Today, an estimated 150 million persons (ILO, 2015) are working in countries other than their country of birth. Despite the efforts made to ensure the protection of migrant workers, many remain vulnerable and are exposed to significant risks including health risks, during the migration process. When properly managed, labour migration has far-reaching potential for the migrants, their communities, the countries of origin and destination, and for employers.

A growing number of both sending and receiving countries view international labour migration as an integral part of their national development and employment strategies. On one hand, countries of origin benefit from labour migration because it relieves unemployment pressures and contributes to development through remittances, knowledge transfer, and the creation of business and trade networks. On the other hand, for destination countries facing labour shortages and ageing populations, orderly and well-managed labour migration can lighten labour scarcity and facilitate mobility and add to the human capital stock.

To address the health of migrant workers and their families and to optimize the benefits of labour migration for both the country of origin and destination as well as for the migrants themselves, clearly formulated policies across relevant sectors, legislation and effective strategies in line with standards on the protection of labour migrants are needed.

In addition, health worker migration in response to the global shortage of health professionals, demands dedicated effective management, including health systems capacity building in source countries, promotion of good practices and prevention of negative effects of health worker migration.

Through its Migration Health Division (MHD), IOM operates in three areas of concern, addressing the health of labour migrants as well as the health of their families left behind, and the migration of health workers.

The Global Commission on International Migration, the first-ever global panel addressing international migration, was officially launched by the United Nations Secretary-General and a number of governments on 9 December 2003 in Geneva. It was composed of 19 members, drawn from all regions and bringing together a wide range of migration perspectives and expertise.

In promoting a comprehensive debate on international migration, the Commission sought to develop a broader understanding of international migration by:

• Reviewing government and other migration expertise, policy approaches and best practices in all regions
• Conducting research and exploring migration interlinkages with such areas as:
  
  • Development
  • Trade
  • Human Security
  • Demography
  • Forced Displacement
  • Migrant Remittances
  • International Cooperation
  • Private Sector Involvement
  • The Role of the Media
  • National and International Security
• Collecting and disseminating migration-related information, and
• Maintaining an overall focus on how to strengthen the international governance of migration. 

The Global Commission on International Migration finished its work on 31 December 2005.

Core Group of States

The Commission was an independent body. It carried out its tasks in full political, analytical and managerial independence. Commissioners and Co-chairs acted in their personal capacity only.

1. Following a proposal by the United Nations Secretary-General in July 2003, a Core Group of interested States convened for the purpose of preparing the establishment of the Commission. Switzerland and Sweden, together with Brazil, Morocco and the Philippines, developed an initial draft of the Commission mandate, which was reviewed further by an expanded open-ended Core Group that included 34 governments^*. With the creation of the Commission on 1 January 2004, the Core Group acted as an informal consultative body for the Commission.
2. By participating in the Core Group, governments:
   
   • supported the creation of the Commission as initially suggested by the Secretary-General;
   • endorsed the purpose of the Commission;
   • followed and support the work of the Commission; and
   • were available for on-going consultations with the Commission.
3. The working relationship between the Commission and the Core Group was as follows:
   
   • The Core Group served as a reference point for government consultations by the Commission in order to receive input for its activities.
   • The Commission kept the Core Group informed of overall work in progress, through interim reports and by organizing meetings at regular intervals with all Core Group members. Such meetings normally took place with Permanent Missions in Geneva. Meetings were also be held in New York.
   • The Commission could consult with individual Core Group members, including the two Co-chairs of the Core Group, Switzerland and Sweden.
   • Interested Core Group governments could offer diplomatic, logistical and financial support to the Commission in the preparation and organisation of Regional Commission Meetings that will involve other governments, international institutions and the non-governmental sector (academia, corporate sector, NGOs, media, etc.)
   • Irrespective of the region where Regional Commission Meetings are held, Core Group members were invited through their respective local representatives and/or otherwise.
   • No financial commitments arose from participation in the Group. Interested Core Group governments could, however, consider making available financial support to the Budget of the Commission, to ensure the functioning of the Secretariat and the work of the Commission.

