Returnee Reintegration in Mali: IOM Builds Capacity of State and Non-State Actors

Bamako – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) initiated on 7 and 8 March 2022 in Bamako, a capacity-building workshop for international, national, and local actors on migrant reintegration. The exchanges enabled several representatives of state and non-state bodies to familiarize themselves with IOM’s methodology in this area.

The workshop sessions were based on the reintegration training curriculum developed by IOM with financial support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The workshop was funded by the European Union through the EU-IOM Knowledge Management Hub.

In its mandate, IOM addresses migrant reintegration through an integrated approach, a know-how that the Organization has decided to share with its partners in Mali.

“Reintegration efforts in Mali have been mainly focused on support at the individual level. This workshop therefore aimed to highlight IOM’s integrated approach, with a particular focus on the community level,” said Pascal Reyntjens, IOM Chief of Mission in Mali.

In the field, IOM supports the efforts of the Government of Mali in promoting returnees’ sustainable reintegration. In close cooperation with state and non-state actors, the Organization provides assistance to returnees to help them restart their lives in their country of origin. This assistance includes the provision of vocational skills training, capacity building sessions on basic management and financing of income-generating activities through the provision of kits and equipment.

This support benefits both migrants and their communities, with impacts on local development and some irregular migration drivers. To ensure the sustainability of its reintegration interventions for returnees, IOM works with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local authorities in the implementation of reintegration projects, whose contribution is essential to the success of the process.

Based on discussions held at the Bamako workshop, the proposal for the constitution of a national network between different actors and stakeholders on reintegration issues will receive further technical support from IOM. Between 2017 and 2021, more than 18,600 Malian returnees out of the 25,600 registered have already benefited from reintegration assistance under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in Africa, supported by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund.

For more information, please contact the IOM Mali Media and Communications Unit, Tel.: +223 90 50 00 06, Email: allmalimediacom@iom.int