Mitigating Effects of Migration
The venue for a meeting of the Business Advisory Board (BAB) of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) at Cairo was an inspired choice. Thanks to Shafik Gabr, indefatigable Chairman of ARTOC, Egypt, the BAB Meeting was held in the Egyptian capital a few days before the Middle East Regional meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Sharm El Sheikh, a resort at the southern-most tip of the Sinai Desert. No ordinary businessman, Shafik Gabr is a world player and a pro-active one at that, someone who has put Egypt on the economic map by organizing the impressive WEF at Sharm El Sheikh. I wonder if either the Egyptian Government or the business community appreciates the full value of the force-multiplication of their potential by Shafik’s individual efforts.
An urbane and humane person, Shafik arranged due recognition for the BAB Meeting by having Suzanne Mubarak, wife of President Hosni Mobarak of Egypt, as the Chief Guest. Forgive me for being skeptical about First (and sometimes unofficial Second and Third and even Fourth) ladies, the pleasant surprise was Suzanne Mubarak’s forceful commitment to stop human trafficking particularly in women and children. As the First Lady of Egypt she is just not a decorative figurehead mouthpiece, meant only to cut ribbons and kiss babies. Here was a person who is not only genuinely committed to what she was engaging in, a driving force behind the campaign all over the world. In conduct and demeanour she bears striking similarity to our Sehba Musharraf, a grateful First Lady who gets on with things necessary without any great pomp and fanfare and without the arrogance one associates with hierarchy. The Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement (TSMWIPM) has already done outstanding work, coalescing universal support for her effort. I had the privilege of getting an excellent briefing from one of the members of TSMWIPM, Ms Anissa Essam Hassouna, professionally a banker but also the treasurer of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, as to the nature and extent of the work done by the movement. The immense synergy with IOM is very much visible.
As much as the public hears about UNHCR, FAO, UNESCO, UNICEF, etc are doing one does not hear must about the IOM, Geneva. IOM’s work not only match that of others, it sometimes far exceeds their efforts, IOM lacks the media attention others get. Established in 1951, for nearly five decades it performed its role in a virtual cloak of silence, targetting performance over recognition. Brunson McKinley, the Director General since 1998, says that he and the person first responsible for “Public Relations” joined the organization on the same day, forty seven years after the inception of IOM. A former US bureaucrat, Brunson McKinley has brought fresh, innovative ideas to re-form IOM and to give it credibility to suit the present environment. He has nurtured IOM in a calm but forceful manner to what it stands for today, a champion for migrants everywhere.
According to its own handbook, IOM today is a pro-active responsive and result-oriented intergovernmental organization dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration worldwide by serving that policy and program needs of governments and migrants. Not a part of the United Nations (UN), IOM maintains close ties with the UN and has established partnerships with a wide range of international governmental and non-governmental organizations worldwide”, unquote.
Among IOM’s objection and activities, viz (1) promote good practice and use new technologies to facilitate legal migration and present irregular ones (2) help people settling abroad, permanently or temporarily (3) train government officials in migration management (4) support policy dialogue among key international stakeholders (5) promote awareness of international migration law and assist governments in development of migration legislation (6) advocate integration of migration in development planning and programs (7) encourage links with diasporas, including through out-of-country voting, knowledge and skills transfer programs, temporary and virtual returns, and remittance facilities (8) initiate mass information programs (9) implement and advise on medical and public health programs (10) assist victims of human trafficking (11) carry out post-emergency relief, rehabilitation and claims programs and (12) conduct applied research.
IOM, together with its partners in the international community, acts to, viz (1) uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants (2) encourage social and economic development through migration (3) assist in meeting the growing operational challenges of migration management and (4) advance the understanding of migration issues. The IOM has 116 member states, with 21 other states holding “observer status” alongwith many international and non-governmental organizations. Funding over 1400 active programes and more than 5000 staff members serving over 280 field offices in more than a hundred countries, IOM’s budget runs to approximately US$ 1.1 billion. For Pakistan, other than the country main office at Islamabad, there are 5 other offices, in Pakistan, all in the earthquake affected areas. Not many people within the country know about IOM’s great effort to alleviate the sufferings of the Oct 8 earthquake affectees. Two Islamabad staffers have been internationally recognized.
Brunson McKinley says, “the IOM has well learnt the lesson that humanitarian organizations soon grow top-heavy with the passage of time. Humanitarian action must grow from the ground up, we must ensure our senior people have direct contact with the suffering they are meant to retire, only by close contact with the people we can discover their needs and seek to address them directly so that we can be sure we are working for them and not for ourselves. Humanitarian institutions should be judged by their ability to bring sufferers and succourers together effectively. In sum, my vision of humanitarian action in the new century is not a new idea, but a return to a very old one. Our challenge is to respond quickly to real needs as we find them and wherever we find them, to recruit, motivate and reward the most enthusiastic and dedicated field workers, to encourage them to roll up their sleeves and reach out with their hands, and never to look away from the suffering and the opportunities for service to which the humanitarian impulse responds”, unquote.
IOM has suggested that in the forthcoming UN High Level Dialogue (HLD) on International Migration and Development (IMD) to be held in New York on 14-15 Sep, be called the IMD Initiative (IMDI). The mechanism thereof would address, viz (1) information enhancement on labour market treads, force profiles and migration trends at global, regional and national levels by databases and analytical work as well as create a credible information source for legislation, regulations and administrative requirements (2) cost effective by producing resources of private sector and international donor community for market analysis, skill development and human resource planning for the future global economy (3) capacity building by facilitating international recruitment and migrants’ training program (4) give the private sector a voice (5) contribute to development by enabling private sector to contribute to the “Initiative Trust Fund” and (6) quality labels for enterprises adhering to standards/criteria for ethnical recruitment and for treatment of migrant workers.
During Brunson McKinley’s tenure starting in 1998 till date, the budget has increased four times from US$ 42.2 million to presently more than US$ 1 billion, field locations have increased from 119 nearly, active projects from 686 to 1400, while the operational staff has increased from 1100 in 1998 to more than 5400 presently. IOM’s administration represents only 5% of total costs, the lowest of all international organizations. As the Special Advisor to the DG, Ms Anne-Marie Buschman-Petit, a bundle of coiled energy in her own right put it, the aim is to get the maximum out of the minimum. And what maximum can there be than IOM’s salutary mission for millions affected migrants, not only mitigating their present suffering but also giving them hope for the future.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment