By Staff Reporter
THE visiting International Organisation for Migration (IOM) director general (DG) Amy Pope says countries in the region must unite in bringing together and building more ways to leverage migration as a tool for development.
Addressing guests during a cocktail hosted by the government at the Rainbow Hotel this Monday, Pope, who is on a three-day working visit to Zimbabwe said she had fruitful discussions on how to strategise on a wide range of issues which included a facilitated movement of people to create more opportunities for them wherever they might be.
โWe also can do it by creating more safe and regular pathways for people to migrate, because we know when people migrate, when they migrate safely, when they migrate with dignity when theyโre paid a fair wage when their labour rights are protected wherever they work, it is not just a win for that person. Itโs a win for the country she comes from here in Zimbabwe.
โItโs a win for the country that she goes to. So when we talk about migration, we talk not just about protecting the worldโs most vulnerable. Sure, thatโs what we do as well,โ Pope said as she commended Zimbabwe for showing a strong commitment by becoming the latest of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM ) which allows the safe movement of people.
Further, the IOM DG said that she was so pleased to be able to acknowledge and welcome Zimbabwe as the latest champion of the Global Compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration.
โI am so delighted to be here with the government today to expand on the partnership, whether itโs on issues like protecting those who are the most vulnerable, unaccompanied children, victims of trafficking, communities who are impacted by climate change, reintegrating migrants who worked abroad and are now coming home, how to enable people to capture the myriad of job opportunities that exist today.
โThis is just one, just one sign of the strong commitment that we have seen and we believe the future is bright, and we believe the only way to create that bright future is to leverage migration.
โSince I have taken over as the IOM Director General in the last year, Iโve been so pleased to develop a personal relationship with Minister (July) Moyo and other members of the government who have really demonstrated their commitment to using migration as a tool for development and changing a narrative that migration is bad.
โWe all know that migration is human. We know that without migration, human civilization would not exist. And itโs for that reason that itโs so important to be here and to build a partnership with the government and the people of Zimbabwe,โ she added.
Zimbabwe joined the Global Diaspora Policy Alliance in September 2024, and the DG actively participated in the conference, held in Cape Verde.
IOM also hosted the second review of the implementation of the Global Compact on Migration in October 2024 in Addis Ababa.
The meeting in Addis Ababa saw eight member states joining the GCM champion countries.
Zimbabwe joined GCM champion countries in December, 2024, becoming the 16th country in Africa to join the group.
Popeโs discussions with government officials included ministers of Public Service July Moyo and Home Affairs Kazembe Kazembe (represented by his deputy Chido Sanyatwe) and others.
โWe also spoke about the impact of climate change, which we know is going to displace more and more people moving forward.
โYou may not realize it, but last year, more people were newly displaced because of climate change, not because of conflict. Now, the good news is that it means we can take action now.
โWe can take action to build resilience to the people of Zimbabwe, who today rely heavily on rainfall agriculture, and work with them to build the skills for the future, work with them to develop new ways of farming or new ways of building livelihoods, and weโre gonna do that with our partners within the UN family, but we also talked about how to harness the power, the catalyzing power, the sustainable development that is inherent when people move.โ
