IOM Calls For Commitment To Safe, Orderly Migration.
By Ferdinand Olise
The Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration, IOM, DImanche Sharon, has emphasised the importance of safe, orderly, responsible migration.
Ms Sharon who stated this in Abuja on Thursday, May 15, 2025, while speaking on issues around migration and how best it can be dignified, said IOM’s role is to support Nigerian government, and ECOWAS member states to benefit from the gains of responsible, and dignified migration.
She highlighted the positive sides of migration in which she said that Africans in Diaspora contribute meaningfully to their individual countries. She noted that, IOM leverages on safe migration for development, good governance, and policies.
“Our work mainly is to support the efforts of the Government of Nigeria, to ensure that migration is done in a safe, orderly, and responsible manner. We have our Global Compact on Migration, that is rooted in the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG; Goal 10.
Beyond the Global Policies, we also have Global Strategic Priorities hinged on three (3) pillars which are mainly on saving lives and protecting people who are on the move, Driving solution to displacement, and Safe pathway for migration”.
The IOM Chief further highlighted some factors leading to displacement, ranging from crisis, climate change, flooding, among others .She said IOM is collaborating with the government to provide assistance to displaced and vulnerable persons.
According to her, facilitating regular pathways for Migration is one of their key priorities to ensure that everyone benefits from migration.
On facilitating visa governance she stressed the importance of puting basic amenities in place, so that when people choose to migrate to other countries , they are not leaving because they are desperate, but as an informed choice they made.
“The governance part is also very critical where we look at the different policies that we put in place. We recently worked on the National Migration Policy for Nigeria, which was presented for adoption. That is very comprehensive and looks into facilitating pathways for regular migration.”,She added
She believed that, with concerted efforts and holistic collaborations, especially, going down to the grassroots level, and letting vulnerable young population know the available opportunities, and how best to go about it, migration will be very beneficial.
