IOM Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa COVID-19 Response – Situation Report 11 (20 August – 02 September 2020)
Key Regional Updates
- As of 31 August 2020, a total of 1,232,284 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the MENA Region, with 23,176 deaths reported.
- Countries in crises throughout the region continued to experience worrying COVID-19 trends during the reporting period. Libya recorded a significant increase in new COVID-19 cases, whereas the effect of the Beirut Port explosion in Lebanon, coupled with the associated humanitarian challenges, has also led to a surge in cases. Iraq continues to record the highest number of daily cases and has accumulated the highest proportion of active cases regionally, while the case fatality ratio (CFR) in Yemen is among the highest globally. The burden and socioeconomic effects of COVID-19 in crises-affected settings compounds pre-existing vulnerabilities and can amplify fragility.
- The Working Group on Migration was launched in United Arab Emirates (UAE), co-chaired by IOM and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The Working Group discussed the impact of COVID-19 on migrants in UAE.
Several UN agencies participated in the inaugural Working Group. - The second Online Capacity Building Workshop of the Regional Review Process for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) occurred on 13 August 2020. The workshop, which was co-organized by IOM, UNESCWA and the League of Arab States, in coordination with UN agencies, had 110 participants, including 26 government officials from 15 countries, and 84 participants from Regional Organizations and UN agencies. Government representatives engaged in dialogue during the workshop on how each country incorporates the GCM principles in the ongoing COVID-19 response.
- IOM facilitated the voluntary return of 114 migrants from Algeria to Côte d’Ivoire,
Guinea and Liberia via a return flight organized with support from the Government of Algeria. The flight is the second voluntary return operation to be facilitated by IOM amid COVID-19 within the last two months.