GEORGIA - Assisting Vulnerable Displaced Families, Calling for Funds - IOM staff in Tbilisi continue to provide humanitarian assistance to newly displaced vulnerable families who are currently sheltering in ad hoc collective centres set up in public schools and nurseries, some of them with limited space and inadequate facilities.
Family, child and baby kits containing essential items such as mattresses, gas cookers, bed sheets, towels, soap, tooth paste, washing powder and basin, toilet paper, diapers and baby food have been distributed to some 500 conflict-affected individuals who have fled the town of Gori and rural areas around Tskhinvali in South Ossetia.
"The beneficiaries were identified as being particularly vulnerable because they fled their homes in with just the clothes on their back," says IOM's Sophie Kharashvili. "The needs of the newly displaced are considerable and will probably remain important as many say their homes have been severely damaged or destroyed."
Working with Georgian Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation and UN partners, IOM has deployed 20 staff in Tbilisi, Kutasi and in the Black sea port of Batumi to support data collection and provide rapid humanitarian assistance. IOM has also mobilized local volunteers to help in the distribution of non-food assistance to those most in need.
"Prompt funding is essential if IOM is to continue the speedy procurement and delivery of relief items to the most affected displaced families and individuals who are currently scattered in hundreds of small collective centers," says IOM's Kharashvili. "For the time being, our emergency response has made best used of limited internal funding but this is rapidly running out."
As part of this week's UN Flash Appeal, IOM requires an initial US$ 1, 9 million to provide emergency logistical support, shelter and non-food assistance over the next six months to tens of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Tbilisi and in other parts of Georgia.
Based on the number of people registered by the Georgian authorities, some 128,700 people have been displaced in Georgia during the recent conflict, including some 81,000 in Tbilisi. This figure does not include the estimated 30,000 people believed to have sought refuge in North Ossetia, Russian Federation.
For more information, please contact Khatuna Didbaridze at IOM Georgia, Tel: + 995 32 25 22 16; Email: kdidbaridze@iom.ge
THE NETHERLANDS-Temporary Return of Qualified Migrants Wins New Backing - An IOM programme to help migrant diasporas contribute to the reconstruction and development in several post-war countries in Africa, Europe and South Asia has received new funding from the Dutch government.
The 2, 5 million euro, three-year programme aims to facilitate the temporary return of qualified nationals living in the Netherlands to Afghanistan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Georgia.
It builds on a successful two- year pilot project, which has helped organize 160 temporary assignments, amongst others in fields of heath, education, agriculture and technical assistance to governments to Sudan (39), Afghanistan (37), Bosnia Herzegovina (30), Sierra Leone (26), Serbia (20) and Kosovo (8).
"The Netherlands is keen to support the transfer of skills from diasporas to help countries of origin, especially those emerging from conflict," says Joost van der Aalst, Chief of Mission of IOM The Netherlands. "Migrants who take part in our programmes bring new ideas, skills and know-how and act as catalysts for longer term change."
As well as coordinating the temporary return of qualified migrants with IOM missions and government partners in target countries, IOM The Hague will also match needs with skills available among the diasporas in The Netherlands.
IOM offices in The Hague and Accra are also currently working with the Ghanaian Ministry of Health to encourage Ghanaians and other African health professionals employed in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany to take up temporary employment in Ghanaian health institutions.
For more information, please contact Marian Lenshoek at IOM The Hague; Tel + 31.70.3181542 or
+ 31.6.51576013; Email mlenshoek@iom.int
EGYPT - Strengthening Understanding of International Migration Law - A three-day training on international migration law, organized by IOM in coordination with the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), will take place in Cairo from 26 to 28 August.
The course, which will take place at the NCHR, will provide participants with an overview of international migration law and instruments and discuss relevant national legislation. In this framework, labour migration, irregular migration and human trafficking will be addressed.
It aims to further understanding of the migration context in Egypt as well as awareness of the international and domestic legal instruments available to protect the rights of migrants, in particular migrant workers and irregular migrants.
IOM experts will facilitate the training that will be attended by some 45 participants from the National Council for Human Rights as well as by government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of International Cooperation. Representatives from the League of Arab States, the European Union, the Institute for Diplomatic Studies and members from 3 Egyptian NGOs will also take part in the workshop.
For further information please contact Fiona El Assiuty at IOM Cairo, Tel: +20 227 3508 79, Email: felassiuty@iom.int
