It also seeks to position the GIS to effectively deliver on its mandate taking into cognizance the passage of the new Immigration Act 2016, Act 908, as well as the launch and implementation of the National Migration Policy.

The  meeting which was  funded by the European Union (EU) and the ECOWAS Commission, and organised with the assistance of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD),  is to comprehensively review the 2011-2015 Strategic Plan of the Service, with the   assistance of a consultant draft of a new Strategic Plan [2016-2020] and coordinate and address all other related matters.

It would be recalled that the GIS in 2010 developed a strategic plan to guide the activities of the Service for a five year period and launched it in 2011. The plan set out the vision, mission, priorities and strategic objectives of the Service. The objectives were to manage migration in the national interest, combat irregular migration and promote national security. 

The plan which also operated on five main pillars, that is people, policy, information, facilities and equipment as well as collaboration was aimed at empowering GIS to meet emerging global challenges of migration, reposition the GIS for greater service delivery in accordance with international best practices and improve the capacity of the GIS to effectively carry out its mandate of managing migration.

Throwing more light on the five pillars of the strategic plan , the Minister for the Interior, Hon. Prosper D.K. Bani, said reports received from the GIS and verified by the Ministry indicates an encouraging and above average performance.  He said three out of five pillars have recorded above 90 percent implementation status with the remaining two receiving greater attention from the government to ensure its successful completion.

He mentioned that the Service over the years have collaborated with the European Union (EU) member countries and other international organisation to implement some of the activities in the strategic plan (2011-2015).  He cited the Thematic Programme on Migration and Asylum, the GIS-Danish Project, GIS-Spanish Project and the Ghana Integrated Migration Management Approach (GIMMA) Project as some of the collaborations.

Hon. Bani assured the Service that the Ministry would support it with the necessary tools, equipment and resources that would be required to facilitate the smooth implementation of the plan.