International Organization for Migration (IOM)
IOM IN Brief
Established in 1951, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
With 126 member states, a further 16 states holding observer status and offices in over 100 countries, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.
IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.
The IOM Constitution recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement.
IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management: Migration and development, Facilitating migration, Regulating migration, Forced migration.
IOM activities that cut across these areas include the promotion of international migration law, policy debate and guidance, protection of migrants' rights, migration health and the gender dimension of migration.
IOM in Lebanon
Before July 2006 IOM presence in Lebanon was limited to movements’ management both for resettlement and return movements of Iraqis living in Lebanon back to their home country, in addition to some small projects in coordination with some NGOs.
Following the outbreak of the July 2006 war, IOM assisted with the voluntary return of third-country nationals. Under this project, IOM was able to evacuate 13,360 migrant workers back to their countries of origin.
IOM’s Role in the Resettlement Process
• Coordination with all the concerned parties
• Airport assistance upon departure, transit and arrival to country of destination;
• For passengers traveling to Australia, IOM handles the Pre Departure Medical Screening and Cultural Orientation, as well as Cultural Orientation for passengers traveling to Canada.
IOM in Lebanon-Projects and Activities
Livelihood Assistance Projects
IOM distributed several in-kind grants and provided asset replacement for more than 446 direct beneficiaries in Southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
The in-kind grants that were distributed included: casting machines, fishing tools, bread making machines, tire repairing tools, sewing machines, painting kits, sculpture tools, equipment for straw basket making, tractors and equipment for the soap factory in Nabha.
IOM provided basic training and material inputs for the start up expansion of small business in traditional and non-traditional trades, focusing on agriculture, food production, handicrafts and services: beekeeping, hair dressing, embroidery, soap making…) and facilitated the exposure of local products at national trade fairs.
Capacity Building in Emergency Project Management
IOM carried out targeted Capacity Building workshops to largely non-governmental and governmental authorities (33 project managers), focusing on project management in post-emergency settings.
Shelter Rehabilitation Project
IOM provided transitional shelter in the form of pre-fabricated houses to 30 families identified amongst the most vulnerable and poorest families affected by the July war destruction of 340 houses in Baalbeck.
IOM also successfully rehabilitated the houses of 15 vulnerable families in the village of Kleile (Tyre Caza / South Governorate).
Health Rehabilitation Projects
IOM equipped the local dispensary of Iaat (Southern Lebanon) with basic medical equipments of which 14,000 beneficiaries are expected to profit; as well as 6 villages in the Baalbeck Hermel Governorate: Hadath Baalbeck (400 beneficiaries/month), Tamnine El Tahta (600 beneficiaries/month), Chmestar (2000 beneficiaries/month), Taraya (150 beneficiaries/month), Hermel (400 beneficiaries/month) and Al Kasr (100 beneficiaries/month) and Southern Lebanon: Aytaroun (150 beneficiaries/month), Al Nabatiyeh (200 beneficiaries/month) and Sarafand (100 beneficiaries/month).
IOM equipped the local clinic In El Ain (Baalbeck Hermel Caza / Bekaa Governorate) with an Echograghy machine, ophthalmology tools and an electrocardiograph (ECG). Around 600 beneficiaries will benefit per month from the provided services.
IOM provided the municipality in Baalbeck Hermel Caza (a very poor district in northern Bekaa) with a Mobile Clinic which consists of a caravan equipped with the basic medical tools which will allow providing medical services to approximately 10,000 people in 33 remote villages. The clinic will be operated by the Islamic Health Society.
IOM also took the charge to equip the Ragheb Harb dispensary in Hermel (Baalbeck Hermel Caza/ Bekaa Governorate) with physiotherapy tools, an Echograghy machine, an audiometer, a sterilizer as well as a refrigerator for vaccines’ storage. About 1200 beneficiaries from Hermel will benefit from the expanded services of the primary physical therapy treatment unit in Ragheb Harb dispensary (Baalbeck Hermel Caza/ Bekaa Governorate).
Water and Sanitation Projects
IOM provided 16 families in El Kleile village in South Lebanon with a generator for agriculture purpose.
IOM provided 918 families from 4 villages in Southern Lebanon with 3500 L distribution ramps, Emergency drinking water kits, U cans and Neroxit 02 filters.
IOM purchased, delivered and installed a water pump (50hp), electricity generator (100 kVA), water tank (20,000 l capacity) and electricity panel in the Municipality of Kfer Tibnit (Nabatiyeh Caza / Nabatiyeh Governorate). Families in the village have now access to potable water and water for agricultural irrigation. This project directly benefits 400 villagers in meeting their daily need for water, in addition to securing agriculture as their primary source of income.
IOM provided electricity generator (250kVA) and the necessary equipment for the water pump in the village of Ansariyeh (Tyre Caza / South Governorate). This enhanced access to water for around 4,500 beneficiaries.
IOM successfully installed a water processing station and three water tanks in the village of Hosh Tal Safieh (Baalbeck Hermel Caza / Bekaa Governorate), providing filtered water to approximately 2,400 beneficiaries.
In El Yammouneh (Bekaa Valley), IOM provided all the necessary materials (water pipes and connections) for the set up of a water supply network in the new part of the village; Thirty one houses have now access to potable water as a result of this project.
IOM provided an automatic voltage stabilizer (200 A) to the village of El Fekha (Bekaa Valley) to regulate the electricity power of the water pump, which allowed an enhanced access to water for at least 5000 inhabitants.
Distribution of NFI
In response to the most urgent needs of conflict-affected populations in Lebanon, IOM distributed Emergency Relief Items to 3057 families in Southern Lebanon and Nabatiyeh: Gas cookers for 166 families, Gas cylinder for 230 families, hygiene kits for 2300 families, tents for 27 families, U cans for 300 families, Pillow tanks 10,000 L for 34 families.
