Chad - IOM has thanked the government of Japan for its financial contribution of USD 4,725,000 (equivalent to CFA 2,9 billion) for the reintegration of returnees from the Central African Republic (CAR) and for border management in the Republic of Chad.

This is the second such contribution to IOM in Chad from the Japanese people within the last year. In 2014 the Government of Japan awarded IOM Chad USD 1 million for the reintegration of 1,000 female returnees from Sudan and CAR with a focus on empowering female returnees and promoting social cohesion in the most vulnerable areas of high return in Tissi, Sila region.

This latest funding will enable IOM to support the individual socio-economic reintegration of an additional 1,000 Chadian returnees in the regions of Salamat and Sila as well as to support community stabilization in those two regions.

While this reintegration component will focus on income-generating activities for individual female returnees from CAR, the community stabilization component will promote social cohesion between returnees and host communities in the vulnerable areas of Salamat and Sila regions through the creation of committees which will identify community priorities.

The project also envisages collaborating with Japanese NGOs for technical support in the domains of solar energy, agriculture, income generation and potable water. The project will also construct a women’s center and will carry out an information campaign to promote peace and social inclusion.

With the Government of Japan funding, IOM is also implementing an integrated border management project which aims to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Chad (GoC) immigration officials, thus improving national and regional security.

This project will concentrate on Western and Southern Chad, notably along the borders with Nigeria, Cameroon and CAR.

Project activities will include:

1) Assisting the Government of Chad to establish an Integrated Border Management Committee comprising relevant ministries and institutions;

2) Improving information management systems to store and process data on persons crossing national borders;

3) Building the capacity of immigration officials in the form of training of trainers, and

4) Reinforcing the current community reporting mechanisms with an awareness campaign.

Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration. IOM works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.                                                                          

For further information please contact Yoko Fujimura, IOM Chad, Mobile: +2356-293-3452, Email:yfujimura@iom.int or Qasim Sufi, IOM Chad, Mobile: +235 6290 0674, Email: qsufi@iom.int