The Core Group Compromised:

• Algeria
• Australia
• Bangladesh
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Egypt
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran, Islamic Republic of
• Japan
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Netherlands
• Nigeria
• Norway
• Pakistan
• Peru
• Philippines
• Russian Federation
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sri Lanka
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• United Kingdom

The Core Group was chaired by Switzerland and Sweden. The Group was open-ended. Other governments expressed interest in joining the Group which also acted as a reference point for consultations by the Commission.

Mandate

Migration has become a key issue for countries all over the world. An estimated 191 million persons are international migrants. A combination of contemporary forces including conflict and instability, global demographic and economic trends, facilitated travel and communication, all create powerful incentives for people to move. The scope and nature of migration is such that all countries are affected whether they are countries of origin, transit or destination, or a combination thereof.

While national policies on migration are primarily formulated on the basis of national interest, their impact has broader repercussions on states and regions beyond the countries directly concerned. As a result, during the last few years, states have increasingly sought to strengthen inter-state co-operation in order to address migration flows through a coordinated and effective approach. Intergovernmental consultation processes and international initiatives are contributing to this objective.

The Aim of the Commission was to Provide the Framework for the Formulation of a Coherent, Comprehensive and Global Response to Migration

The Commission's mandate was to:

1. Place International Migration on the Global Agenda by promoting a comprehensive debate among governments, international organisations, academia, civil society, private sector, media and other actors on all aspects of migration and issues related to migration.

2. Analyse Gaps in Current Policy Approaches to Migration and Examining Inter-linkages with Other Issue-Areas by focusing on various approaches and perspectives of governments and other stakeholders in different regions, and by addressing the relationship of migration with other global issues that impact on and cause migration.

3. Present Recommendations to the United Nations Secretary-General and other Stakeholders on how to strengthen national, regional and global governance of international migration.

“A health threat anywhere is a health threat everywhere”. As the world becomes more interconnected with unprecedented migration and human mobility, a health threat present in the most remote corner of the world has a real probability of becoming a health threat to the rest of the world. Through globalization, trade and travel, infectious diseases now spread faster and farther, while at the same time, most countries are not prepared to face such threats. While far flung air travel may contribute to the wide spread of diseases, the traditional movement of people within countries and cross-border, carried out as part of daily lives and livelihoods, may cause prolonged transmission of diseases at a more localized level.

With migration and human mobility at the core of the organization’s mandate, IOM’s approach to responding to disease outbreaks and preparing for future health threats is particularly anchored upon human mobility, notably through the Health, Border and Mobility Management (HBMM) framework. HBMM has the ultimate goal of improving prevention, detection and response to the spread of infectious diseases and other health threats along the mobility continuum (at origin, transit, destination and return points) and its spaces of vulnerability, with particular focus on border areas. At the core of HBMM is the understanding that mobility is a continuum that extends beyond the physical or regulated border areas, such as the official Points of Entry (or PoEs, as articulated within the International Health Regulations - IHR, 2005), to include pathways and spaces of vulnerability.

Indeed, the reality of human mobility goes far beyond these border crossings. In fact, borders should be seen as spaces, not only just as lines dividing countries, nor as points of crossing. In many parts of the world, communities living around international border lines share familial and social ties across the border – for them, these administrative lines are meaningless, and international movement is a common part of daily life.

IOM’s Health, Border and Mobility Management (HBMM) Framework

HBMM endeavors to build human mobility competent health systems, essential for global health security. Such systems are responsive to the dynamics of human mobility and are inclusive, ensuring Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which leaves no one behind, not even migrants and mobile populations (MMPs),  regardless of their status. UHC is a fundamental dimension of both individual and collective health security and is an essential feature of resilient and sustainable health systems. HBMM unifies border management, human and health security that ultimately supports the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). Implementing HBMM, based on primary health care, achieves equity in health and renders health systems better able to prevent, detect and respond to epidemic and endemic infectious diseases.

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Since its establishment, IOM’s health activities have evolved and expanded in response to the changing needs of migrants and their host communities, as well as the contexts in which migration occurs. The adoption of the 2008 World Health Assembly Resolution on the Health of Migrants (WHA 61.17) signified a shift in global policy and an increased focus by global actors on prioritizing the migration health agenda.

