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International Partnerships

Training experts for better migration management in the Horn of Africa

I now look at an immigrant from a business perspective, as someone who is likely to benefit our society, or as someone who might require my help.

Apollo Masete Migration student at the Kenya Institute of Migration Studies, Kenya

Postgraduate study boosts career prospects

Students completing the diploma not only come away with new perspectives on migration; their careers and home countries also benefit from their new expertise. "After the diploma course I was promoted. I became an expert, so I was invited to join the training committee at the Directorate of Immigration where I could contribute my expertise" said Apollo Masete.

According to Mohamoud Ismail, Masete’s fellow student from Somalia, a lot has changed in his life too: "I became a Senior Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Somalia" "and now I am working with my colleagues on tabling a bill in Parliament to bring immigration policy in line with the regional and international immigration frameworks."

Now I am working with my colleagues on tabling a bill in Parliament to bring immigration policy in line with the regional and international immigration frameworks.

Mohamoud Ismail, who has become a Senior Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Somalia

Growing interest in the KIMS course

Of the 25 students enrolled in the first KIMS course, all completed their coursework and 21 went on to graduate in December 2020. "Now, we have another 25 students joining in the next intake, and we have expanded from four countries to five, namely Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya," Dr Khasakhala Director of the Population Studies and Research Institute at the University of Nairobi said.

Apollo Masete has also successfully lobbied. The Ugandan Directorate of Immigration is now planning to send another ten Ugandans on the KIMS course with a view to further professionalising migration practice in the country. "My boss emphasised that he would continue to train more staff to strengthen the department," said Masete.

About the programme

The Better Migration Management (BMM) programme, working with the Kenyan Department of Immigration Services, set up the Kenya Institute of Migration Studies (KIMS) to improve national and regional migration governance in close coordination with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU). The Graduate School of Governance at Maastricht University, a renowned institution on matters of migration governance, provided KIMS with technical support on the curriculum development process.

The University of Nairobi hosts and provides the certificates for the postgraduate diploma in migration management. Both the KIMS and the postgraduate diploma in migration studies have been implemented with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and International Organization for Migration (IOM). BMM is co-funded by the European Union, through its Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, and by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).