Objective 23: Strengthen international cooperation and global partnerships for safe, orderly and regular migration

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum is a set of regulations and policies to create a fairer, efficient, and more sustainable migration and asylum process for the European Union. The Pact, which was proposed in September 2020 and agreed between the European Parliament and the Council in December 2023, is designed to manage and normalise migration for the long term, providing certainty, clarity and decent conditions for people arriving in the EU. It also establishes a common approach to migration and asylum that is based on solidarity, responsibility, and respect for human rights.

In accordance with the local development plan, in 2020, the city government of Barranquilla (Colombia) created the Local Integration Centre for Migrants (CILM, for its Spanish acronym), which provides orientation, referrals, and support to Venezuelan refugees and migrants, as well as Colombian returnees from Venezuela, to grant them access to procedures and services. 

The main objectives are three: 

An URBACT Network is a safe space for a group of cities facing similar challenges to share experiences and to develop long-term solutions. Cities develop their activities with local stakeholders – change makers from the public and private sectors, academia, NGOs and civil society – as part of their URBACT Local Group. 

There are three types of Networks, which cities and other bodies – metropolitan areas, specialised agencies, districts and boroughs – can apply to join:  

The aim of the MigrantVoicesHeard project is to promote refugee and migrant participation in the design and implementation of integration and related policies at the local, regional, and national levels in seven EU countries: Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Romania.

More specifically, the project aims to:

In July 2016, the Government of Zimbabwe has launched a Trafficking in Persons (TiP) National Plan of Action (NAPLAC) to operationalize the Trafficking in Persons Act which was passed in 2014 to fight against human trafficking in the country.

Officially launched by Zimbabwe Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the plan was developed with technical support from IOM, UNODC and the SADC Secretariat. 

On 6 September 2022, the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Organization for Migration (IOM) Thailand co-hosted the inaugural Training on Migration Reporting at Pullman Bangkok King Power.  

The event was a capacity building exercise to support media professionals on their coverage of migration issues, and to equip them with background information on the regional and national situation, government policy, and related human rights frameworks, to strengthen their role in combating misinformation and negative stereotypes of migrants.  

The Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, launched in September 2021 by the UN Secretary-General, signals the UN system’s collective response for addressing the multiple challenges that threaten to erase development progress.

The goal is to accelerate the global actions needed to promote a job-rich recovery and a just ecological, technological and social transition to more sustainable and inclusive economies. 

Following the Solidarity Declaration on 22 June 2022 by 18 Member States, the European Commission and the EU Agencies established the Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism (VSM) to provide a concrete response to the migration-related difficulties faced by Member States bordering the Mediterranean. 

In 2013, Belgium launched a structural resettlement programme. Since then, the country has committed to annually receiving vulnerable refugees. 

The Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil) manages, in cooperation with national and international partners, the preparation, the journey and the reception of the refugees selected for resettlement in Belgium. The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) is responsible for the selection abroad.

The project PEM N'Zassa, which is deeply rooted in the two countries in which it is being implemented, Côte d'Ivoire and Belgium, aims to support the entrepreneurial ecosystems in each country. The project proposes a circular mobility model for 120 Ivorian entrepreneurs and SME employees who have developed an innovative entrepreneurial project, and for whom mobility to Belgium represents an opportunity to create value.