3rd EU-Africa Economic and Social Stakeholders Network Meeting: Resolutions on Migration and Climate Change

The EU-Africa Economic and Social Stakeholders Network Meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on the 6th and 7th July 2016. This was, in fact, the third meeting of its kind after the previous ones took place in Brussels in 2014 and 2015. The EU-Africa meeting in Nairobi focused on two topics, which are Migration and Climate Change & Agriculture.

In order to ensure that the voices of the social and economic stakeholders are heard, the European Economic and Social Committee, together with other EU and African partners, organized this meeting bringing together the representatives of the employers, workers and various interests’ groups (particularly farmers) from both continents. This is consistent with the goals of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, which aims to create, inter alia, a “broad-based and wide-ranging people-centred partnership”.

On the role of socio-economic players in legal migration policies, the participants underlined the importance of the contribution of migrants to the economic, social and cultural development of countries and called upon African countries to accelerate free movements of goods and people in Africa. They also stressed the importance of involving the socio-economic partners in the drafting, management, and implementation of migration policies.

On the role of socio-economic players in fighting against climate change, the participants highlighted that the full involvement of civil society, at all levels, is crucial. They also underscored the importance of a fair transition to low-carbon economies that can be thriving nonetheless as well as the need to supply appropriate financial instruments to be made available to developing countries as pledged at COP21 in Paris.

Click and read all the resolutions of the 3rd EU-Africa Economic and Social Stakeholders Network Meeting here.