IOM has also contributed to humanitarian response to all major crises worldwide since the time of its founding. Within IOM’s Humanitarian Mandate, health is recognized as an essential component. Humanitarian crises produce increasingly complex and often large-scale migration flows and mobility patterns, which typically expose affected populations to significant vulnerabilities and generate serious and longer-term migration management challenges. Consequently, in 2012, IOM developed the IOM Migration Crisis Operational Framework (MCOF) at the request of its Member States. The MCOF is a practical, operational and institution-wide tool to improve and systematize the way in which the Organization supports its Member States and partners to better prepare for and respond to the migration dimension of crises. Health support is one of the 15 areas of assistance articulated under the MCOF.

Moreover, IOM is a formal partner of the World Health Organization since 1999, with areas of collaboration covering the health aspects of migration and human mobility, including humanitarian crises, public health emergencies and the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). As a formal partner of the WHO, a member of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s (IASC) Global Health Cluster (GHC), and more recently, a partner to the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), IOM’s role as an important actor in delivering response to humanitarian and public health emergencies, as well as in supporting health system recovery and resilience, continues to grow.

IOM’s health response to humanitarian and public health emergencies aims to alleviate suffering, save lives and protect human dignity while also upholding IOM’s commitment to humanitarian principles and protection mainstreaming. This response encompasses the various stages and typologies of crises, throughout all the phases of the migration cycle and the mobility continuum.

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AREAS OF IOM’S HEALTH RESPONSE TO CRISIS SITUATIONS

Primary Health Care Provision and Community Health Revitalization

From the onset of a crisis through the subsequent early recovery and transition period, well-functioning primary health care (PHC) needs to be sustained. PHC provision can be done through a variety of internal, external, and/or provisional health services. This includes the provision of health services through mobile clinics, temporary health posts, transitional clinics, community health outreach, and support to existing health care facilities, depending on the context, availability of resources, and operational feasibility.

IOM’s provision of PHC is aligned with the GHC response domains, as articulated in the Health Resources Availability Mapping System (HeRAMS). These domains encompass:

 

• General clinical services and essential trauma care
• Child health, including immunization and nutrition
• Communicable diseases
• Sexual and reproductive health, including STI and HIV/AIDS, maternal and newborn health, and sexual violence
• Non-communicable diseases and mental health
• Environmental health

These six domains, with their respective essential services, are imperative to save lives, reduce morbidity and suffering in times of crisis. IOM’s health programming in response to crisis therefore endeavors to address all six domains comprehensively, either through direct health service provision, or in partnership with other health actors.

Furthermore, the scope of these six domains and their essential services covers the three different levels of care, allowing more effective referral and coordination of care between:

• Community care
• Primary care
• Secondary and tertiary care.

 

 

Health Referrals

To facilitate linkages between the different levels of health services, and notably access of crisis-affected populations and their surrounding communities to adequate secondary and tertiary health care services during crisis and post-crisis recovery periods and to reduce undue congestion of hospitals, IOM provides an adequate environment in strengthening health referral mechanisms to and from community, primary, secondary and tertiary health care facilities. In many crisis settings, IOM supports hospital discharge with transportation, logistics and reception assistance to patients. In so doing, operational relief is provided to reduce the strain on functioning health care facilities during and after crisis events.

Medical Evacuation and Rehabilitation

In severe circumstances during emergencies or in post-emergency phases where there are overwhelming needs for urgent and complex medical care; some patients may require local, regional or international medical evacuation in order to access adequate, life-saving medical care. In these cases IOM initiates medical evacuation programmes in collaboration with interested governments and partners and contributes to in-country capacity and enhancement of national health infrastructure, skills development, and targeted initiatives that serve to address gaps in health service delivery.

Travel Health Assistance

Travel and movements of populations may pose health risks to both the individuals engaged in traveling, as well as the hosting or receiving communities. IOM has a responsibility to ensure that people traveling under the auspices of the Organization travel in a safe and dignified manner, are fit to travel, receive appropriate assistance through medical escorts to final destination when necessary, and do not become a hazard to other travelers, personnel or receiving communities.

