The EU-funded Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) is marking its 10th anniversary with a review of a successful decade supporting migration initiatives between EU Member States and non-EU partner countries. Since its launch in 2016, the MPF has enabled close to a hundred different projects across more than 50 countries; on issues ranging from addressing irregular migration and human trafficking, to enhancing police cooperation and security, and promoting legal channels for labour mobility.
These turbulent times remind us how inter-connected we are and how much better the world can be when we find ways to cooperate and address challenges in constructive ways. We at ICMPD are proud to implement the MPF for the EU, through which we demonstrate that together, we can manage even the most complex and sensitive matters.said ICMPD Deputy Director General Sedef Dearing, at the opening reception on 14 April 2026 in Brussels
Ms Dearing offered thanks to the EU for its “unwavering commitment to the MPF and for the vision we have jointly shaped for this space of innovation, and in translating big policy ambitions into practice. The MPF truly is a partnership between our institutions and people.”
The anniversary event on 15 April 2026 reflected on the successes across various projects in advancing cooperation between the EU, its Member States, and priority partner countries on migration. This was headlined in a keynote address by Mr Johannes Luchner, EU Deputy Director-General for International Affairs and Migration who noted the transformative support of the MPF over the past 10 years, and set out DG HOME’s vision for the years ahead. This includes deepening the MPF by building structural, resilient partnerships with key partner countries; innovating through pilots and testing ideas in bringing the EU migration policy and partnerships to life; and connecting MPF projects directly into and reinforcing the EU's strategic migration priorities.
Joining Mr Luchner at the event were more than 100 partners and stakeholders working in the fields of border management, internal security, migration governance, and labour mobility; including senior officials from EU institutions and agencies, representatives of EU Member States, partner and beneficiary countries, civil society and other international organisations.
Discussions featured concrete examples and outcomes of past and ongoing partnerships that include flagship projects such as the Migration Management Diploma Programme, Visa Capacity Building in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Digital Explorers II; as well as forward-looking panels on upcoming priorities linked to border management, intelligence sharing, tackling migrant smuggling and human trafficking, as well as ethical recruitment and talent attraction, labour migration and skills mobility.
As the MPF enters a new decade of facilitating collaboration between the EU and countries along migration routes, new projects have been launched to support labour mobility (via the recently launched European Legal Gateway Office in India) and to deliver rapid and context-specific campaigns to counter mis- and disinformation on migration (through the Global Alliance Rapid Response Initiatives/GARRI).
Ralph Genetzke, Director of ICMPD Brussels Office, noted in his conclusions that
There is good reason for confidence as we look ahead. The MPF today is stronger and more relevant than ever, showing its capacity not only to deliver results, but to evolve—welcoming new thematic areas, new instruments and new forms of cooperation as priorities shift and contexts change. The MPF continues to expand its horizons through new initiatives that open additional avenues for collaboration.
MPF 2016 - 2026: a decade of achievements
ICMPD Labour Migration Specialist Rimma Abadjan moderating the panel discussion on "Labour Flows and Shared Benefits," with Silvio Grieco, Deputy Head of Legal Pathways and Mobility, DG HOME; Daniel Portero Guerrero, Advisory Member of the Secretary of State for Migration at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Rachit Rawat, First Secretary at the Embassy of India in Brussels, and Anna Knoll, Head of Migration and Mobility at the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM).