Workshop on International Migration in West Africa

The Brookings-SAIS Project joined with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a Workshop on International Migration in West Africa, held in Dakar, Senegal from 29 September through 5 October 2002. Project staff addressed the ECOWAS member states on internal displacement and the Guiding Principles and discussed with them how to integrate the issue of internal displacement into the development of a regional approach to migration policy and into the programs and activities of ECOWAS.

Participants included representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Justice from each of the ECOWAS member states, the ECOWAS secretariat, IOM and various experts.

Project statements presented at the Workshop:

• Welcoming Remarks by Francis Deng
• Internal Displacement: Overview and Information Issues by Roberta Cohen
• The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and their Pertinance to Governments in the ECOWAS Region, by Erin Mooney
• The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: Standing and Application, by Marianne Makar
• The Role of Regional Organizations, by Roberta Cohen
• Closing Statement by Roberta Cohen