Health, Border and Mobility Management

IOM’s approach to responding to public health emergencies, disease outbreaks and preparing for future health threats is particularly anchored upon human mobility, notably through the Health, Border and Mobility Management (HBMM) framework. The summary of the components within the HBMM framework are shown in the below figure. HBMM has the ultimate goal of improving prevention, detection and response to the spread of infectious diseases and other health threats along the mobility continuum (at origin, transit, destination and return points) and its spaces of vulnerability, with particular focus on border areas. At the core of HBMM is the understanding that mobility is a continuum that extends beyond the physical or regulated border areas, such as the official Points of Entry (or PoEs, as articulated within IHR, 2005), to include pathways and spaces of vulnerability. Grounded on this understanding, the scope of HBMM ranges from collection and analysis of information on mobility patterns, to disease surveillance and health threat response mechanisms at spaces of vulnerability along mobility pathways. HBMM, therefore, ultimately contributes to health system strengthening that is sensitive to mobility dynamics, notably at the primary health care level.

IOM’S HEALTH RESPONSE TO CRISIS SITUATIONS WITHIN OTHER MCOF SECTORS

Camp Management and Displacement Tracking

As the co-lead of the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster, IOM strives to facilitate the effective and equitable provision of assistance and protection in camps and camp-like settings for displaced persons and migrants in transition. Recognizing IOM’s key role in camp management, it is vital that public health dimensions such as public health risk assessments and monitoring are systematically integrated into existing camp-based operational practices as well as included within the information collection process of the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).

Shelter and Non Food Items (NFIs)

The incorporation of first aid kits, insecticide treated bed nets, and other health materials into IOM’s NFI packages supports existing health promotion practices and promotes self-sufficiency and self-management for the affected populations.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

In addition to ensuring adequate access to clean water, sanitation and safe waste management in times of crisis, IOM has the capacity to incorporate health promotion and disease prevention activities as well as capacity building support for the affected communities within its WASH programming. IOM’s response to cholera outbreaks put equal emphasis on detection and management of cases, as well as prevention through WASH interventions.   

Transport Assistance for Affected Populations

Travel and movements of populations may pose health risks to both the people traveling and the hosting or receiving communities. IOM has a responsibility to ensure that people traveling under the auspices of the Organization travel in a safe and dignified manner, are fit to travel, receive appropriate assistance through medical escorts to final destination when necessary, and do not become a hazard to other travelers, personnel or receiving communities.

Psychosocial Assistance

IOM also directly implements mental health support and psychosocial interventions to immediately address the needs of crisis affected populations. Services include the deployment of mobile psychosocial teams to provide psychosocial counselling, the setup of referral mechanisms and the provision of basic psychosocial trainings, including psychological first aid trainings, for humanitarian workers in accordance with Do No Harm principles.  

Migration health assessments are among the most well-established migration management services offered by IOM. At the request of receiving country governments, IOM provides an evaluation of the physical and mental health status of migrants prior to their departure for the purpose of resettlement, international employment, enrolment in specific migrant assistance programmes, or for obtaining a temporary or permanent visa.

Reflecting national differences in immigration and public policies and practices, there is a diverse range of health assessment requirements among receiving countries. These requirements may be specific to certain diseases of public health concern such as tuberculosis, as is the case with the United Kingdom Tuberculosis Detection Programme; requirements may also be more general in nature, or include additional interventions, such as vaccinations. But despite differences in health assessment requirements among countries, one thing remains constant: the need to ensure that the migration process does not endanger the health of either the migrant or host communities.

Migration health assessments have many benefits, including the early detection and treatment of conditions of individual and public health concern, safer travel and the prevention of negative health events during travel or on arrival at host communities. Additionally, they serve to protect the health of both migrants and host communities and reduce the expected demand for domestic health and social services. Health assessment programmes also allow refugee resettlement agencies to adequately prepare for the arrival of refugees by providing them with important medical information in advance. Migration health assessments are coherent with the IOM goal of “healthy migrants in healthy communities” and, as such, positively impact on migrants’ capacity to integrate fully into receiving societies.

