Since 2004, IOM has been implementing humanitarian and development projects in both the Tanzanian mainland and in Zanzibar. In 2022, with nearly 200 staff in five regions including the main office in Dar es Salaam and field offices in Kasulu, Dodoma, Moshi and Zanzibar, IOM is the second largest United Nations (UN) agency in the country with proven expertise in humanitarian and development programming, in such areas as the humanitarian–development-peace nexus; protection for migrants; migration and health; migration, environment and climate change; immigration and border management; trafficking in persons; return and reintegration; and migration policy and data.

IOM in the United Republic of Tanzania operates the Makere Processing Centre, which houses a complete health assessment facility, including radiology and laboratory facilities for the country’s refugee resettlement programme. Makere laboratories are categorized as biosafety level-3 laboratories and can perform Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture. Through the Makere Processing Centre, IOM is supporting COVID-19 responses in the country and across the region, including through the deployment of community health professionals to create COVID-19 awareness and introduce infection preventive practices. The Makere Processing Centre also supports the First Line of Defence Framework for UN staff and their families, including through testing for COVID-19. In partnership with external service providers, IOM also processes pre-migration health services for migrants.

Since 2009, the United Republic of Tanzania has also hosted IOM’s first (and only) training institution, the African Capacity Building Centre (ACBC) in Moshi (Kilimanjaro Region). The Centre, established at the request of the IOM African Member States, supports their efforts to improve migration and border management and governance. Thanks to its partnership with the Tanzanian Immigration Service Department through the Tanzania Regional Immigration Training Academy and the excellent technical support provided since its establishment, the ACBC represents both a relevant and important tool for supporting the Country Office in the implementation of its five-year strategy.

Resilience of Government and Communities to Disasters Risks including Climate Change and Variability, Natural Hazards and Public Health Emergencies

IOM Tanzania will focus on strengthening quality, credible and evidence-based research on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (MECC) and disaster risk reduction with the objective of better informing decision-making processes including policy formulation for the government counterparts. The Country Office will continue to provide support to the government and communities to have better prevention, preparedness and response systems and capacities in place to effectively prepare and manage their immediate response to disasters or climate hazards, including displacement, by enhancing resilience and building back better. The achievement will be based on improving the existing systems, tools and expertise to prevent and recover from disasters and adapt to the long-term effects of climate change and environmental degradation.

Furthermore, IOM Tanzania will boost its support to the government to have a timely multi-sectoral, multi-partner coordination mechanism for public health emergencies and pandemic preparedness and response and having improved risk communication in public health emergencies which is effectively delivered to mobile populations at the border points for all genders, ages and abilities.

Address the Drivers of Violence and Conflict

IOM Tanzania will support the government and communities to enhance capacities, skills, tools, and systems to identify and address the drivers of conflict as a response mechanism to prevent displacement of people associated with violent extremism. To address growing concerns of violent extremism, IOM Tanzania will engage government institutions, especially the Immigration Services Department, the National Counter-Terrorism Centre and communities in the development and identification of tools, systems, and strategies to prevent and combat youth recruitment and radicalization. Moreover, it will support the government in the early warning and response mechanisms developed and deployed at the local levels to respond to episodes and threats of violent extremism. IOM Tanzania will be involved in supporting community policing as the focus of its response to prevent and counter violent extremism, especially in communities living near the border points. It will also assist the government to facilitate community outreach activities that support deradicalization and prevent youth from the traps of violent extremist groups.

Furthermore, IOM Tanzania will engage in conflict prevention and social cohesion interventions in recurring conflicts between farmers and pastoralists due to climate change-induced impacts. Interventions will ensure stable and harmonious communities so that they will be resilient and can creatively respond to environmental stress and sustaining the livelihoods of both sides. This will be done through strengthening communities in land use planning among farmers and pastoralists as a means of mitigating potential conflicts, and supporting capacity for local government authorities to develop early alert mechanisms and to reinforce local conflict mitigation strategies to pre-empt the risk of conflicts associated with livestock movements.

Mitigate Migrants’ Vulnerability to Violence, Abuse, And Exploitation, and Promote Assistance to Migrants in Vulnerable Situations

IOM Tanzania is poised to address the dire conditions of stranded migrants and victims of trafficking through a multifaceted approach. The focus is on identifying and responding to protection needs, risks, and vulnerabilities of migrants, with a special emphasis on gender and sexual-based violence and trafficking. The aim is to equip government, communities, and civil society actors with the skills and knowledge to recognize and mitigate risks effectively. Case management services, including direct assistance, technical support, and safe house services, will be enhanced for victims of trafficking, exploitation, and survivors of gender-based violence. IOM emphasizes community awareness, dialogue, and capacity-building, guided by the IOM Handbook on Protection and Assistance to Migrants Vulnerable to Violence. The country office underscores adherence to human rights for migrants, irrespective of their status, emphasizing the dignified mobility of migrants and championing alternatives to detention. Special attention is given to the 'Southern Route,' and engagement in life-saving and protection initiatives during emergencies, with a commitment to gender sensitivity and the best interest of the child. The overarching goal is to ensure safe, dignified, and voluntary return for migrants, coupled with sustainable reintegration efforts.

