Regional fund to support migrants, refugees and host communities in the Horn of Africa

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The planned measure will set up a regional migration fund (Regional Migration Fund or RMF) at IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development). The overarching objective of the project is to reduce the negative effects of flight and migration in the region and to contribute to improving the living conditions and economic opportunities of migrants, refugees and host communities in the region, as well as to strengthen social cohesion. To achieve this goal, measures are planned in two financing windows. The first financing window will promote the economic development of transit areas along migration routes, in particular through the establishment of catalytic economic infrastructures with cross-border effects. The second financing window will involve the socio-economic connection of long-standing refugee camps to host communities. The project also aims to strengthen IGAD’s mandate in the context of flight and migration, thereby contributing to regional integration. The establishment of a regional migration fund makes it possible to use FC resources flexibly and in line with needs and to operate across borders, which is difficult to achieve with a bilateral measure. The RMF serves as the basis for an IGAD Migration Fund to be set up under IGAD, as part of the so-called Migration Action Plan (MAP) of 2014, with the aim of attracting additional donors. The RMF therefore has the potential to create a mechanism that can be used by other donors and thus contributes to donor harmonization.