Moreover, 1,100 families benefited from winterization items and 440 families from small electricity generators (approximately 2,700 beneficiaries) distributed by IOM to vulnerable people in isolated villages in the South and in the Bekaa Valley.
IOM provided school uniforms, gym kits and sports jerseys to 2311 students in public schools in Baalbeck/Hermel Caza; as well as equipments to 21 public schools covering 3087 students.
Based on the preliminary results of the assessment IOM carried out to address the socio-economic needs of people in post-conflict settings (See recent activities below), IOM distributed winterization items and generators to 190 Lebanese families in Northern Lebanon (Akkar, Danniyeh and Tripoli), 140 Palestinian and 105 Iraqi families in the Bekaa Valley and Southern Lebanon.
Recreation and Counseling Centre for Families DARI in Baalbeck
In close cooperation with the Municipality of Baalbeck, the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, UNICEF and APEG (Association pour la Protection des Enfants de la Guerre) and CATHARSIS (Lebanese Association for Drama Therapy), IOM established a Recreation and Counseling Centre for Families (DARI) in Baalbeck. The centre is run by a group of 6 highly motivated and qualified young professionals from Baalbeck. The Centre aimed at providing the community and its individuals with a place where they can restore their role, use and strengthen their abilities, offer services to their community and receive qualified counseling, if needed. Activities are opened to all population, with specific timeframes and programs dedicated to children, adolescents, youth, women, elderly and whole families.
A total of 2590 persons benefited from the activities in the centre, out of which 1150 persons more than once. A range of 42 recreational, creative, psychosocial, educational and awareness activities are implemented in the centre.
Executive Masters Program in Psycho-Social Animation in War-torn Societies
In collaboration with the Lebanese University, the Ministry of Social Affairs and UNICEF, IOM organized a one-year executive professional Master Program in Psychosocial Animation in War Torn Societies addressed to 27 national professionals currently involved in the assistance to the war affected populations and 4 other professionals from the Middle East region.
International and Lebanese experts have been teaching the course modules to offer a diverse overview of the most relevant psychosocial topics. The program took place between September 2007 and April 2008.
Twenty-four national NGOs and approximately 6,000 individuals will be benefiting from the impact of this module.
Psychosocial Experts Team
IOM has recently launched the Psychosocial Experts team project in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Psychosocial Expert Team, attached to the Ministry of Social Affairs but with inter-ministerial functions, will be constituted of 6 professionals working in the field of psychosocial assistance, selected from the first generation of graduates of the Executive Professional Masters in “Psychosocial Animation in War Torn Societies” that was implemented by IOM in collaboration with the Lebanese University from September 2007 till April 2008. The Psychosocial Expert Team will design action plan for psychological intervention in emergencies, train decentralized professionals and institutions in the matter, act as a psychological response team in identified emergencies and create a national database for referral.
Current Activities
• In the context of the IOM Multi-Action Program for Prevention and Assistance to Iraqi Victims of Trafficking, IOM organized a workshop for NGOs from Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon on “Networking and Cooperation in providing Direct Assistance to Victims of Trafficking” for the period of two days (27th and 28th of November, 2008) in Beirut;
• In order to address the socio-economic needs of people in post-conflict settings, IOM is carrying out the assessment “Assistance to Affected Populations, Civil Society and the Government in Addressing Post-Crisis Migration Challenges in Lebanon”;
The assessment covered 2,000 Lebanese households (around 10,000 individuals) in three districts in Northern Lebanon: Akkar, Danniyeh/Menyeh and Tripoli (and its surroundings), based on a selection of representative schools in the three sectors chosen according to the educational sector (public, private), the communalities and the socio-economic level; 1,000 Palestinian households chosen from Wavel camp (Bekaa Valley), Borj El Chemaly, El Bass and Rachidiyeh camps in Southern Lebanon; and 1,000 Iraqi families from the Bekaa Valley and Southern Lebanon as well.
The assessment mainly aimed at: 1) gauging the perception of households on the needs of their communities in terms of basic socio-economic needs (both host and refugees communities), 2) listing the barriers and constraints to access services in the area, 3) assessing the cost of alternatives, 4) obtaining rates of basic socio-economic indicators and 4) assessing the need and possibility of implementing development projects in remote peripheral communities in Lebanon.
• IOM is currently implementing the “Support to the Establishment and Functioning of the Lebanese Parliament for Youth” project in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. The overall objective of this project is to promote the ongoing post-conflict recovery process in Lebanon by supporting the establishment, functioning and sustainability of a Lebanese National Youth Parliament (LNYP) consisting of 64 members of youth aged between 15 and 17.
The main purposes of the LNYP will be to stimulate and initiate the active participation of youth in democratic decision-making; to associate youth to local, national and especially youth-related issues; to spread awareness about neglected issues at the local and national levels, especially among young peers; to help youth acquire leadership, negotiation and cooperation skills; to show youth that they can make a difference in their communities, with change being possible and as an alternative to departure from democratic participation; to deconstruct assumptions, prejudices and negative attitudes about different social groups; and to positively impact national debate to the extent possible.
Research Publications
• Assessment on Psychosocial Needs of Iraqis Displaced in Jordan and Lebanon, February 2008
• IOM Middle East Assessment Tools: Psychosocial Needs Assessment in Displacement and Emergency Situations, April 2008
For more information about IOM, Beirut:
Mr. Othman Belbeisi
IOM, Officer in Charge
Hamra, Gefinor Center, Bloc B
Tel: 961 1 752108 / 752 118
Fax: 961 1 752108
E-mail: obelbeisi@iom.int and iombeirut@iom.int
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