Together with the Government of Egypt and the European Union, Germany officially launched today in Cairo the programme „Towards a Holistic Approach to Labour Migration Governance and Labour Mobility in North Africa“ (THAMM) in Egypt in coordination with the implementing agencies ILO, IOM and GIZ.

The THAMM programme, with a total funding of EUR 30,000,000, is in line with several jointly funded programmes by the „Emergency Trust Fund for Stability and Addressing the Root Causes of Irregular Migration and Displaced Persons“ in Africa (EUTF) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

High-level representatives from all relevant Egyptian ministries, institutions, social partners and several EU member states attended the launch, reiterating on the significance of the THAMM programme and its relevance to the national priorities in Egypt. The THAMM programme, with a total duration of 36 months, addresses labour migration and mobility through regional dialogues and cooperation, and pilots a mobility scheme between North African countries and selected countries in Europe. The launch follows a two-day National Programming Workshop held in September where national stakeholders validated the programme’s work plans for Egypt.

While there are no new laws or regulations entering into force or being planned under the THAMM project, and thus no new possibilities opened for coming to Europe, THAMM uses existing possibilities for legal migration and accompanies people and institutions the migration process.

In his opening remarks, German Ambassador to Egypt Dr. Cyrill Jean Nunn stated: „The THAMM project is, beside other activities, one of our strategic contributions to safe, orderly and regular migration – ensuring that the migration experience becomes a winning situation for the country of origin, the destination country and of course for the migrants themselves.“