By Ibrahim Joenal Sesay
FREETOWN, Feb. 24 (232news.com) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the International Office for Migration (IOM) and other partners on Tuesday held a one-day stakeholder meeting to finalize the National review report on the implementation of the global compact for Migration (GCM) in Sierra Leone.
Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Foreign Minister Mamadi Gobeh Kamara informed the meeting that in 2020 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated the review of the draft National report and noted that she is pleased that the final step to complete the report has been initiated.
She said that the engagement is timely for two reasons: firstly, it coincides with the finalization of the Government’s Policy on Migration and secondly, to finalize a profound work undertaken by Government, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), MDAs and Non-Governmental Organizations to develop a national document that deals with migration issues.
She called on participants to thoroughly examine the final report so that it will be in tandem with the country’s recent Immigration Policy developed under the auspices of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Mamadi Gobeh Kamara on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone, appreciated the support of IOM to government development efforts. She further highlighted specific areas of IOM’s intervention; the provision of resettlement packages to returnees from the Middle East and the Maghreb, partnership with the Japanese Government to jointly sponsor a team of Sierra Leonean Diaspora Medical Mission that provided critical medical services, in hard-to-reach areas within Kamakwie in Karena District.
This she noted, complement’s government’s effort towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 3), which is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.
The deputy foreign Minister pledged the support of her Ministry to continue working closely with the IOM, the Immigration Department and all partners in their collective efforts to effectively harness the vast potentials of our diaspora community while also looking at ways of discouraging our youthful population from taking brazen adventures in the search of elusive greener pastures that have often ended in harrowing experiences and dire consequences.
