Partnerships on migration are high on the international development agenda. No single government, international organization or civil society stakeholder can expect to reap migration’s benefits or address its challenges by managing it alone. Given the roles and potential contributions of different actors in migration, partnerships are key to successful migration governance and migration management. States, government departments and agencies, subnational authorities, local communities, migrants and their families, diasporas, employers and unions, among others, can be extremely valuable to “broaden the understanding of migration, and to develop comprehensive and effective approaches” (IOM, 2016a). Partnerships at all levels of governance and among all stakeholders are central to addressing migration challenges and to finding new and creative solutions to them.

The value of partnerships and cooperation on migration has been recognized more and more. This value can be seen in many initiatives and documents, including:

The best results are achieved when coordination and cooperation efforts extend beyond a specific State and when they are not limited to only State actors. Well-managed cooperation and coordination among these actors will greatly facilitate and improve the governance and management of migration.

Example
Global skill partnerships

An example of the type of international partnerships and cooperation that engages multiple actors is the proposal for developing global skill partnerships (Clemens, 2015). A skills mobility partnership is a partnership between countries whereby migrants are trained and work in the country of destination in a sector where there is demand before returning to the country of origin with higher qualifications. Such partnerships are not new, and have had positive results (see, for instance, European Training Foundation, 2015). However, there is no single model for how such partnerships work; there has been some opposition to them; and new ways to combine initiatives to manage labour migration while fostering development are also being proposed (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2018). Under the proposed global skill partnerships, governments and private sector organizations in both countries of origin and destination would develop a pre-migration agreement about the training of (potential) migrant workers. Such an agreement would specify the following:

  • Sector(s) in which migrants would be trained;
  • The financing of such training;
  • How the training would be of benefit to both the country of origin and the country of destination;
  • How it relates to and enhances the employment opportunities for migrant workers in the country of destination;
  • How it relates to and enhances the employment opportunities for migrant workers upon their return to their country of origin.
Source

Clemens, 2015.

In areas where there is no partnership regarding migration, the lack of coordination, coherence and cooperation can create confusion among the different actors as well as competition between them. This can result in unclear objectives, the duplication of activities and efforts, and situations where different actors pursue different strategies and may undermine each other’s efforts and results. To achieve a consistent and harmonized approach, it is crucial to build partnerships in the design and implementation of policies, projects and programmes. It is also necessary to build regular and ongoing consultations between all the actors involved in migration. The next chapter will look at international policy dialogue and consultation processes on migration as a means of cooperation and partnerships on migration management and governance (details on stakeholders and partnerships at the national level in Stage 4: Consultation).

Policy Approaches
Promoting a coordinated and cooperative approach to migration management and governance
  • Identify the relevant actors and stakeholders in the policy issue under consideration, any competing objectives or interests and any common objectives or interests.
  • Find ways to negotiate and generate dialogue so that common goals and objectives can be identified and developed, while also responding to divergent or competing interests and objectives.
To Go Further

This chapter looks at the different actors that have a mandate or an interest in migration governance and migration management, their roles, the opportunities for cooperation between them, and the challenges of that cooperation. This discussion focuses on the international level, but it is important to emphasize the work that is done at the national and subnational level as well. In part, that work puts into action regional strategies or recommendations from international frameworks, which allows approaches to migration governance and management to be coordinated with international partners (read more in Developing migration policy and Stage 4: Consultation). For details on which actors are important at pre-departure, transit, arrival, integration, return and reintegration, see Phases of migration as well as the relevant thematic chapters (for example, on visa processing, see Facilitating pre-arrival: Passport and visa management; on employment matters, see Labour migration and mobility; on health-related aspects, see Health and migration).

Key messages
  • By its very nature, international migration is a cross-border issue. This means that while States have the sovereign authority to determine their migration laws and policies, achieving the most beneficial outcomes in the management and governance of migration is most likely to occur when there is good cooperation among the relevant actors at the national, subnational and international levels.
  • Facilitating partnerships between different governmental and non-governmental actors strengthens coordination, cooperation and coherence and can more adequately respond to and creatively address potential challenges.
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