EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

Halima, who lives in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, returned from Egypt in 2019 along with her husband and three children.

Like many other Ethiopians, the couple had been hoping to improve their economic situation in a foreign land. But it was not to be. After a promising start, they found themselves stranded and reached out to the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa (the EU-IOM Joint Initiative).

Two years on, Halima is happy at having made the decision to return. “Thanks to the programme, I am able to re-establish my life in Ethiopia,” she said. “I now own a retail shop and send my children to school.”

The 33-year-old was sharing her migration experience at a country-wide consultation organized by the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for stakeholder and partners. Coming in the programme’s fourth year of implementation it was a platform to take stock, learn and solicit recommendations for future programming.

Among those present at the high-level event in Adama, a city nearly 100km from the capital Addis Ababa, was the State Minister for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ayelech Eshete as well as Bekele Mengistu, Director General of the Enterprise Development Directorate at the Federal Urban Job Creation and Food Security Agency (JOBFSA).

Ms Eshete praised the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for engaging with various stakeholders, both at federal and regional level. She urged stakeholders to take a leaf out of the programme in providing sustainable reintegration assistance to migrant returnees. 

Mr Bekele said the Government of Ethiopia aknowledges that the reintegration of migrant returnees is among its primary responsibilities. JOBFSA recognized and appreciated the contribution provided by the programme in addressing the needs of vulnerable returnees, and was also looking forward to continued collaboration, Mr Bekele said.

Sara Basha, coordinator of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative in Ethiopia, emphasized the importance of Government’s role in the sustainability of reintegration assistance, stressing that ownership was required if returnees are to build on the support provided so far.

Another migrant returnee, Taju, also testified on how he turned his life around since returning from Libya, thanks to the EU-IOM Joint Initiative. He now makes and sells bricks for a living. “I was provided with a building block machine that I have expanded to four. I also employed four returnees from my neighbourhood.”

Taju added: “I am like an ambassador for the programme highlighting the dangers of irregular migration.”

About the EU-IOM Joint Initiative

Launched in December 2016 with the financial support of the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), the programme brings together 26 African countries of the Sahel and Lake Chad region, the Horn of Africa, and North Africa, along with the European Union and the International Organisation for Migration around the goal of ensuring that migration is safer, more informed and better governed for both migrants and their communities.

For more information please contact: Julia Hartlieb, email: jhartlieb@iom.int and Wilson Johwa, email: wjohwa@iom.int at Regional Office or Helina Mengistu in Addis Ababa, email: hmengistu@iom.int