Stories and Testimonials

In the third of a three-part series, recent graduates from the spring 2024 cohort of the “Migration Management Diploma programme” offered by Maastricht University share their experience with the Migration Partnership Facility. Today’s testimonial is Ana Tavartkiladze from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.

In the second of this three-part series, recent graduates from the spring 2024 cohort of the “Migration Management Diploma programme” offered by Maastricht University share their experience with the Migration Partnership Facility.

In this three-part series, recent graduates from the spring 2024 cohort of the “Migration Management Diploma programme” funded through the Migration Partnership Facility and offered by Maastricht University share their experience.

In September 2022, 18 talents from the Tangier Tetuan Al Hoceima region of the Kingdom of Morocco arrived to Seville, Spain for a four-month training in renewable energies and green economy. They were the first group of participants to join the MOVE GREEN project, who have now returned to Tangier upon completion of their training at the International University of Andalusia.

The project, funded by the European Union through ICMPD's Migration Partnership Facility (MPF), is currently supporting and accompanying the talents who are either seeking for employment opportunities or planning to start their own business in this innovative sector. This article looks into the journey of the young Moroccans in the green economy and the renewable energies and seeks to learn from their lived experience to improve the implementation of the project.

The MPF project entitled "Strengthening of the Migration Management System in the Republic of Moldova"- implemented by the European Project Implementation Centre of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in Poland (EPIC MoIA) in cooperation with the General Inspectorate of Border Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova (GIBP) - seeks to strengthen Moldovan border management and migration services in line with EU standards and best practices.

The project is closely aligned with one of the key principles of the European Agenda on Migration: working in partnership with third countries to tackle and prevent irregular migration. This objective is to be achieved by strengthening Moldova's migration management system, making it more proximate to EU standards.

In this article, we speak to Tatiana Ciumas from the Bureau of Migration and Asylum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova. With her 18 years of migration management experience and after participating in a series of workshops under the MPF project, Tatiana will become a trainer. The MPF team had the opportunity to meet with her while participating in a workshop on "International protection of foreigners", which took place in Warsaw (Poland) at the beginning of October of this year.

Franceline's bond with Cabo Verde began when she married her late husband, a Caboverdian who had emigrated for 40 years but was eager to return to his homeland with his family. Franceline moved to Cabo Verde in 2017 with her husband and three children. As an immigrant of Burkinabe origin, Franceline had to start her life from scratch: moving to a new country with her family, without any support or acquaintances, was a difficult ordeal, but she soon grasped the value of Cabo Verde's warm welcome and the beauty of a country that remains a little-known to Burkinabe citizens.

Franceline worked for many years as a cook in Burkina Faso and Mali and specialised in a mix of French and African cuisine. When she arrived to Cabo Verde, she continued in this profession, infusing Cape Verdean culinary influences into her dishes, which became popular with customers. But personal and economic difficulties related to the Covid-19 crisis led her to change jobs and seek the support of Cabo Verde's Ministry of Family and Social Inclusion, which referred her to the services of the High Authority for Migration (Alta Autoridade para a Imigração - AAI). Franceline was able to access comprehensive support from the High Authority for Migration which offered administrative, training, logistics and social integration services.

 Inspired by the support provided in her time of need, Franceline founded an association bringing together the Burkinabe community residing in Cabo Verde to promote socio-economic integration, the development of social links with the host community, and the promotion of intercultural interactions between the Burkinabe community and the Cabo Verde population, thereby raising awareness of Burkinabe culture, national customs, and values. She now sees a bright future for her family in Cabo Verde and hopes that her children will both navigate and be proud of their Burkinabe and Cabo Verdean heritage.

In 2019, fifteen Nigerian software developers, quality assurance specialists and data scientists took up their new positions at various Lithuanian companies. They were the first “explorers” to enter the labour mobility scheme Digital Explorers which brings young ICT (Information and communications technology) specialists from Nigeria to Lithuania for a career advancement programme. Funded by the European Union (EU) through ICMPD’s Mobility Partnership Facility (MPF), the initiative aimed to enhance the young specialists’ skills and competencies while contributing to the development of relevant business networks in both countries.

Prometheus is a project implemented by the French Ministry of Interior with the support of CIVIPOL that aims to strengthen the functioning of the visa-free regime between the EU and Georgia. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to highlight the personal experience of one of its beneficiaries, Mr. Luka Paatashivili