IOM Development Fund: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The IOM Development Fund is a unique global resource supporting eligible Member States by providing essential seed funding for innovative initiatives and empowering Member States to develop migration management capacities.

Established in 2001 as the 1035 Facility, the renamed IOM Development Fund has allocated USD 161 million with over 1000 projects in 125 countries worldwide, addressing specific areas of capacity-development in migration management. In 2022, over USD 16 million was made available for project allocation.

The following are examples of the thematic areas covered by the Fund:

• Counter-trafficking
• Enhancement of inter-governmental dialogue and cooperation
• Labour migration
• Migration and development
• Migration, environment and climate change
• Migration and health
• Border management
• Policy and legal framework development
• Research and assessment
• Return and Re-integration on an exceptional basis, for projects focusing on government capacity development activities

The following are examples of activity areas not covered by the Fund.

• Movements: activities that are overseen by IOM's Movement Management Division, including IOM's traditional refugee and migrant transport and resettlement programmes.
• Emergency: activities that are overseen by IOM's Emergency and Post-crisis Division; for example, activities in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Pakistan flooding or similar.
• Major conferences and related events that are continuations of ongoing dialogues and similar, well-established activities.
• Return and Re-integration projects are excluded in general. Consideration may be given however to projects focusing on government capacity development activities.
• Projects mainly supporting IOM staff and office costs, including projects proposed for the specific purpose of opening an IOM office, are excluded. IOM staff and office costs may, however, be included in the budget for project implementation according to standard IOM project development guidelines, to a limit of 30% of the total project budget.

• Member States can support the Fund through annual contributions to the IOM general budget.
• Private organizations and foundations can support the Fund through one off or annual contributions. A listing of IOM Development Fund donors is located on the Contributors page.
• Individuals wishing to contribute to the Fund can do so online via the "Donate Now," menu on the Home page.
• In-Kind donations related to IOM Development Fund project implementation are welcome and can be discussed with Fund management. Further information regarding Member State and private contributions is located on the Contributors page.

• Yes. Earmarked contributions strengthen the Fund’s ability to respond to the increasing number of eligible Member State project proposals.

• The IOM Development Fund management is located within the Deputy Director General’s Operations Portfolio at IOM Headquarters (Geneva) and is comprised of a minimum essential staff responsible for overall programme administration including global project support and monitoring.

• IOM Development Fund projects are managed by the relevant (participating) IOM Office(s) and in exceptional cases, IOM Headquarters, in coordination with the appropriate government counterpart of the benefiting Member State. Regular progress reports, including financial reports, are required to be submitted on the Project Information and Management Application (PRIMA) system.

• Projects range in length from three months up to two years.

• Eligibility is based on the most recent version of the World Bank list of low-income through to upper middle-income economies. Countries included on the list that would otherwise be eligible, will be excluded upon joining the European Union. Project proposals may be submitted by eligible
• Member States directly to the IOM Development Fund for consideration, including via the Permanent Missions in Geneva. Projects may also be presented on behalf of Member States by IOM Offices, or by the relevant department at IOM Headquarters.

Projects can access one of two funding lines as follows according to the Fund Eligibility Criteria:

• Line 1: USD 100,000 for national and regional projects. Exceptional increases at the regional project level will continue to be considered up to USD 200,000;
• Line 2: USD 300,000 for national projects and USD 400,000 for regional projects. Funding requests beyond these limits will not be considered.

• The IOM Development Fund showcases current projects in its annual newsletter which can be found at the homepage of the website. Additionally, individual projects, undertakings, challenges and experiences are highlighted regularly on the Fund website: https://www.iom.int/iom-development-fund