Cairo, 28 August - “Legal identity is particularly important for migrants, who often face multiple challenges and vulnerabilities in accessing and maintaining their legal identity documents,” according to Asmara Achcar, Deputy Regional Director for Operations at IOM Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa.  

Ms Achcar was speaking at a recent IOM-organized training event in Cairo for consular services officials from across the Middle East and North Africa. The event was run to enhance the capacity and operational responsiveness of consular officers in key areas such as identity management and consular protection. 

"Beyond Borders: Consular Services and the Dynamics of Legal Identity and Identity Management" is part of IOM’s efforts to support the important role that consular services play in improving migration management by providing timely verification, identification, and documentation assistance to individuals. 

“IOM is committed to supporting its member states and partners in strengthening the capacity and operational response in the area of consular assistance, from identity management to consular protection, in line with its mandate and strategic vision,” added Ms Achcar. 

The event was held under the Cooperation on Migration and Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Solutions (COMPASS) programme, a partnership between IOM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. 

Through the new phase of COMPASS, IOM plans to focus on finding the most effective and sustainable ways of assisting migrants and promoting their rights, dignity, and well-being, while expanding support to its partners in achieving their priority objectives in pursuing improved migration governance.      

A core aspect of IOM’s Legal Identity Strategy (LIS) involves aiding consular services in issuing civil registration, ID, and travel documents while improving their support for nationals abroad lacking documentary evidence of legal identity. 

This includes developing and providing consular services with guidance and relevant training materials to streamline the examination of security documents and improve the detection of travel document fraud. 

For more information, please contact Joe Lowry in Cairo at jlowry@iom.int  

For more information about COMPASS, please visit: https://www.iom.int/compass