The Migration Health Assessment and Travel Assistance Programmes (HAPs) represent the largest activity of IOM’s Migration Health Division (MHD) in terms of migrants served, staff concerned and operational costs. From 2001-2010, the number of individual health assessments provided by IOM grew considerably, amounting to over 1.5 million health assessments over the course of the decade. By 2015, IOM health assessments reached a total of nearly 3 million across more than 80 countries, with approximately 350,000 exams in 2015 alone.

Migration health assessments involve a review of the migrant’s medical history, a physical examination, additional investigations, such as imaging studies, laboratory tests and specialist referrals, if required, documentation of findings and confidential transfer of relevant information to appropriate immigration or public health authorities. Related services include preventive and/or curative treatment or referral for treatment, counselling, health education, public health interventions, including, but not limited, to surveillance, outbreak response, vaccinations, and travel assistance.

Travel assistance serves to address individual health and safety and to manage conditions of public health concern as individuals move across geographical, health system and epidemiological boundaries. Within health assessments programmes, pre-embarkation checks and pre-departure medical screenings are performed in order to assess a migrant’s fitness to travel and provide medical clearance. These measures also ensure that migrants are referred to appropriate medical services once they arrive at their destination countries. Migrants who need medical assistance and care during travel are escorted by health professionals to avoid complications during transit. Pre-departure treatment, vaccinations and other public health interventions are also tailored to meet the needs of migrants and immigration authorities.

HEALTHY MIGRANTS IN HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

Within its Migration Health Division (MHD), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in its role of United Nations Migration Agency, delivers and promotes comprehensive, preventive and curative health programmes which are beneficial, accessible, and equitable for migrants and mobile populations. Bridging the needs of both migrants and IOM member states, MHD, in close collaboration with partners, contributes towards the physical, mental and social well-being of migrants, enabling them and host communities to achieve social and economic development.

Migration is now a global phenomenon with close to 244 million international migrants (UNDESA, 2014) and an estimated 740 million internal migrants on the move (IOM, 2015), and must be recognized as a social determinant of health; mobility not only impacts upon an individual’s physical vulnerability, but also on mental and social well-being. Migrants and mobile populations face many obstacles in accessing essential health care services due to a number of factors including irregular immigration status, language barriers, a lack of migrant-inclusive health policies and inaccessibility of services. Such disparities impact the well-being of migrants and host communities and undermine the realization of global health goals, such as preventing, treating and eliminating HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and human influenza. High morbidity and mortality among migrants, especially in irregular, forced, or exploitative migration situations is also an underestimated critical health concern that deserves international attention.

In recent years there has been significant progress in advancing the migration health agenda. The 2008 World Health Assembly Resolution on the Health of Migrants, calls upon governments to promote the health of migrants through policies and programmes. Guided by the World Health Assembly Resolution, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization and the Government of Spain organized a Global Consultation on the Health of Migrants in March 2010. Four key priorities materialized from the consultation which mirror IOM’s global approach to migration and health ( EN | FR | ES ):

IOM works in partnership with and is guided by multiple stakeholders in international health and migration sectors. At the national level, IOM engages closely with relevant government ministries, especially ministries of health and immigration, and non-governmental organizations, as well as with private sector entities, such as employment agencies. At the regional and global levels, key partners include relevant UN agencies (especially WHO, UNAIDS, UNHCR, ILO) and civil society partners (including migrants’ associations and academia).

MHD's presence around the world

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), as the leading intergovernmental migration agency, has been at the forefront of operational, research, policy and advocacy efforts, seeking to bring environmental migration to the heart of international, regional and national concerns in collaboration with its Member States, observers and partners.

IOM’s Mandate

Since 2007, member states requested IOM within its governing bodies to work on migration, environment and climate change. At the beginning of 2015, a dedicated Migration, Environment and Climate Change (MECC) Division was created to address the migration, environment and climate nexus. This institutional change has formalized IOM’s engagement in this thematic area, making IOM the first international organization to have established an institutional unit fully devoted to this topic. The Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division, within the Department of Migration Management has the institutional responsibility to oversee, support and coordinate the development of policy guidance for activities with a migration, environment and climate change dimension.

