Enhancing cooperation among the Prague Process states

News

The Launch of the Prague Process e-Learning Platform will take place on 23 September 2021, at 10:30-12:00 CET.

This online event is reserved for the Prague Process participating states and representatives of international organisations and EU Agencies actively involved in the Process. It will introduce the content and functionalities of the newly established e-Learning Platform, developed within the Prague Process Training Academy.

The e-Learning Platform provides educational material for independent, self-paced remote learning in English and Russian. In this way, it aims to provide the migration authorities of the Prague Process states with an overly flexible and user-friendly tool to enhance vocational training among their staff. The courses correspond to the six thematic areas of the Prague Process Action Plan.

Upon the request of the Kyrgyz Republic, a study visit to Austria was organised within the Prague Process on 7-9 September 2021. The study visit occurred against the background of a possible mass influx of migrants and refugees from Afghanistan, which could affect the Kyrgyz Republic and the entire Central Asian region. The representatives of the Council for Migration, Compatriots and Diaspora Abroad under the Speaker of the Kyrgyz Parliament thus wanted to learn from Austria’s and ICMPD’s experience, following the migration crisis of 2015-2016.

The Prague Process webinar ‘Reporting Migration: the role of media in shaping public opinion and policies on migration’ with Mr. Adalbert Jahnz, European Commission Spokesperson for migration, home affairs and citizenship, Mr. Robert McNeil, Deputy Director, Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, and Mr. Tom Law, Media Policy Adviser, Global Forum for Media Development, took place on 24 June 2021.

The webinar assessed the role of media in shaping public opinion while informing on migration and related policies. It further introduced the Handbook on “Reporting Migration” developed in 2020 within the MOMENTA 2 (Migration Media Training Academy) project, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. Its main aim had been to improve media migration reporting in the Eastern Partnership countries by helping journalists to create impartial, fact-based reporting in an engaging way.

You may watch the recording in English or in Russian.

We are glad to share the new issue of the Prague Process Quarterly Review covering various developments, events, and activities of the second quarter of 2021.

We hope that you will enjoy reading about the most recent Prague Process activities and some key developments in the region.

Since the release of the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum in September 2020, EU Member States have advanced on several key matters. The second quarter of 2021 saw the adoption of the very first EU Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration, the launch of the Talent Partnerships Initiative, and the New Avenues for Legal Labour Migration. In June, just shortly before the handover of the Presidency of the EU Council from Portugal to Slovenia, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) was re-established as the EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) with a new enhanced mandate.

The European Union Global Diaspora Facility (EUDiF) opened applications for the 2nd round of its technical support mechanisms, the Capacity Development Lab (CDL) and Diaspora Professionals 4 Development (DP4D).

To benefit from these mechanisms, public authorities of partner countries, diaspora organizations in Europe (EU 27, Norway and Switzerland) and regional organizations are invited to submit requests via the EUDiF website by 29 August 2021.

The Prague Process Training Academy is entering a new phase by launching the E-learning Platform.

The platform is meant to serve the Prague Process states and partners with educational material for self-paced independent remote learning on migration and asylum. In times when in-person learning is reduced, e-learning tools become a safe and effective alternative to face-to-face classroom settings offering a convenient way for busy professionals to gain, enrich or refresh knowledge on migration matters.

The Prague Process Webinar ‘Social Capital and Transnational Human Smuggling: What is the impact of Counter-Smuggling Policies?’ with Mr Andrew Fallone, Researcher at the European University Institute, took place on 6 May 2021.

All too often, the words “Human Smuggling” evoke images of handshakes in smoky rooms behind closed doors, overemphasizing the role of organized crime in facilitating irregular migration journeys. This webinar applied a critical perspective to the market for human smuggling, elucidating the role that personal relationships and community knowledge plays in shaping both migrants’ decisions and smuggling service providers’ operating practices. In doing so, this webinar provided policymakers, scholars, and informed observers with a more nuanced understanding of the far-reaching ramifications of counter-smuggling policies.

You may watch the recording in English or in Russian.

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