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: "mailto:sopitz@iom.int">sopitz@iom.int