- National Steering Committee Meeting

The meeting of the Albanian’s National Steering Committee of the IPA II Regional Project ”Regional support to protection-sensitive migration management in the Western Balkans and Turkey”, funded by the EU, was held  on 14 September 2020. The meeting was attended by the Director of the Department for Border and Migration, Director of Migration Directorate, at the Albanian State Police, Director of Asylum and Citizenship, Director of Project Conception and Feasibility Directorate at Ministry of Interior, FRONTEX, EASO, UNHCR, IOM and INSTAT.

The National Steering Committee Meeting discussed the current status of the project implementation for one year, well as the challenges and priorities of Albanian authorities on the status of migration management in the country. The meeting focused on the National Activities Work Plan for the second year of the implementation.

The Albanian partners highlighted their commitment to project activities despite the challenging circumstances in the wake of COVID 19 pandemics. They echoed the need for further training of border police staff, and the need to move faster with the transposition of national curricula.

The overall objective of this project is to develop and operationalize a comprehensive migration management system in seven IPA beneficiary countries, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, in line with EU standards. More specifically this project aims to strengthen some of the key areas of a migration management system, focusing on enhancing the exchange of non-personal information in the region and contribute to establishment of assisted voluntary mechanism in the beneficiary countries.

Through this project, IOM Albania supports the GoA to achieve the SDG, goal no 10 to facilitate orderly, safe, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.