Meeting to Prepare the First Regional Forum on Migration Processes in Dakar

As part of the preparations for the First Regional Forum on Migration Processes, scheduled for December 1, 2, and 3, 2025, in Dakar, the President of ORU Fogar, Rachid El Abdi, met with the President of the Union of Associations of Local Elected Officials of Senegal (UAEL), Oury Diallo. Along with the President of the Association of Departments of Senegal (ADS), Ahmed Youssouf Benjelloune, they will host the Forum. The meeting served to review progress in the organization and to strengthen institutional partnerships for holding the Forum in Senegal.

During the meeting, held in Barcelona, the high level of involvement of Senegal’s regional and local Senegalese in the project was confirmed. Oury Diallo expressed the commitment not only of the presidents of the departmental councils but also of the municipal sector across the country. The shared objective is to make the Forum a structured and permanent working space to address migration challenges from a territorial perspective.

For his part, Rachid El Abdi emphasized the need to involve top-tier multilateral bodies, such as United Nations system and the European Union system. In this regard, he highlighted the key role that the International Labour Organization (ILO) could play, given that job creation in Africa is one of the central factors in reducing irregular migration.

Both presidents agreed to maintain contact with European Union representations and United Nations agencies in Dakar to foster institutional cooperation for the event. While Rachid El Abdi committed to contacting these bodies at a general level, the Senegalese president, together with President Benjelloune, committed to visiting the offices of the European Union and UN agencies in Dakar. They also reiterated their intention to make the Forum an effective tool for South-South cooperation between African regions and an open window for interregional dialogue with Europe.

With the involvement of the Association of Departments of Senegal (ADS), the UAEL, ORU Fogar, and the support of the Ministry of Territorial Collectivities of Senegal, the Forum will be held at the King Fahd Palace in Dakar. It will host regional governments, international networks, experts, and institutional representatives from around the world.

This meeting in Barcelona between the Forum’s organizer and one of its hosts was made possible by the alignment of schedules between Rachid El Abdi and Oury Diallo. While El Abdi was participating in the MedCat Days, an important event for cooperation and regional development in the Mediterranean, Oury Diallo was on a visit organized by ORU Fogar, within the framework of an intensive agenda of institutional meetings in Catalonia. During his stay from July 4 to 10, 2025, the Senegalese delegation, led by Diallo and composed of representatives from local and departmental associations, held key meetings with municipal authorities and Catalan institutions. This facilitated both leaders to meet in the city and advance preparations for the First Regional Forum on Migration Processes in Dakar.