Somalia - IOM Director General William Lacy Swing met with representatives from Japanese corporations Panasonic, Poly-Glu Social Business and Nippon Electronic Company (NEC) during the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) held from 27-28 August in Nairobi, Kenya.

The bilateral talks between IOM and its Japanese private sector partners were to strengthen existing and explore new strategic tripartite partnerships between IOM, the Government of Japan, and the private sector. The partnership is worth an estimated USD 5 million.

The Government of Japan works to promote and facilitate public-private partnerships between international organizations and Japanese businesses which aim to strengthen economies in developing countries and contribute to humanitarian programming and relief.

In Somalia, IOM has been partnering with Poly-Glu Social Business since 2012 to provide safe water to over 120,000 migrants and host communities through an innovative water purification technology.

IOM is partnering with Panasonic in Somalia and Ethiopia to ensure that vulnerable communities receive solar lanterns that improve security, particularly for women, in camps. They also improve income generation by allowing people to work at night. So far over 7,500 solar lanterns have been distributed.

In Kenya, IOM works with NEC to strengthen the border management capacity of governments in the region using their facial recognition technology.

For further information, please contact Dr. Chiaki Ito at IOM Somalia. Tel: +254 737 860 720, Email: cito@iom.int