On the morning of Tuesday, October 10, 2023, the Minister of State, Abdoulaye BIO TCHANÉ, officially launched the 2nd International Conference of the Euro-African platform on poverty and migration (ECOPPAM). Scheduled to take place from October 10 to 12, 2023, at Novotel, the event witnessed the participation of representatives from a dozen countries in Africa and Europe.

“Social Exclusion and Migration of African Youth: Current Situation and Perspectives” is the theme around which the 3-day reflection will unfold, organized by the Euro-African Platform on Poverty and Migration (ECOPPAM), chaired by Mrs. Carmen GARBA, with the support of the Government of Benin and Technical and Financial Partners. The objective of this conference is to assess the platform’s interventions and share information and knowledge to determine solution approaches related to the theme.

Abdoulaye BIO TCHANÉ, Minister of State

In his opening speech, Minister of State Abdoulaye BIO TCHANÉ expressed his gratitude to the participants and emphasized that this conference comes at a timely moment. According to him, migration is a phenomenon that has existed for many years and affects almost all societies worldwide.

It is further exacerbated by poverty, socio-economic inequalities, political tensions, and the various crises shaking the world. In line with his remarks, the Resident Representative of UNDP in Benin, Aouale MOHAMED ABCHIR, provided an update on the current state of migration and specified that, with less than 7 years until the 2030 agenda deadlines, any initiative within the framework of combating poverty and social inequalities deserves support. This is why this theme is of particular interest to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Benin.

It is worth noting that the International Coordinator of ECOPPAM, Alias Onyadon, also provided an overview of the activities carried out by ECOPPAM since its inception to date, highlighting the organization’s vision and mission.

Alias Onyadon, International Coordinator of ECOPPAM

As a reminder, Benin is the administrative headquarters of ECOPPAM, and the first edition of the International Conference of the Euro-African Platform took place in 2021 in Cotonou.