IOM Regional Office for West and Central Africa - Dakar Page 1

NEWSLETTER N°9 / October - December 2014

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION

Regional Office for West and

Central Africa

IOM Tubmanburg Ebola Treatment Unit, Liberia ©IOM

EDITORIAL

“Responding to Crisis Affecting or Involving Movement or

Potential Movement of Populations is Our Concern”

Against a background of high population mobility within

and across the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone,

urbanization, unsafe cultural burial practices and weakened

health systems, Ebola Virus Disease was able to spread

quickly from one infection of a child in rural Guinea in

December 2013 to 20,206 cases and 7,905 deaths mainly in

the three-most affected countries, as of December 31st,

2014.

IOM responds to crises affecting movement or potential

movement of populations and the 2014 Ebola epidemic,

the largest in history according to the CDC, is affecting

multiple closely linked countries in West Africa.

IOM is responding to the Ebola crisis in West Africa by

assisting the Governments of the affected countries in their

lead responses to the crisis in cooperation with partners

and donors.

Our activities range from the set up and management of 3

Ebola Treatment Centers in Liberia (Tubmanburg, Buchanan

and Sinje) to the management of the National Ebola

Training Academy in Freetown for frontline practitioners

working in or deployed to Ebola Treatment Centers, to

IOM’s Health & Humanitarian Border Management project

monitoring the Exit and Entry Health Screening (EEHS) at

Lungi International Airport, or to the establishment of Ebola

Flow Monitoring Points at border locations between Mali

and Guinea, and social mobilization activities in several

locations.

IOM’s engagement has marked a significant stepping up of

the international response since the start of its operations

in mid-September 2014.

Ms. Carmela Godeau, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa

IN THIS ISSUE

IOM contributes to the prevention of Ebola disease

spread in West Africa

IOM promotes community stabilization and social

cohesion in Liberia and Central African Republic

IOM signs for Inter-State dialogue with the Mano

River Union

IOM provides assistance to migrants stranded in

Cameroon

NEWSLETTER N°9

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IOM CONTRIBUTES TO THE PREVENTION OF EBOLA

DISEASE SPREAD IN WEST AFRICA

LIBERIA

Liberian Vice President Joseph Boakai on 10th

November

inaugurated the first of three planned IOM-managed Ebola

Treatment Units (ETU) in Liberia. The new unit, in

Tubmanburg, was constructed by the Armed Forces of

Liberia, with the support and oversight of the US

Department of Defense, to be run by 24 internationally

recruited IOM health professionals.

The ETU in Tubmanburg is set to offer full clinical care to

Ebola patients in Bomi County as part of Liberia’s wider

Ebola response system. The three US government-funded

ETUs are operated by IOM in close partnership and under

the supervision of Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social

Welfare. USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance is

supporting IOM’s efforts to manage the ETU and provide

clinical care.

A Comic to raise awareness on Ebola prevention and early care To support social mobilization efforts, IOM developed a

graphic story about Ebola with the guidance of the Liberia’s

Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, WHO and UNICEF.

This tool is being used by IOM and county based partners to

raise awareness and encourage positive responses within

communities in Liberia. It is focused on prevention and

seeking early care. 4,000 stories have been handed over to

96 community volunteers who go door to door within their

communities and use the graphic story to

sensitize community members within their households.

Ladies reading the Ebola Comic, Liberia ©IOM

SIERRA LEONE

Since 10 December, the IOM Border Management team

ensures the effective implementation, monitoring of the

Exit and Entry Health Screening Standard Operating

Procedures at Lungi International Airport.

IOM Sierra Leone officially took over full management of

the National Ebola Training Academy from the UK Ministry

of Defense on 01 December 2014. The Training Academy is

comprised of two different training venues in Freetown, the

Siaka Stevens National Stadium and the College of Nursing

Faculty Campus, and currently graduated several hundred

clinicians and hygienists per week. Upon successful

graduation, clinicians and hygienists will be eligible for

recruitment as frontline Ebola responders to operate inside

of an Ebola Treatment Centre, Community Care Centre

and/or Holding Centre.

