IOM and the Rwandan Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee
Affairs (MIDIMAR) has just launched the "Enhancement of
Socioeconomic Reintegration Opportunities for Rwandan Returned
Refugees and Other Vulnerable Groups".

The project supports vulnerable groups in Rwanda's Southern and
Western Provinces, sharing key findings from a rapid needs and
capacity assessment, carried out by IOM, on reintegration
opportunities for returning refugees. The project includes a
profiling exercise including: identification of human resources,
skills training needs and assessment of existing capacity and
development of an implementation strategy in line with the
priorities set out by the Government of Rwanda.

The project also seeks to strengthen the capacity of the
Government to manage returnee data collection and analysis as well
as the capacity of local training institutions to provide
marketable skills training to returnees and other vulnerable
community members.

Rwanda lacks human resources, particularly in the technical
professions as a result of the 1994 genocide in which many members
of the educated and skilled workforce were lost. As a result, the
government has called for a well-trained, motivated and adaptable
workforce as key to its economic and social development.

It is estimated that there are 72,530 Rwandan refugees outside
of Rwanda, mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while
more than 20,000 returned to Rwanda in 2009. In addition to
assistance for returnees, the Rwandan government has adopted an
integrated community-based approach to reintegration, broadening
the scope of those who can benefit from reintegration assistance to
include other vulnerable groups.

IOM works closely with counterparts in the Government of Rwanda
at national and community levels as well as with civil society and
international agencies. The project is funded by the Government of
Japan.

For more information please contact:

Yves Kaza

IOM Kigali

E-mail: "mailto:pgomis@iom.int">pgomis@iom.int

or

Paul Gomis

IOM Kigali

E-mail: "mailto:ykaza@iom.int">ykaza@iom.int