the international organization for migration (iom) atlantic region association of immigrant serving...
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The International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Atlantic Region Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies
ARAISA 2010 ConferenceSt. John’s, NL
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IOM At A Glance
IOM is:
• a global inter-governmental organization dealing with a wide range of migration issues
• dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.
Vitals:• 127 Member States• 440 offices in more than 120 countries• A staff of over 7,000• 2,030+ programs/ projects totaling over a billion dollars
Structure:• Headquarters in Geneva, with a number of regional
offices
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IOM & Canada
• Canada and IOM have a long history of working together
• 3 main areas IOM provides service for the Government of Canada:
Medical Orientation Movements
• IOM office located in Ottawa• Ottawa staff provide project support and
liaison for activities conducted overseas
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Canadian Orientation Abroad
• COA is a pre-departure orientation project funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
• COA has been implemented by IOM since 1998
• IOM also provides Cultural Orientation for refugees bound to the: US, Norway, Finland, Australia, the UK
• COA Global Management situated in IOM Amman• COA Liaison and training support located in IOM
Ottawa• COA facilitator’s are locally engaged staff
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COA Eligibility
• COA is offered free of charge to all categories of migrants for whom PR status is intended, these are in order of priority:– Refugees– Skilled Workers– Family Class– Provincial Nominees– Live-in-Caregivers– Investors
• COA is offered generally: – 3 days for urban refugees – 5 days for camp based refugees – for all other classes for 1 day
• Participation is voluntary, but encouraged
Bhutanese refugees in COA Nepal
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COA Objectives
• To provide accurate information about life in Canada
• To help immigrants develop realistic expectations about settlement
• To develop immigrants’ awareness and skills necessary for successful adaptation to their new society particularly during their first 6 mos. of stay in Canada
• To address participants concerns and questions
COA Manila
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COA Permanent Sites
• Africa (3 sites): Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana (Kenya mobile: Uganda, Sudan, Eritrea and Ghana mobile: Benin, Sierra Leone)
• Asia (3 sites): Nepal, Philippines, Pakistan
• Europe (1 site): Russia
• Latin America (1 site): Colombia
• Middle East (5 sites): Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and
• Mobile training missions also took place in:Uzbekistan, Romania (ETC), Syria, etc.
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COA Content
Some topics covered in the orientation:• Facts about Canada, Canadian climate/weather• Travel procedures to Canada• Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) • Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program • Rights, responsibilities, laws• Housing• Healthcare• Education• Finances & Budgeting• Working in Canada• Cultural shock/adaptation• Services available including settlement• Other, according to the needs & specific questions
brought up by the group
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COA Statistics
Since inception 124,146 individuals have received COA
In the project year 2009-2010:
• COA sessions were conducted in 32 different locations in 21 different countries
• 14,831 individuals were invited to attend COA
• A total of 13,800 individuals received COA training world-wide:
Refugees represented 5,558 individualsSkilled workers 5,126Family class 2,052Live in Caregivers 1,064
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COA Trainers
• Majority COA trainers are locally engaged staff
• Preference dual nationals/ Canadian PRs, or have lived/ visited Canada extensively
• Multilingual
• Some facilitator’s are full time others on call or assigned to other IOM projects (Operations)
Training of Refugee Facilitators, Ottawa November 2009
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Noteworthy Activities
• Familiarization Visit of 10 COA refugee facilitators to Canada in Feb 2009
• First-ever Training for Refugee Facilitators in Canada in Nov 2009
• Observation Visits to 3 COA refugee training sites for 15 SPO representatives in Mar. 2010
Left: Visit to COA Nepal, Right: Visit to COA Kenya
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COA Observation Visits
• 14 RAP SPOs & 1 staff from RSTP visited 3 COA sites: Kenya, Syria and Nepal in late Mar/Apr. 2010
• IOM requested applications• IOM funded travel and stipend• Arranged to see IOM resettlement operations,
COA & meet with partner agencies
• Participants submitted reports about visit including various recommendations for COA/IOM
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The EndThe End
IOM Ottawa Contacts:
Tracy Vunderink, COA Project [email protected]
Ahmad Fahim, Head of [email protected]
Telephone: 613-237-0651