IOM in Kenya
In 1985, Kenya was the first country in Africa to join IOM as a Member State. Nairobi hosts the IOM Kenya Country Office (KCO) and the IOM Regional Office (RO) covering ten countries in the East and Horn of Africa region (Tanzania, Burundi, Ruanda, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya). Migration flows affecting Kenya can be broadly categorized as follows:
- Traditional internal and cross-border migration flows linked to nomadism and pastoralism, including those induced by climate change and periodic droughts;
- Forced migration flows due to man-made and natural disasters, resulting in internal (IDPs) and cross-border displacement (refugees);
- Irregular migration flows due to poverty and lack of livelihood option, including human trafficking and smuggling;
- Mixed migration flows along key migration routes used by various groups of migrants including economic migrants, victims of trafficking and smuggling, asylum seekers and others.
IOM currently implements the following Programmes in Kenya:
For Kenya:
- Immigration and Border Management (IBM) Programme
- Programme for Human Security and Stabilization (PHSS)
- Counter Trafficking (CT) Programme
- Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) Programme
- Building Trust between Communities & Security Forces/Community Policing (CP) Programme
- Migration Health Assistance (MHA) for Migrants & Communities
- Mental Health & Psychosocial Services (MHPSS)
- Migration, Environment & Climate Change: Evidence for Policy (MECLEP)
- ACP-EU Migration Project
For the East Africa/Horn of Africa Region and beyond:
- Better Migration Management Programme (BMM)
- Mixed Migration (MM) Programme
- Partnership on Health & Mobility in East & Southern Africa (PHAMESA)
- Labour Migration & Human Development (LHD) Programme
For Africa & Resettlement Countries:
IOM Kenya serves as a refugee resettlement hub in Africa providing coordination and assistance for resettlement in Sub-Saharan Africa. The IOM office in Nairobi functions as interface between IOM field missions and resettlement partners including Governments in receiving countries and UNHCR.
For more information on IOM’s activities in the country, visit the IOM Kenya website at kenya.iom.int.
For more information on IOM’s activities in the region, visit the website of the IOM Regional Office for East and Horn of Africa at ronairobi.iom.int.
Last updated:
Main text: May 2017
Facts and figures: August 2014
