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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Senior Reporter

The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) has provided funding to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Zimbabwe to strengthen protection services and post-arrival assistance to migrants.

The funding from ECHO will be provided through the Mobility Monitoring and Border Coordination project to support 33 000 migrant returnees and mobile populations over a period of 12 months.

Through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) tools, IOM has been actively working with national and local authorities in Southern Africa to gain a better understanding of population movements.

The organisation is expected to conduct data collection activities to identify and prioritise areas with limited capacities for emergency preparedness and response and produce regular updates, national flow monitoring monthly datasets, maps, and dashboards to be disseminated to Government, CSOs, and the humanitarian /development community.

The information collected will culminate in the production of a Migration Profile for Zimbabwe, an up to date repository of migration information compiled in collaboration with the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (ZIMSTAT).

IOM Zimbabwe Chief of Mission Mario Lito Malanca emphasised the importance of coordination between national and local authorities as well as with humanitarian development partners in this project.

“It is important to continue to support member states in mapping and studying how migration affects development and vice versa at the community level to mainstream migration into community development through supporting the development of local migration profiles,” he said.