Durable solutions for displaced persons, including through resettlement and repatriation, and sustainable reintegration for returning migrants

To ensure durable solutions for refugees in the United Republic of Tanzania, IOM Tanzania will continue to provide responsive third country resettlement and repatriation solutions for refugees, including medical screening, logistical support arrangements and travel assistance for refugees departing to the country of resettlement as well as cultural orientation sessions for refugees accepted for resettlement.

Responding to the multidirectional phenomenon of migration that includes safe return and sustainable reintegration, IOM Tanzania will continue to support safe and dignified return and sustainable reintegration for Tanzanian migrants returning from abroad. This may include the provision of cash, education, psychosocial support, in-kind support for business start-up, and family reunification. In all programmatic interventions for sustainable return and reintegration it will be essential to follow a rights-based approach that respects the best interest of children, the Do No Harm principle and is based on vulnerability-sensitive perspectives, accountability and confidentiality, family reunification, sustainable development-oriented and coherent. In this context, IOM Tanzania will align its programming with IOM’s 2021 Policy on Full Spectrum of Return, Readmission and Return and its comprehensive migrant reintegration process to deal with economic, social and psychosocial needs. More attention will be given to ensuring that the economic and psychosocial needs of returnees are addressed and to fostering of their life skills in the framework of the United Republic of Tanzania National Development Plan-Vision 2025 under the pillar of Peace Stability and Unity.

Regional integration and labour mobility

To promote regional integration, ease barriers and facilitate free movement of persons and goods IOM Tanzania will continue to support the United Republic of Tanzania, as needed, in harnessing the regional opportunities and strategic positioning of the country in hosting some of the regional headquarters and offices for the AU, the EAC and SADC. Membership of the United Republic of Tanzania in EAC, SADC and in the Tripartite Free Trade Area of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA) as well as the recent ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area will boost intra-Africa trade and consequently increase labour mobility and migration. Based on this, IOM Tanzania will continue assist the government to take advantage of regional integration and providing technical expertise to implement migration policies and frameworks as supported by the government of the United Republic of Tanzania at the sub-regional and regional levels. Also, through the African Capacity Building Centre in Moshi, which promotes inter-state cooperation through closer partnerships with the AU and the RECs to achieve the objectives of the Global Compact for Migration, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063, IOM Tanzania will ensure that the government benefits from the relevant expertise to achieve its regional integration aspirations.

The Country Office will continue to support, facilitate and follow-up on the government of the United Republic of Tanzania’s effective participation in the Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration (RMFM) which brings together Partner/Member States of both EAC and IGAD, and promotes harmonization of labour market policies to facilitate access to decent work abroad and to improve the protection of migrant workers.

Evidence-based governance of migration in support of the implementation of Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

GCM implementation is key in strengthening policy coherence, coordination and streamlining of migration-related policies and laws consistent with the guiding principles of common understanding, people-centred, international cooperation, national sovereignty, rule of law, sustainable development goals, human rights, gender-responsive, child-sensitive, whole-government-approach and whole-society-approach.

This will include facilitating consultations with country-level multi-stakeholders on the implementation of the GCM. Such consultations will help identify priorities and subsequent follow-up for the national implementation of GCM. They will also help galvanize support for submitting voluntary national reviews to the regional and international follow-up processes of the GCM. Similarly, IOM Tanzania will support the effective participation of the country in Regional Consultative Processes.

Data and evidence are the foundation of good policy-making. Therefore, good migration governance depends on collecting and using quality, accessible, reliable, timely and disaggregated data to inform public opinion, as well as policy and decision-making on migration, as well as effective mobility management systems. In this regard, IOM Tanzania will continue to promote data-oriented interventions, such as establishing flow monitoring operations at points of entry and exit in the country,

or gathering and analysing data to disseminate critical multi-layered information on the mobility, vulnerabilities and needs of displaced and mobile populations. In addition, IOM Tanzania will continue to support engagement in evidence-informed dialogue and learning on policies and processes at a national level through accessible migration research and dissemination. It will also continue to ensure that the government and key stakeholders in the country are equipped with relevant skills, knowledge, resources, tools and evidence to develop migration policies and frameworks contributing to good migration governance, through a Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society approach. This will be achieved through continued direct engagement with the National Bureau of Statistics (mainland) and the Office of the Chief Government Statistician (Zanzibar), building on existing efforts to enhance the availability and quality of official migration statistics by improving harmonization and disaggregation standards.

Strengthen governance in the prevention of violent extremism, smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons

To promote and support efforts to address deep-rooted transnational-organized crime, and promote rule of law, IOM will support strong institutions and governance to increase counter-smuggling and counter-trafficking efforts within the country and beyond. The focus will be on both irregular cross-border movements and internal trafficking in the country. IOM will work closely with government institutions to support integrated border management, transborder infrastructure and enhance the capacity of border agencies to collect, analyse and use intelligence in the prevention of terrorism, trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants and other cross-border criminal activities. IOM will work in the areas of prevention, protection, prosecution and will partner with relevant actors to ensure a comprehensive response to trafficking in persons. IOM will continue to promote its immigration and border management support to the government and support the prevention of violent extremism, strengthen cross-border cooperation and address transnational organized crimes. Addressing this requires collaboration with governmental and non-governmental entities as well as with other UN Agencies such as UNDP, UNODC, local communities and government counterparts to prevent spill-over risk for radicalization and recruitment in the country.