Japan - The Japanese Government has allocated a total of 46.8 million funding to support IOM’s operations in assisting vulnerable migrants, displaced persons, refugees, returnees and affected communities in the midst of conflicts and crises continuing in various parts of the world.

More than the half of the amount (USD 25.5 million) has been allocated towards IOM programs in Sub-Saharan Africa including Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda.

The funds will support life-saving and recovery activities and increase the resilience and human security of vulnerable displaced populations and host communities in the above mentioned countries.  It will also contribute to increasing the capacity of various governments in humanitarian border management to cope with displacement resulting from conflicts and to combat terrorism.

IOM offices in Middle East and North Africa, including Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Yemen, have also received a significant amount from the funding for the regional response to Syrian crisis and assistance to internally displaced persons in Yemen and Iraq.

In Afghanistan, the funding will be used in providing assistance to vulnerable Afghan returnees from Iran and Pakistan in border areas and to build local capacities in the country through return of skilled nationals from Iran.

In Ukraine, Japanese funding will help IOM to improve access to basic services and livelihoods in selected communities in the conflict-affected Donbass region.

Funding will also support the Serbian Government with humanitarian border management to address currently increased migration flows along the Western Balkan route.

The Japanese government has supported IOM’s humanitarian and recovery activities in the past including the delivery of immediate lifesaving relief, community stabilization and early recovery activities, as well as emergency return and reintegration assistance for migrants caught in crises.

For further information, please contact Yuko Goto, IOM Tokyo. Tel: +81 33595 0108, Email: iomtokyo@iom.int