Regional Offices

The Regional Offices oversee, plan, coordinate and support IOM activities within the region. Regional Offices are responsible for project review and endorsement and provide technical support to Country Offices, particularly in the area of project development. A brief description of the eight Regional Offices is outlined below.

Bangkok, Thailand. Provides support to IOM offices in Asia and the Pacific; plans and coordinates IOM activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems. The Office works closely with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and other regional multilateral bodies such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the Asian Development Bank and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; and provides programme support for regional initiatives, including the Colombo Process, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, the Asia-Pacific Consultations on Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants, and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

Brussels, Belgium. Provides support to IOM offices within the European Economic Area; maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; coordinates IOM approaches to policies and activities in relation to the European Union (EU); coordinates and advises the Organization and its offices worldwide on EU policies, programming and funding; coordinates IOM's relations and liaison with EU institutions, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the World Customs Organization and other multilateral bodies with headquarters in the region; and liaises with regional bodies.

Vienna, Austria. Provides support to IOM offices in South-Eastern Europe, including Turkey, Eastern Europe and Central Asia as well as Israel; plans and coordinates IOM activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; and maintains liaison with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX), the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative, the Regional Cooperation Council, the Söderköping Process, the Budapest Group, and the Prague Process.

Cairo, Egypt. Provides support to IOM offices in the Middle East and North Africa; plans and coordinates activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region such as the League of Arab States, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and the Arab Labor Organization; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; and supports regional dialogue processes such as the Abu Dhabi Dialogue.

Dakar, Senegal. Provides support to IOM offices in West and Central Africa; plans and coordinates activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; liaises with the Economic Community of West Africa States and the Economic Community of Central Africa States; and promotes and supports regional dialogue processes such as the Migration Dialogue for West Africa.

Pretoria, South Africa. Provides support to IOM offices in the Southern African Development Community Member States, East Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Comoros and the Seychelles; plans and coordinates activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; promotes the RCPs for Southern and East African States; serves as a link between migration and development and the Secretariats of the Pan-African Parliament and the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development, and works with the Secretariats of the Southern African Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa; and helps the East African Community and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development to enhance regional cooperation and dialogue on migration.

Buenos Aires, Argentina. Provides support to IOM offices in South America; plans and coordinates activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; acts as the Technical Secretariat for the South American Conference on Migration; works with and provides technical support to subregional integration processes like the Andean Community and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR); interacts with regional bodies like the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the MERCOSUR Parliament (PARLASUR); and liaises with multilateral institutions based in the region like the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre, and the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System.

San José, Costa Rica. Provides support to IOM offices in Central America, North America and the Caribbean; plans and coordinates strategies and activities within the region and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; works with the Regional Conference on Migration and other relevant subregional and regional processes such as the Central American Integration System, the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration, the Central American Commission of Migration Directors, and the Special Inter- Parliamentary Commission on Migration of the Forum of Presidents of Parliaments of Central America and the Caribbean; and liaises with multilateral agencies based within the region, such as the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Pan American Health Organization.