IOM Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa COVID-19 Response – Situation Report 23 (30 April – 27 May 2021)
Key Regional Updates
- As of 27 May 2021, a total of 5,842,219 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, out of which 95,473 fatalities have been reported.
- Following the launch of the two (2)-year ‘Regional Response to COVID-19 in North African Countries’ programme to respond to the emergency needs of COVID-19 affected population in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia and prepare individuals and communities for longer term-recovery funded by the European Union Trust Fund (EUTF) on 20 April, IOM Country Offices initiated interventions, including support to the quarantine of international students in Tunisia, training of migrant community leaders on mental health and psychosocial support needs of migrant communities in Egypt.
- At the MENA Regional COVAX Working Group, IOM presented on migrant’s access to vaccination in the MENA region. The presentation informed that many migrants, especially those in irregular status, have multiple barriers to access vaccines, and proposed action points to safeguard migrants and equitable vaccine distribution to both migrants and host community including two way communication mechanism in migrants’ languages for building trust, and removing administrative barriers for registration.
- As a part of IOM’s effort to address the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, IOM, the International Organization of Employers (IOE), and the Business Advisory Group on Migration and Business Africa in preparation for the Africa Regional Review for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) organized a Consultation looking at Business Perspectives on migration with focus on Africa on 27 May 2021. The event brought together over 40 representatives of national business groups and human resources experts from across Africa with the objective to identify key recommendations of African employers on the business priorities in light of GCM objectives 5, 6, and 18 as these recommendations will set the scene to draft an African Employers’ Declaration.