Tuesday 21 October 2003

Press Briefing Notes
Tuesday 21 October 2003
Spokesperson: Jean-Philippe Chauzy

LIBERIA - Evacuation of Ivorian Nationals
MOROCCO - Second Ministerial Meeting on Migration in the Western Mediterranean
CROATIA - Research and Capacity Building on HIV/AIDS and Migrant Workers
ETHIOPIA - Promoting Millennium Development Goals


LIBERIA-Evacuation of Ivorian Nationals - This morning, a second group of 12 young Ivorian nationals will be airlifted from the
Liberian capital Monrovia. All had fled western Côte d'Ivoire a year ago to find refuge in neighbouring Liberia before being registered by IOM and Ivorian embassy staff in Monrovia.

The group will be taken to Roberts International Airport where they will board a regular Weasua charter flight bound for the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan. An IOM medical escort will accompany the returnees on their journey home.

Prior to their departure, IOM medical staff in Monrovia has conducted pre-embarkation fitness for travel checks, and provided yellow fever vaccination and treatment for minor ailments.

On arrival, they will be met by IOM officials and taken to a government-run transit centre in the district of Adjame, north of Abidjan.

A first group of 57 Ivorian nationals, who had fled the strife-ridden regions of Danane and Tabou last November to find refuge in Monrovia, was evacuated by IOM on 12 October.

The operation is carried out at the request of the Ivorian authorities and in co-ordination with the Liberian authorities, UNHCR, WHO and UNICEF.

For more information, please contact Jacques Seurt, IOM Abidjan, Tel. +225.22.52.50.52.

MOROCCO-Second Ministerial Meeting on Migration in the Western Mediterranean- Ministers and representatives of member Governments of the Western Mediterranean Dialogue on Migration, also known as the "5+5" Dialogue" are meeting on 22 and 23 October in Rabat to discuss regional cooperative approaches in the field of migration management.

The event, which is organized by the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco and in close partnership with the IOM, will allow participants from Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia to follow up on the "Declaration of Tunis", approved last October by participating ministers.

The Declaration of Tunis stressed the importance for countries of the Western Mediterranean to exchange regular information on migration issues, to fight migrant smuggling and trafficking through concerted multilateral efforts, to develop regular migration for work programmes and to work with migrant communities in destination countries.

"The Western Mediterranean Dialogue on Migration sets an example in the field of migration management," says IOM Director General Brunson McKinley. "Setting up a regional partnership to manage migration is the best way to fight irregular migration and its effects."

Discussions in Rabat will focus on ways to organize labour migration in the region with an emphasis on access to labour markets for regular migrants in countries of the Western Mediterranean.

The links between migration and development will also be discussed in the context of development assistance to areas with a high emigration potential. Participants will also discuss ways to involve migrants in the sustainable development of their countries of origin through the transfer of skilled human resources, remittances, investments, and micro-credit schemes.

The process of integrating regular migrants into host societies will also be discussed, in particular in relation to family reunification, access to employment, housing and social benefits. Participants will also discuss measures to fight intolerance, discrimination, xenophobia and exploitation in the Western Mediterranean. The health of migrants and equal treatment of women will also feature.

The Western Mediterranean 5+5 dialogue was launched in December 1990 in Rome. Foreign Ministers of the 5+5 countries, who met in Lisbon in January 2001, underlined the need for countries in the region to cooperate in an organized and coordinated way in dealing with migration issues.

IOM lends its expertise and acts as an honest broker to support regional consultative processes on migration related issues in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

The programme of the second ministerial conference is available on: http://www.iom.int/dialogue5-5

ETHIOPIA - Promoting Millennium Development Goals - As part of UN week celebrations in Ethiopia, IOM, in partnership with UNAIDS and UNFPA, is today carrying out a visit to two towns (Debre Zeit and Nazareth), some 100 kilometres out of the capital, Addis Ababa. The towns are in the so-called 'high risk corridor', where projects to prevent and decrease the prevalence of HIV/AIDS are being implemented by IOM. Participants will visit the "Mechew Zemen" medical centre, a voluntary counseling and testing centre, a garment factory, and a high school. A popular DJ, 'DJ Kin' will play music and convey messages on the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

According to UNAIDS 2002, an estimated 5,000 people in Ethiopia are infected every week.

The theme for this year's event is "Millennium Development Goals Yichalal! (it can be accomplished!) The UN and Ethiopia in Action: reducing Poverty and combating Major Killer Diseases'. IOM is a member of the Millennium Development Goals Task Force, part of the UN Country Team. Eighteen UN agencies are participating in the events, as well as Ethiopian Government officials, the private sector, students and the community at large.

The week's activities include visits to communities and project sites outside Addis Ababa every day focusing on different development issues such as HIV/AIDS, gender, human rights and food security. Materials on HIV/AIDS and gender, T-shirts, posters, caps, brochures and cards will be distributed during the visits.

For further information contact, Cecilia Cantos IOM Ethiopia, iom.cecilia.cantos@wfp.org
Tel 251 1 515188, Ext. 2281.

CROATIA - Research and Capacity Building on HIV/AIDS and Migrant Workers - The IOM office in Zagreb is launching a programme to conduct research, training and awareness raising amongst Croatian institutions working with Croatian Migrant workers on the prevention and spread of HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).

IOM will work with the Croatian Ministry of Health to carry out the programme titled "Research and Capacity Building on HIV/AIDS and Croatian Migrant Workers". The specific target groups represent economic sectors with the greatest number of professionals working abroad, including international freight forwarding companies (truck drivers), the merchant marine (commercial seafarers), and construction companies ( construction workers).

The programme will be carried out over a three-year period and will include

Research on HIV infection and STI prevention will be carried out through the development and dissemination of questionnaires targetting a sample group of 500 migrant workers. Because there has been no research on HIV/AIDS and its relationship to migrant workers in Croatia, there is little understanding of the dynamics, the needs and the possible measures to address the problem;
capacity building will be done through training workshops for occupational health professionals, as they are equally unprepared and inexperienced in providing HIV counselling. These professionals need to be trained in HIV/AIDS counselling, but also on the link between HIV/AIDS and mobile populations;
awareness raising amongst migrant workers will be done through the distribution of brochures, leaflets, condoms and other informative/preventive materials for merchant seamen, truck drivers and workers on construction sites. Articles will be printed in specialized journals, such as union newspapers and company newsletters; and
the development of an HIV/AIDS prevention and counselling manual adapted for migrant workers in Croatia. The active involvement of the School for Public Health, will ensure that HIV/AIDS counselling will be transmitted through their educational programmes to other generations of health professionals to come.





The situation in Croatia shows that there is indeed a low prevalence of HIV/AIDS, however, there is also a lack of data and sustained
research regarding migrant workers leaving Croatia to work abroad as well as the impact of this movement on HIV and STIs upon return.

Existing information on Croatian migrant workers indicates that they are mainly working in countries with a high prevalence of HIV infection such as Russia, Africa and Western Europe; that they work abroad for several months or years at a time and regularly visit Croatia; that they usually live in single-sex enviroments abroad; that their education levels are low; and that their basic knowledge of sexual health is low.

Breakdown of Croatian migrant workers:

There are 35,000 merchant marines, 30,000 work for international companies and the rest work in the coastal areas of Croatia.
Its is estimated that there are more than 5,000 international licences for truck drivers renewed per year.
Construction workers: over 5,000 permits per year a delivered to Croatian domestic companies with contracts abroad.