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 (2022 – 2025) of a regional, multi-year, multi-partner programme born out of the Khartoum Process - 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 and is funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is 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 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The programme is implemented in collaboration with the African Union (AU), the East African Community (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). 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.

The programme has 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, including 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, and the revision of 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 1,000 individuals in specialised techniques and developing the region’s first Integrated Border Management Training Manual. It has also provided critical support to border infrastructure in Ethiopia through necessary equipment. 

In addition, 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. IOM has also raised the awareness of over 3,000 migrants and community members on the risks of irregular migration, safe migration pathways and other related topics.

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Migration Policy and Data