Japan - The Government of Japan has allocated USD 34.3 million to support IOM’s operations to assist vulnerable migrants including displaced persons, refugees, returnees and affected communities around the world in 2017.

The funding will also contribute to increasing the capacity of various governments in humanitarian border management to cope with displacement resulting from conflicts and to enhance security.

Over half of the amount (USD 18.1 million) has been allocated towards IOM programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somalia and South Sudan.

A significant amount of the money will be used to improve border management capacity of governments in Western Africa, including Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

IOM offices in Middle East and North Africa, including Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Turkey and Yemen, have also received significant funding for the regional response to the Syrian crisis and assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq, Libya and Yemen.

In Afghanistan, the funding will be used to provide vulnerable Afghan returnees from Iran with life-saving, post-arrival humanitarian assistance and to build local capacities in the country through the return of skilled nationals from Iran.

In Ukraine, the funding will help IOM to rehabilitate social infrastructure and enhance social cohesion in selected communities in the conflict-affected Donbas region.

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

For further information, please contact Yuko Goto at IOM Tokyo, Tel: + 81 3 3595 0108, Email: iomtokyo@iom.int