EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

Seventy-one migrant returnees in Sudan’s Geneina region of West Darfur, along with their family members, have completed vocational training organised with support from the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa.

The three-month training covered car maintenance, welding and fitting, perfumery as well as leatherware. It was implemented in partnership with Geneina Technical School.

After the graduation ceremony, each of the participants received a toolkit and materials to get them started in putting their skills to work.

The vocational training forms part of reintegration assistance provided through the EU-IOM Joint Initiative, which has supported the voluntary return of over 2,700 stranded Sudanese migrants since 2017.

Among those who attended car maintenance training is Rawya Hussien, who said proudly: “Being the only women in the car maintenance training was my message to the community that women are capable of contributing to the community equally.”

The 23-year-old added: “During the training, we learned how to check car engines, and fix a variety of issues. Now I’m a qualified mechanic and well-known within the community.”

Fatima Omer, another trainee, said she has started producing perfumes and selling them to her neighbours. "After graduation I received the tools I needed and some materials. Now I'm working to be better known in the neighbourhood.”

The head of the Geneina Technical School, Salah Mohammed praised the partnership with the EU-IOM Joint Initiative, saying: “We celebrated the graduation of the 71 youth who will contribute to the development of the local market and we can proudly say we have well-qualified youth within our community.”

Some of those who completed the training have already secured opportunities they would otherwise not have had.

"I work in the workshop at Geneina Technical School with another colleague who attended the training,” said Muatasim Abdalla Idriss who specialised in car maintenance. “The workshop was a good opportunity to be a skilled worker which in turn allowed me to earn an income.”

Alia Hijri, the coordinator of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative in Sudan, said: “The vocational trainings allowed young people to enhance their skills. We are targeting the migrant returnee communities so that they can improve their economic situation.”

About the EU-IOM Joint Initiative

Launched in December 2016 and funded by the European Union (EU) Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the programme brings together 26 African countries of the Sahel and Lake Chad region, the Horn of Africa, and North Africa, the EU and IOM 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 Yasir Elbakri at IOM Sudan, Tel: +249 92 241 1339, email: yelbakri@iom.int; or the IOM Regional Office in Nairobi: Julia Hartlieb, Tel: +254 734 988 846, email: jhartlieb@iom.int and Wilson Johwa, Tel:  +254 20 4221 112, email: wjohwa@iom.int