UN migration agency seeks $7.9 billion to help people on the move
ABC News
The U.N.’s migration agency is launching its first “global appeal,” seeking $7.9 billion to help people on the move and ensure smoother pathways to migration
GENEVA -- The U.N.'s migration agency is launching its first “global appeal,” seeking $7.9 billion to help people on the move and ensure smoother pathways to migration, at a time when the fallout from climate change, conflict and both economic distress and opportunities has caused millions to leave their homes.
The annual appeal from the International Organization for Migration puts the Geneva-based agency more in the hunt for aid funds, along with other U.N. agencies and humanitarian groups, at a time when many top donor governments face tight budgets or are reducing aid outlays.
The U.N. humanitarian aid chief, Martin Griffiths, last month decried a “ severe and ominous funding crisis ” and said the overall $57 billion appeal from his U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs last year was only about one-third funded, making it the worst funding shortfall in years. His agency is seeking $46 billion this year.
IOM says it hopes funding for its appeal will come from individual and private-sector donors in addition to governments.
It's part of a five-year strategic plan under IOM's new director-general, Amy Pope, and would benefit 140 million people — both migrants and the communities that take them in.