IOM’s Vision

IOM recognizes the necessity to step up national, regional and international efforts to address human mobility challenges associated with environmental factors and climate change. IOM’s vision on migration, environment and climate change is that contemporary migration governance, policy and practice must reflect the significance of environmental, disaster and climate change factors on human mobility. Environmental factors must be integrated across all areas of migration management, such as: prevention, preparedness and response to displacement, border management, labour migration and integration, and return and reintegration.

IOM’s Objectives

IOM’s objectives concerning migration, environment and climate change are:

• To prevent forced migration that results from environmental factors to the extent possible;
• To provide assistance and protection to affected populations when forced migration does occur in situations of environmental and climate change, and to seek durable solutions to their situation;
•  To facilitate migration in the context of climate change adaptation and enhance the resilience of affected communities.

Sustainable development is recognized as an integral part of this approach, implemented through disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability measures.

IOM’s Activities

IOM engages in policy work and advocacy, research, capacity building, and operational activities in the area of migration, environment and climate change in collaboration with IOM Member States, observers and partners.

Policy

IOM supports international policy, advocating for the recognition of the migration, environment and climate change nexus in key global and regional policy processes. IOM also supports State-led efforts to develop specific solutions to address these complex challenges at the national level.

Research

IOM has been conducting research in the area of migration, environment and climate change since the early 1990s to support the development of evidence-based policy and practice. IOM regularly publishes reports on migration, environment and climate change, and makes the latest international research on this topic available through the Environmental Migration Portal’s Research Database and Policy Brief series.

Building Capacities to Address Environmental Migration

IOM’s capacity building programme for policy makers on migration, environment and climate change focuses on enhancing the understanding of the complex issue of managing migration in the context of climate and environmental change; and linking the many policy areas that are relevant to addressing environmental migration, including migration, climate change adaptation, environment, development, security and disaster risk reduction. Trainings are aimed to build capacity of national, regional and international policy makers and practitioners. IOM also engages in awareness raising and communications for general public through a variety of communication channels on social and traditional media.

Operational Activities

Since 1998, more than 1,000 projects have been funded and implemented worldwide by IOM to respond to and address environmental migration and disaster displacement, demonstrating that creative solutions exist for communities affected by disasters, environmental degradation and climate change, and that migration does not have to be a “last resort” solution but can also be a positive driver for change.

Environmental Sustainability

IOM recognizes that a healthy environment is intrinsically linked to the well-being and resilience of migrants and host communities. In 2017, IOM launched its institutional programme of work on environmental sustainability. It made an institutional commitment to improve the sustainability of its operations at the strategic, programmatic and facility levels, focusing on three key areas: greenhouse gas emissions; water; and waste management.

IOM’s Partnerships

IOM is committed to close collaboration with all relevant stakeholders to develop comprehensive strategies to better manage climate and environment induced migration, to address its challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities it presents. IOM partners with stakeholders including governmental institutions, UN agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s), academic institutions and private sector institutions in support of its research, policy and operational objectives.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes that migration is a powerful driver of sustainable development, for migrants themselves and their communities. It brings significant benefits in the form of skills, strengthening the labour force, investment and cultural diversity, and contributes to improving the lives of communities in their countries of origin through the transfer of skills and financial resources.

The benefits of migration should not only be seen only from the perspective of what migrants can bring to any given territory. The relationship between migration and development is much more complex: the political, social and economic processes of potential destination countries will also determine how, where and when migration occurs. If migration is poorly governed, it can also negatively impact on development. Migrants can be put at risk and communities can come under strain.

As outlined in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, “migration is a multi-dimensional reality that cannot be addressed by one government policy sector alone”. IOM therefore applies a whole-of-government approach to migration governance, striving to ensure that migration and migrants’ needs are considered across all policy areas, laws and regulations from health to education and from fiscal policies to trade. 

A Comprehensive Approach to Migration and Development

A whole-of-government approach:

IOM supports governments in understanding how all of these governance areas are interrelated and are affected by migration and to what extent other sectoral policies facilitate or impede migrants’ ability to contribute to society.

To achieve this, IOM supports governments ‘mainstreaming’ migration into local and national policy planning.

This means amending or developing new national, regional and local laws, policies and plans that take into consideration these interlinkages and the needs of and challenges faced by migrants.

This ensures that policies ranging from health to education and from urban planning to housing are inclusive of migrants and coherent with migration governance priorities.

