IOM Toolkit Offers Key Advice on Migrant Centres
Migration journeys are interrupted when people get stranded along their route in need of protection, shelter, food or health care and this is when situations become critical. IOM, Governments and partners have set-up migrant centres along the main migratory routes, to provide life-saving assistance. Centres ensure a tailored, holistic and inclusive response to migrants’ needs, including accommodation, psychosocial support, liaison with consular authorities, accurate information on their journey, referrals to specialized services and assisted voluntary return and reintegration for those who desire to return to their country of origin. The data collected through the registration of migrants, respecting IOM Data Protection Principles, contributes to drawing a clearer picture of migration trends and migrant vulnerabilities, informing better policies and programming. Thousands of migrants benefit from this crucial assistance every year. For this reason, such centres are an essential contribution to humanitarian interventions assisting people on the move.
In September 2021, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched externally its Migrant Centres toolkit. This online space, soon to be integrated into the forthcoming IOM Migrant Protection Platform, is an open-source toolkit for migrant centre administration and management. It is intended as a practical resource for field practitioners providing access to key guidance material, tools, best practices and examples on migrant centres' design and implementation. It is accompanied by operational tools designed to facilitate the work of all practitioners engaged in migrant centre operations, including an in-person training package. This package has been conceived to address the capacity-building needs of different audiences and stakeholders including national and local authorities, civil society organizations as well as IOM implementing partners and staff. The training manual is available both in English and in French. There are three modules that target specific audiences, for specific lengths of time:
1. Introduction to the Migrant Centres Toolkit targeting all actors (interested in) contributing to the establishment and management of migrant centres.
2. Practising the Migrant Centres toolkit targeting primarily operational partners, protection and non-protection actors providing services and support to migrant centre.
3. Operational application of the Migrant Centres Toolkit targeting primarily partners and staff working in the field for the implementation of migrant assistance services in migrant centres.
The Migrants Centres Toolkit is funded through the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration and the Cooperation on Migration and Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Solutions initiative (COMPASS).
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