Tokyo – The Government of Japan has allocated USD 30.5 million to support IOM operations in 2018. The money will be spent on helping vulnerable migrants, including displaced people, refugees, returnees and communities affected by conflict and crises around the world.  It will also build the capacity of various governments in humanitarian border management to stabilize regions.

Almost half of the contribution (USD14 million) will go towards supporting IOM programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Sudan, the Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Sierra Leone, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Lesotho.

In Asia, some of the funding will be used to respond to the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh, where it will provide shelter, health assistance and substitute fuel to protect remaining forests surrounding refugee sites. Money will also go towards life-saving post-arrival aid for vulnerable Afghans returning from Iran. It will also build local Afghan capacity by encouraging skilled nationals to return home from Iran.

Other Japanese funding will continue to support IOM activities in the Middle East and North Africa. This includes IOM’s work in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, where millions have fled the ongoing Syrian civil war. It will also target internally displaced people in Iraq and improved border management in Libya.

In Ukraine, Japanese funding will continue to support IOM’s efforts to enhance social cohesion in selected communities in the conflict-affected Donbas region.

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