Malawi

IOM has been active  in Malawi  since when it set up office in 2014 following the admission  of  Malawi as an IOM Member  State   at the IOM Member States Council in November 2013. Since then, it has contributed to  the  Government  of  Malawi's  (GoM) efforts to manage migration through a wide variety of projects and programmes. IOM's inaugural project was to assist the government of Malawi to develop the first ever Migration profile for Malawi in 2014. In February  2018,  IOM  signed  the Cooperation Agreement with the Government  of  Malawi that formalized  its presence  in the  country through  recognition  as one of the Resident UN Agencies.

In Malawi, the mission has a wide range of activities, including but not limited to Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR), refugee resettlement, migration and health, combating Trafficking in Persons (TiP)  and human  smuggling, immigration and border management, safe migration, travel services for migrants, migration and development, emergency assistance and capacity-building on all relevant migration issues. The IOM country office is located in the Capital Lilongwe. IOM has always and continues to work within the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) whose strategic areas derive from the National Development Plan (NDP) dubbed the Malawi Growth and Development  Strategy Ill, a government  framework  for  implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Migration initiatives

In 2020, the IOM Mission in Malawi will strengthen and scale up its support to the Government in its development and humanitarian priorities as it contributes to the Government’s trajectory of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Activities for 2020 will specifically include the following:

• Enhance the capacity of the Government on migration management through the development of a national migration policy and labour migration policy in line with the global, continental and regional policy frameworks on migration and development.
• Support the Government to improve sexual reproductive health and rights and HIV services.
• Support the Government in strengthening migration management through the expansion of the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS).
• Support the Government to strengthen its capacities and engagement with regional counterparts such as Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia through cross-border collaboration forums to comprehensively address cross-border migration management and its related challenges.
• Provide durable solutions to vulnerable migrant groups through the implementation of AVRR activities.
• Facilitate safe and dignified return and readmission as well as reception of migrants and sustainable community-based reintegration.
• Support the Government in implementing Malawian diaspora mapping and profiling project in three pilot countries – South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America.
• Support the Government in establishing a comprehensive system to collect and disseminate data on IDPs in Malawi through DTM system.

Contact information

International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Off Presidential Road
Area 14, n°156
Lilongwe
Malawi

Email: IOMLilongwe@iom.int