sanctioned by the adoption of the Rabat Declaration.

HIBAPRESS-RABAT-MAEC
Participants in the North Africa Regional Ministerial Conference, organized by Morocco and Togo under the theme “Pan-Africanism and Migration”, praised the strong role and commitment of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in His capacity Champion of the African Union on the issue of migration.
In the “Rabat Declaration” sanctioning the work of this meeting held in virtual format, as a prelude to the 9th Pan-African Congress scheduled from October 29 to November 2, 2024 in Lomé around the theme “Renewal of Pan-Africanism and the role of Africa in reform multilateral institutions: mobilizing resources and reinventing ourselves to act”, the speakers welcomed the Royal commitment in the development and implementation of the African Agenda on Migration, putting forward a new vision in the management of African migrations and governance in Africa.
The efforts deployed and the work carried out by the Togolese Republic and the High Committee in charge of the Agenda for the 2021-2031 Decade of Roots and the African Diaspora aimed at supporting African diasporas in a logic of co-development and growth shared, were also welcomed. As well as the relevance of the theme “Pan-Africanism and Migration” of this regional conference in Rabat and the excellent conditions in which the work took place.
The participants also welcomed the current renewed interest in a renewed pan-Africanism which will contribute to further uniting the initiatives of African countries and other stakeholders as well as mobilizing them around noble and common causes, emphasizing the need to strengthen cooperation, integration and unity of action on the African continent in order to promote better migration governance.
They recalled, on this occasion, the importance for African countries to align their national migration management strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 of the African Union, emphasizing the importance of strengthen the role of Regional Economic Communities as central pivots of the actions of the African diaspora on the continent.
Reaffirming the important role of the African Union for orderly and coordinated management of migration by establishing a number of mechanisms including the Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA) and its Action Plan 2018-2030, they recognize the progress made at the global level since the adoption, in Marrakech, on December 10, 2018, of the “Global Compact for Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration” (GCM), as well as by the United Nations General Assembly, on December 19, 2018 , and intended to cover international migrations in all their dimensions through a global and exhaustive approach.
They also recalled the achievements and advances in African cooperation in the area of migration management, reaffirming their commitment to making contributions to global reflections with a view to providing appropriate solutions adapted to the specificities of the African continent to the challenges posed by the migratory phenomenon, while recognizing the need to strengthen relations between the African diaspora and the continent with a view to further involving Africans abroad and Afro-descendants in the quest for prosperity and economic development and social.
Aware of the contribution of the diaspora and Afro-descendants in promoting the African continent abroad and of the importance of bringing about a profound change in the narrative on African diasporas, they stressed the need to develop and implement more programs and projects offering the Diaspora and Afro-descendants more chances and opportunities on the continent, while identifying the root causes and opportunities of migration and the need to invest more in development of the African continent.
Regarding Pan-Africanism, Migration and Governance, participants called for working in the interest of the continent by encouraging African countries to strengthen their regional cooperation to better manage migratory flows through Regional Economic Communities (RECs). ), by putting in place harmonized policies and coordination mechanisms on migration and governance.
Also, they pleaded for the mobilization of the ways and means necessary to bring about narrative change on human mobility and migration, while maintaining close and proximity contact with the different generations of migrants and Afro-descendants.
The Rabat Declaration further calls for mobilizing migrants and Afro-descendants as part of the renewal of Pan-Africanism around the issue of reform of multilateral institutions and better representation of Africa in global governance, while reiterating the need for the Continent to equip itself with reliable and verifiable data on migratory flows and trends in Africa.
The participants recommend, in this regard, that the African Migration Observatory (OAM) strengthen the capacities of Member States in the collection of reliable data and statistics relating to African migration, as well as to tackle the underlying causes. underlying factors that encourage African citizens to migrate, targeting poverty, discrimination and displacement due to climate change and natural disasters.