Skopje – MARRI Participants’ delegations composed of Committee members, Coordinators and/or delegated representatives as well as MARRI Participants’ Representatives to the Regional Centre attended the regular mid-term Committee meeting under the Presidency-in-Office by North Macedonia to take stock and reflect on the ongoing activities and Initiative’s priorities for 2023. Following the opening remarks by the Chairperson Dzenk Sejfula in which he summarized the current state of affairs in context of regional cooperation, MARRI RC Director Sashko Kocev briefed about Centre’s

Tirana – The 7th PaCT Steering Group Meeting (SGM) provided an opportunity for the MARRI Anti-trafficking Coordinators, PaCT project partners and experts to discuss the project’s most recent activities, challenges and results as well as to exchange information on the latest developments about trafficking in humans in the region. The event was opened by MARRI RC Director Sashko Kocev and the Coordinator for Trafficking in Human Beings of Albania Silvana Banushi, followed by the welcoming remarks by PaCT Project Leader

“The possible solution to the irregular migration could be harnessing the potential of migrants arriving in the Western Balkans”. This is what Sashko Kocev, Director of the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative (MARRI) Regional Centre said at the Ministerial Conference “Sustainable Migration Governance in the Western Balkans” organized by IOM, and co-hosted by the Ministry of Interior of North Macedonia and the Czech Ministry of the Interior, under the auspices of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European

The MARRI Permanent Working Group on Migration Statistics (PWG MS) held its third session to review the group’s work progress, to update on the current state of play on data exchange related to the WB-MIDEX platform, and to define the framework and timeline of the activities for 2022/2023. Jordan Simonov, MARRI RC Migration Data and Policy Analyst presented the Quarterly Report of activities with focus on the development and operationalization of WB-MIDEX 2.0.  As explained, the new version of the

Skopje – The MARRI Presidency-in-Office by North Macedonia organized the Extraordinary Committee Meeting as a follow up on the Committee’s conclusions from 28 June 2022 which called for a continued dialogue on several strategic matters relevant for the further development of the Initiative. Specifically, the meeting focused on the remaining open issues of the MARRI Legal Framework Reform, and the election of the new Regional Centre Director. In a spirit of regional cooperation and constructiveness, the Committee assessed the prospects

Online – MARRI Committee Members, Coordinators, Participants Representatives and MARRI RC staff attended the MARRI Regional Committee Meeting organised under the Presidency-in-Office by North Macedonia, to discuss the past engagements and way forward in obtaining sustainable development and fortified regional cooperation within MARRI. Following the presentation of the MARRI RC Annual Report for period June 2021-June 2022, Financial Report for 2021 and a number of initiatives undertaken by MARRI RC Director Sashko Kocev, the Committee expressed appreciation for the work

Skopje – Under the slogan Whoever, Wherever, Whenever – Everyone has the right to seek safety, MARRI Regional Centre together with representatives of many institutions, organisations, asylum seekers and refugees in Skopje marked the World Refugee Day 2022 with a bicycle tour in the City Park in Skopje and along the Vardar river. Led by the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the participants rode bicycles to send the message that we all share the responsibility to protect people seeking

Budva – The 6th PaCT Steering Group Meeting (SGM) was organised as a part of series of events implemented jointly by MARRI, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). The aim of the meeting was to discuss the project’s progress of all activity packages, specifically the Mobile Identification Teams, Referral Mechanism (NRM), Capacity Development of Identification, the Awareness Raising Campaigns as well as the mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) measures in the

On the first session of MARRI Permanent Working Group on Migration Statistics (PWG MS) since its kick-off on 23 – 24 November 2021 in Belgrade, the members of the Working Group recapitulated the progress made so far and discussed the steps forward in fulfilling its mandate given by MARRI Regional Forum. MARRI RC Director Sashko Kocev as Chairman of the Permanent Working Group on Migration Statistics, expressed satisfaction that although the primary focus in the reported period has been solidifying and operationalizing

The online meeting of the MARRI Legal Framework Reform (LFR) Working Group (WG) was organised as a follow up on the session held on 22-24 March 2022 in Dojran, where the WG worked on the optimisation of the MARRI’s three main documents, i.e. MARRI Statute, MARRI RC General Rules and MARRI RC Financial Rules and Regulations. In respectful and constructive negotiations, the MARRI Delegations successfully addressed some of the remaining open questions in the draft documents, acknowledging that they may