IOM also assists governments to then pilot and implement these policies and plans as needed.

A whole-of-community approach:

While policy making on migration governance tends to take place at the national level, a national-only approach fails to consider that the development impact of migration is most profoundly felt at the community level. In order to be able to mainstream migration into community development plans for a more cohesive society, IOM supports the development of local migration profiles and community mapping exercises to facilitate this. In addition, IOM supports its Member States to strengthen the capacities of their community leaders and sub-national authorities to set up conducive environments at the community level to ensure social cohesion and development impact that benefits all of society. This entails empowering local and regional authorities as ‘first responders to migration’ and closest to their constituents as crucial actors in migration governance for development.

Engaging, empowering and enabling migrants as development actors:

The extent to which migrants can contribute to development is directly linked to their ability to access services, integrate into society and stay connected to with their communities of origin.

Migrants can face many barriers that limit their ability to reach their full development potential. IOM works with its member states to promote the protection of migrants’ rights and empower them through the provision of services and support they need to become an integral part of their new society as well as contribute to their home communities. This means helping governments engage, enable and empower their diaspora and migrants’ in development efforts.

IOM’s Immigration and Border Management (IBM) Division supports Member States in improving the policy, legislation, operational systems, human resources and administrative and technical structures required to respond more effectively to diverse migration and border management challenges. Immigration and Border Management (IBM) activities are in line with IOM’s commitment to facilitate orderly, safe and regular migration and mobility.

IBM activities are designed as partnerships with governments and other relevant interlocutors to identify needs, determine priority areas, and shape and deliver interventions. The IBM team's activities are continuously evolving to meet new migration challenges on the national, regional and international level. During 2018, expenditures for IBM projects worldwide reached approximately 125 million USD, with several hundred IOM experts and support staff active in the IBM field around the globe.

There are two distinct and complementary portfolios within IBM: Border and Identity Solutions (BIS) and Immigration and Visas (IV). In addition, the IBM team is in charge of facilitating and co-leading a number of organizational cross-thematic initiatives, notably the responsible and ethical use of biometrics, programming related to Counter Terrorism/Counter Violent Extremism (CT/CVE), IOM’s African Capacity Building Center for Migration and Border Management (ACBC) in Moshi, United Republic of Tanzania, and IOM’s upcoming flagship training programme the “Essentials in Migration Management 2.0 (emm2.0)”.

Border and Identity Solutions Unit (BIS)

Efficient border and migration management policies and structures, supported by professional, well-trained personnel, facilitates and fosters enhanced movement management at borders, prevents irregular migration, helps dismantle organized criminal networks, and protects the rights of migrants. Upon Governments’ request, the BIS Unit addresses a broad range of migration and border management issues by building and enhancing Member States’ capacity.

Additional technical support provided by the BIS Unit include:

• Travel Document Inspection
• Community Policing
• Immigration Detention & Alternatives to Detention
• Border Management Information Systems – including IOM’s MIDAS (Migration Information and Data Analysis System)
• Passenger Data – Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR)
• Regional Free Movement Arrangements

Immigration and Visas Unit (IV)

With over a billion people on the move today, visa policy has become a central tool for Member States to better manage legal migration and to prevent irregular migration. The IBM - IV Unit supports Member States in analyzing, developing and implementing evidence-based visa policies.  The unit provides innovative, technology-driven operational support to visa application processes, by working closely with immigration and consular authorities and other partners, to facilitate visa schemes in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.  IBM’s operational solutions enhance regular pathways for migration and mobility, making them more accessible, better informed, dignified, timely and transparent.

Operational solutions provided by the IV Unit include:

• Information services
• Case management systems
• Booking and scheduling systems
• E-visa systems (in cooperation with BIS)
• Document review, receipt and verification 
• Digitization of documentation
• Secure data input, validation and transfer
• Biometric data collection, validation and transfer
• Payment and transfer systems
• Travel document collection and transfer
• Facilitation of interviews
• Facilitation of DNA testing
• Assisted travel

For more information, please contact IOM’s Immigration and Border Management Division (IBM) at ibm@iom.int.

(Updated on 7 May 2019)