International Organization for Migration

IOM’s presence in Ethiopia goes back to 1995 when it initially implemented the Return of Qualified African Nationals (RQAN) project. The objective of this project was to compensate for the shortage of qualified human resource in developing countries like Ethiopia and thereby assist national development.

In 2005, IOM took a bold step to designate the mission in Ethiopia as Special Liaison Mission (IOM/SLM) with liaison functions to the African Union (AU), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Since 1995, IOM has been working in partnership with the Government of Ethio­pia, the African Union (AU), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Intergovern­mental Authority for Development (IGAD), migrants, and other stakeholders to uphold the rights and needs of migrants, promote the benefits and address the challenges of migration, and mitigate the related risks to the advantage of all.