Special Liaison Offices

IOM has two Special Liaison Offices, one in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and one in New York, United States of America, which are responsible for liaison with multilateral bodies. A brief description of their functions is outlined below.

Special Liaison Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Maintains and strengthens IOM’s relations with the AU, IGAD, the Economic Commission for Africa, diplomatic missions and other relevant actors by contributing to their enhanced understanding of migration issues. The Office works closely with all three bodies, particularly the African Union Commission, which is the supreme continental policy organ, to ensure appropriate inclusion of migration into its developmental, political, social and peace and security policy agendas. This relationship enables IOM to translate political decisions into practical programmatic responses at the regional level. The Office’s collaboration with IGAD, which is one of the eight regional economic communities recognized by the AU, is informed by, among others, AU continental policy decisions. The Office is accredited to and works closely with the Economic Commission for Africa to mainstream migration into multilateral initiatives focusing on Africa. The Office works to ensure IOM Headquarters and relevant IOM Country Offices are made aware of key decisions and new policy directions in all three bodies. The Special Liaison Office also has full Country Office responsibilities with the host government.

IOM Mission to the United Nations in New York, United States of America. Strengthens migration elements within the United Nations system and IOM’s relations with diplomatic missions and NGOs. The Mission contributes to these stakeholders’ understanding of migration issues by facilitating international policy dialogue on migration and by promoting the inclusion of migration in frameworks and agendas on peace and security, human and sustainable development and humanitarian response. With much of the United Nations decision-making and coordination mechanisms taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Mission works closely with United Nations secretariat departments/offices and agencies, funds and programmes headquartered in New York to enhance this collaboration. This also entails providing secretariat support for the upcoming Member State negotiations towards a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The Mission strengthens IOM’s activities within the United Nations by participating in policy, funding and operational mechanisms. In this regard, the Mission works closely with IOM Headquarters, Regional Offices and Country Offices worldwide to ensure an overall coordinated approach on policies and programming at the United Nations Headquarters.