{"id":321745,"date":"2026-07-08T09:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/321745\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T09:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:04:09","slug":"somalia-igad-discuss-roadmap-for-regional-mobility-and-single-visa-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/321745\/","title":{"rendered":"Somalia, IGAD discuss roadmap for regional mobility and single visa plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775624167_158_hol.jpg\" alt=\"HOL Logo\" class=\"source-logo-inline\"\/><br \/>Wednesday July 8, 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783498780HMnNvRQXcAA9Y9g.jpg\" alt=\"Somalia, IGAD discuss roadmap for regional mobility and single visa plan\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mogadishu (HOL) \u2014 The Intergovernmental Authority on Development has launched high-level consultations with Somali stakeholders to advance the ratification, domestication and implementation of the IGAD Protocol on Free Movement of Persons.<\/p>\n<p>The three-day meetings bring together key stakeholders to define roles, develop a national roadmap and discuss regional initiatives, including the IGAD Interoperable ID and the IGAD Single Visa.<\/p>\n<p>Participants are expected to discuss practical steps to accelerate implementation of the protocol and establish a harmonized framework to facilitate the movement of people and goods across IGAD member states.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said the framework is intended to support regional mobility while safeguarding national security and respecting domestic laws.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Mohamoud Kaarshe, IGAD\u2019s head of mission to Somalia, said people across the region already move for work, study, business, family reunification and humanitarian reasons.<\/p>\n<p>He said member states must ensure such movement is governed by secure, predictable and coordinated legal frameworks.<\/p>\n<p>Abdulkadir Mahmoud Yusuf, director of the Africa Department at Somalia\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the consultations reinforce Somalia\u2019s role in regional trade and connectivity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are pleased to host a conference of this nature in Somalia,\u201d Yusuf said. \u201cIt is an important forum focused on the movement of people, and it reinforces Somalia\u2019s position as a strategic hub for trade and regional connectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The IGAD Protocol on Free Movement of Persons grants citizens of member states the right to enter, stay, move freely, study and work across the Horn of Africa region.<\/p>\n<p>The protocol is designed to promote regional integration and help mitigate the effects of climate-related disasters. It also introduces frameworks for interoperable IDs and single visas.<\/p>\n<p>Somalia signed the IGAD Protocol on Free Movement of Persons on March 5, 2023, marking a step toward strengthening regional integration, economic cooperation and labor mobility.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wednesday July 8, 2026 Mogadishu (HOL) \u2014 The Intergovernmental Authority on Development has launched high-level consultations with Somali&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[51],"tags":[5283,43290,6031,14363,29468,21873,468,64000,21153,1984,6584],"class_list":["post-321745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-somalia","tag-and","tag-discuss","tag-for","tag-igad","tag-mobility","tag-plan","tag-regional","tag-roadmap","tag-single","tag-somalia","tag-visa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116883558793464091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}