GENEVA – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday launched an appeal in which it is seeking up to USD 7.9 billion to support its operations and help create a system that realizes migration’s promise as a force for good throughout the world.
The IOM’s ever Global Annual Appeal for 2024 seeks funding to save lives and protect people on the move, drive solutions to displacement and facilitate safe pathways for regular migration – the key aspirations of IOM’s new five-year Global Strategic Plan.
“Irregular and forced migration have reached unprecedented levels and the challenges we face are increasingly complex,” IOM’s Director General Amy Pope said in Geneva.
“The evidence is overwhelming that migration, when well-managed, is a major contributor to global prosperity and progress. We are at a critical moment in time, and we have designed this Appeal to help deliver on that promise. We can and must do better,” she added.
According to Pope, the funding, would allow the agency serve almost 140 million people, including internally displaced people and local communities that host them.
She further said the funding would also allow for an expansion of the migration agency’s development work, which will help prevent further displacement.
“Getting the job done requires greater investment from governments, the private sector, individual donors and other partners,” stressed Pope.
She added, “This funding will address the large and widening gap between what we have, and what we need in order to do the job right. For this reason, we are for the first time proactively approaching all partners to fund this vital appeal.”
According to IOM, limited regular migration pathways and protection leave people vulnerable to violence, exploitation as well as danger.
Meanwhile, the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project shows at least 60,000 people died or disappeared on perilous journeys over the last nine years. The consequences of underfunded, piecemeal assistance come at a greater cost, not just in terms of money but in greater danger to migrants through irregular migration, trafficking and smuggling.
