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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.

On the 18^th of October 2022, the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) organized an event convening former and current grantees, EU Member States, and EU services to provide an opportunity to discuss lessons learned, successes, and challenges in implementing borders and security projects under the framework of the MPF. The event, entitled ‘MPF Borders and Security Information Session – Sharing Experience and Forging Partnerships’ was held in Brussels, Belgium, and was the first of its kind focusing on the external dimension of borders and security in the context of the MPF.

The Training Institute on Migration Capacity Partnership for the Mediterranean held its 2^nd Governing Board meeting during a 2-day hybrid event on the 18^th and 19^th of October with the presence of representatives from ICMPD, donor and partner countries, observers, and EU agencies.

18 October, Valletta. The first day was marked by the launch of the Training Institute’s own state-of-the-art Learning Management System (LMS). The fully scalable system boasts a public-facing website, trainer and student community spaces, and complete data management capabilities. The Training Institute’s partners, learners, and instructors alike are now digitally enabled and have access to a plethora of resources only one click away. The event additionally offered the perfect networking opportunity to representatives from ICMPD, partner, and donor countries who also got the chance to learn about the Training Institute’s latest achievements and developments. Prominent participants included Nina Gregory, Executive Director of the European Asylum Agency (EUAA), MCP Med TI’s technical partners, Neville Aquilina, Director-General Global Issues, International Development and Economic Affairs, from the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade, representing Malta as Chair, and numerous dignitaries from Austria, Lebanon, Libya, Ireland, and The Netherlands.

This year’s Vienna Migration Conference (VMC2022) will take place on 11-12 October. A select group of decision-makers, thought leaders and frontrunners in the migration sphere will gather in Vienna’s historic city centre for two days of lively debates on the top issues of the day. 

On May 9^th, members of the Labour Mobility Practitioners’ Network (LMPN) convened to discuss ways to facilitate safe and legal migration to the EU. Johann Daniel Harnoss volunteered to share his experience working with the Imagine Foundation as its Co-founder and CEO.

About the Imagine Foundation

Imagine Foundation is a volunteer-run NGO based in Germany that supports young talents from non-European countries to find jobs in the EU. They do this through services such as online and in-person mentoring and coaching for CV writing and interview skills. By leveraging a network of volunteer fellows, Imagine can support individuals one-on-one, provide personalised feedback, and most importantly, inspiration. More than 300 candidates have found a job after completing their core programme, and the interest in their initiative is rising.

The MPF’s first cohort of pilot projects on legal migration have completed implementation. The final reports and project deliverables reached the MPF team in May 2022, and the last administrative steps for grant closures are being taken at the time of this article. It is an opportune moment to take stock of what remains of the pioneering work conducted by the MPF’s very first labour mobility initiatives.

Serghei Dziuba always dreamed of becoming an airplane pilot, but with no academy offering aircraft pilot studies in Moldova at the time, his dream was never realized. Instead, Serghei joined the Moldovan Border Police after his stint with the military, serving 21 years in what is largely considered a popular choice for young recruits. During this time, Serghei was able to climb the career ladder, becoming a Senior Officer of the Operational Management General Directorate of the General Inspectorate of the Border Police (GIBP) of the Republic of Moldova.

Through the project entitled ‘Novel concept of relocatable aerial surveillance for border security’, funded by the EU and contracted through the MPF, Serghei is the closest he has ever been to his dream, although instead of being onboard an aircraft, he is instead operating a remotely piloted aircraft system.

“I am glad to be able to gain this experience through this project. I have worked for the Border Police of the Republic of Moldova for 21 years.” It’s been a long-held dream of mine to become an air pilot. Thanks to the project, I have the opportunity to achieve my dream of becoming a pilot, but in this case, as a pilot of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV),” said Serghei.  

The ‘Novel concept of relocatable aerial surveillance for border security’ project is implemented by the Lithuanian Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Vilnius Tech) in cooperation with the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences (EASS). The project aims to strengthen Moldova’s aerial border surveillance capability to counter irregular border crossings and associated risks.  In the framework of the project, Vilnius Tech and EASS are conducting training sessions for the GIBP on the use of new pilot solutions for re-locatable mobile systems with aerial surveillance of border security. Serghei is one among 20 trainees from the GIBP who are being trained to become pilots of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or in other words, drones.

Transnational families are a stark reality in Moldova and Ukraine. In Moldova, around 21 per cent of children (150,000) have at least one parent living abroad, while approximately 5 per cent of children (35,000) have both parents abroad, according to the latest available data. In Ukraine, 200,000 children are left behind by at least one parent, which concerns up to 25 per cent of all children in certain regions as per the latest research. 

In this article, we speak to Viorela Telegdi-Csetri and Aron Telegdi-Csetri, researchers at Babes-Bolyai University in Romania, about their work on transnational families and children left behind. Viorela and Aron are, respectively, the Project and Research Managers of the project entitled ‘Children Left Behind by Labour Migration: Supporting Moldovan and Ukrainian Transnational Families in the EU’ funded by the European Union and contracted by the MPF. Viorela and Aron have had extensive careers researching and publishing widely on transnational families and children left behind. The following is a transcript of the MPF’s conversation with the Telegdi-Csetris.