Canada / Switzerland – The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that formalises closer collaboration on shared priorities, which include enhanced global mobility and traveller identity management.

ICAO Air Transport Bureau Director Boubacar Djibo and IOM’s Head of Immigration and Border Management, Florian G. Forster made the exchange of the signed agreement during a special ceremony on the sidelines of ICAO’s Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Symposium at ICAO Headquarters in Montreal today (15/11).

MOU signatory Dr. Fang Liu, ICAO Secretary General, commented that the new agreement would “serve to raise awareness on the close connection between aviation, migratory movements, and border management and facilitation, and that it was fully consistent with ICAO’s responsibility to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation, including the adoption of international standards for customs and immigration documents and procedures.”

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing  said “The management of borders, travel facilitation and security, and in particular travel document security as well as identity management are of great importance for all international travelers and among them, of course, migrants and refugees who cross international borders. Strengthened close cooperation between ICAO and IOM is a much welcome step forward.”

The new agreement will aid the two global agencies’ efforts to respond in a coordinated way to new and emerging challenges such as security requirements, accessibility to safe transport modes for migrants and refugees, increased international cross border mobility, health challenges linked to international mobility, as well as security and facilitation in global air travel.

It also recognizes their shared interest in sustainable improvements in the field of travel facilitation including the security of travel documents and related identity management challenges, highly relevant topics for the efficiency of global civil aviation and effective border and migration management.

The IOM will henceforth participate as an observer in ICAO's Technical Advisory Group on the Traveller Identification Programme (TAG/TRIP), and as a member of the ICAO TRIP Implementation and Capacity Building Working Group (ICBWG) and the New Technologies Working Group (NTWG), as well as any new ICAO deliberative bodies relevant to its mandate.

Cooperation will also be intensified toward enhanced support to States regarding travel documents and related border and identity management challenges, harmonizing passenger data exchange programmes and in promoting data-driven security. The agreement will also ensure more integrated identity and border management programmes, the mobility of migrants, resettlement of refugees as well as  voluntary returns via air,  support to stateless persons and other persons, and travel health assistance, pandemic management and other travel health related emergencies.

Notes for Editors

About ICAO

A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 191 Member States.

ICAO's 39th Assembly Results
ICAO's CORSIA GMBM for international flight emissions

About IOM

Established in 1951, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN related agency, is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration. IOM works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. With 165 member states around 10’000 staff and offices in over 100 countries, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants. IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.

ICAO

Anthony Philbin
Chief, Communications
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William Raillant-Clark
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IOM