Mogadishu, Somalia - On the second day of his African tour, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Ambassador William Lacy Swing made a one-day visit on 1st February to Mogadishu, Somalia. The tour will take him to Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia as well as the newest country in the world South Sudan.
In Mogadishu, the IOM Director General showed his support to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) meeting with H.E. President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Arab Issei, the TFG Minister of Interior, H.E. Abdisamad Moalim Mohamoud and the Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of the Benadir Region, Mohamoud Ahmed Nur. The IOM Director General took the opportunity to introduce his newly appointed Chief of Mission for Somalia who will be based in Mogadishu.
During his visit, Ambassador Swing signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) of UNPOS, Ambassador Augustine Mahiga. Ambassador Swing also met with the Deputy Ambassador of Turkey to Somalia.
Over the past few years, in a major capacity building and training effort, IOM has part of its Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) programme, placed some 69 diaspora experts into key institutions and ministries across Somalia. Some 10 additional experts are currently in the pipeline to be placed in positions identified as urgently needed by various institutions.
In response to the current drought and famine, IOM has been supporting affected internally displaced persons (IDPs) through a cash-for-work programme. IOM has recruited 800 vulnerable IDPs, 85 per cent of whom are women from 17 Mogadishu IDP settlements to be part of a waste management project. IOM’s aim is to provide income opportunities for the IDPs whilst addressing the acute need for the improvement of the actual sanitation and hygiene situation in Mogadishu IDP settlements, where cholera and Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) have been of major concern.
IOM has also been providing vocational training for a total of 350 youth-at-risk in Mogadishu. The training has included carpentry, sewing, mobile phone repair and number of other hands-on skills aimed to provide an opportunity for orphaned or physically challenged youth to learn skills and improve their future employment.
For more information please contact:
Simona Opitz IOM Nairobi E-mail: sopitz@iom.int