Under IOM guidance during the month of December the

National Training Academy successfully ran 21 courses with

over 1600 national and international students trained.

PREPAREDNESS TO RESPOND TO MIGRATION CRISES CAPE VERDE On 23 November, the volcano on the island of Fogo,

located in Chã das Caldeiras, erupted, requiring the

evacuation of approximately 1000 persons. On December

22-26, a short assessment mission was conducted in

collaboration with the national/local authorities, to identify

gaps in the response. As an immediate result, 32 volunteers

and elements of the Red Cross and Civil Protection from

Fogo attended a rapid Camp Coordination and Camp

Management training conducted by IOM, using materials in

Portuguese from IOM Angola and Mozambique.

NIGERIA

On 24 November 2014, IOM signed an agreement with the

French Embassy in Nigeria to implement a 12-month

project on “Psychosocial Support and Community

Mobilization for Conflict-Induced Displaced Populations in

the North East Nigeria.” The French Embassy will be

providing funding of 144,991 Euros for this project.

The project, implemented by IOM from December 2014 to

November 2015, will be providing psychosocial support to

internally displaced persons currently living in camps in Yola

(Adamawa State) as a result of ongoing insurgency and

counter-insurgency activities in North East Nigeria.

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IOM Nigeria Chief of Mission and French Ambassador, Abuja ©IOM

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC IOM has actively supported the return to school project

through activities funded by the European Union as part of

the project entitled: “Community stabilization and early

recovery for at-risk communities in Bangui”. This project

supports activities including cash-for-work schemes

targeting the most vulnerable people across the capital.

In October, IOM established work teams in the 1st and 2nd

districts to clean classrooms and schoolyards of debris and

overgrowth. The teams were also doing small-scale repairs,

including fixing front gates, doors, roofs and guttering as

needed and in coordination with the education-cluster

actors.

The work teams consisted of 50 people for each school,

recruited in close coordination with local authorities. They

included vulnerable people from each district with a special

focus on people who either graduated or left the schools

being reopened. Team members worked in 10-day

rotations earning roughly USD 50 per rotation.

Between 4 and 17 November, IOM has continued to

support the construction of houses for IDPs in the peace

villages within Kabo and Moyen Sido in collaboration with

local authorities. Ten houses have been completed bringing

the total number of houses built to 681. A total of 234,057

bricks have been produced.

Cash for Work activity, CAR ©IOM

MIGRANT ASSISTANCE AND PROTECTION NIGER

IOM has opened its fourth Niger transit and assistance

center for migrants (at Dirkou, Arlit, Niamey) in Agadez,

one of the main migratory crossroads for irregular migrants

from sub-Saharan Africa trying to reach Europe through

Libya or Algeria. The new center will normally

accommodate up to 400 people, but will be able to host up

to 1,000 in periods of crisis.

An estimated 40,000 and 80,000 migrants transit annually

through Niger, including Niger nationals and migrants from

other West African countries. The new Agadez transit

center, which is funded by the Italian Ministry of Interior

and supported by the Niger government, will reinforce IOM

Niger’s capacity to help the most vulnerable stranded

migrants.

CAMEROON On 25 November, IOM has helped 650 Chadian and Malian

migrants stranded in Cameroon to return home. In the

wake of the Central African Republic crisis, Cameroon

became host to 17,086 foreign nationals from several West

African Countries, including some 15,572 Chadians and

Malians.

As a result of IOM’s repatriation operation, funded by the

US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and

Migration, 449 Chadian migrants were moved by bus from

a transit site in Garoua Boulai to Djako, in Chad, on a two

day journey.

In addition, 201 Malian migrants left another transit camp

in Kentzou to travel with IOM by bus to Yaounde.

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They were then flown to the Malian capital Bamako in a

plane chartered by the Malian government. IOM provided

land transport, food and medical escorts during the

journey.

MIGRATION POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND INTER-STATE DIALOGUE IOM/MRU Cooperation agreement

On 31st December 2014, the Mano River Union and IOM

have signed a Cooperation Agreement for a closer

collaboration in matters of common interest. The two

Organizations will work in close partnership to further

enhancing and strengthening their actions related to

migration issues (namely through promoting, supporting

and implementing capacity building in migration

management programs) in the Mano River region covering

Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

IOM Sierra Leone Chief of Mission and MRU Secretary-General, Freetown ©IOM

INTEGRATED BORDER MANAGEMENT AND RISK ANALYSIS

SENEGAL

In the framework of the “Support to border management”-

European Commission funded project, IOM Senegal has

conducted a 5-day assessment mission between 21-26

September, from Saint Louis (North Senegal) to Kidira

(border town close to Mali). The team went through 920

km of borders, visited 11 border posts, checked 39

government facilities belonging to 4 different authorities,

and had the opportunity to meet with Malian and

Mauritanian border authorities.

The objective of the mission was to find ways to facilitate

the movement of local residents living along the Senegalese

river and maintain high safety levels at borders.

Border post in Bakel © IOM

GUINEA In October, a field visit was conducted with the two specific

objectives of visiting the police station of Boundou

Fourdou, in Koundara, fully renovated by the project, and

implementing and testing the MIDAS software. The mission

was part of the project implementation entitled “Guinea's

program to strengthen capacity in border management”,

funded by the Canadian Government until February 2015.

Three agents of the site and the Special Police

Commissioner were introduced to the basics of the

software by IOM IT Assistant.

Implementation of MIDAS, Guinea © IOM

MALI

In November, IOM, in close collaboration with the

Emergency Operations Center of the Government of Mali,

and the WHO set-up a Flow Monitoring Point (FMP) in

Nougani - the main Point of Entry between Mali and Guinea

Conakry. The second FMP was deployed on 5 December at

the border post of Kourémalé.

To ensure the epidemiological surveillance of travelers

between Mali and Guinea, FMP Ebola agents are working

with health workers taking temperature and collecting

travelers’ personal data, and agents of the security forces

deployed at the borders.

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IOM Regional Office for West and Central Africa - Dakar Page 5

In addition, they are in charge of sensitizing travelers to

hand-washing and prevention and control of infection.

During the first phase of the project from 22 November to 2

January 2015, 29,779 passengers went through health

control and awareness raising sessions in health screening

points.

Awareness raising session, Kourémalé © IOM

LABOUR MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT

GHANA

In commemoration of International Migrants Day, IOM

Ghana in cooperation with Ghana Immigration Service,

Ghana Education Service, traditional authorities, civil

society organizations and other relevant stakeholders

conducted an information outreach campaign on the risks

of irregular migration and promotion of safe migration in

Brong Ahafo, the main migrant sending region of Ghana.

The campaign – with the theme “Know the risk, Migrate

safely” - fitted within the framework of the Ghana

Integrated Migration Management Approach (GIMMA)

project, funded by the European Union.

Information outreach campaign, Ghana ©IOM

BENIN From 18 to 20 November 2014, IOM Benin organized in

Ouidah, a training aimed at supporting the Government of

Benin to align its legislation with international standards for

the protection of migrant’s workers and ensure effective

implementation of existing legal provisions.

Thirty participants from different Ministries, together with

civil society and key partners in the management migration

in Benin exchanged on Regional arrangements on labor

migration, free movement within the ECOWAS space and

the cooperation mechanisms between countries of origin

and destination.

This workshop funded by the IOM Development Fund is

part of the project of “Building the capacity of

governmental and nongovernmental institutions for the

protection of the rights of migrant workers and their

families in Benin”.

Bureau régional pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest

et du Centre

Route des Almadies – Zone 3

BP 16838 Dakar-Fann

Sénégal

Tél +221 33 869 62 00

Fax +221 33 869 62 33

Email : rodakar@iom.int

Site Internet : www.rodakar.iom.int

Twitter : www.twitter.com/iomrowca

Facebook : www.facebook.com/iomrowca

Internet www.iom.int/senegal