Geneva/Benin City – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) opened a new Migration Health Assessment Centre (MHAC) in Benin City, Nigeria, to respond to the increasing health needs in the country. The new premises inaugurated last week will also host all other programmes implemented by IOM in Benin City. 

IOM’s Deputy Director General for Operations, Ugochi Daniels, inaugurated the Centre in the presence of the Governor of Edo State, H.E. Godwin Obaseki, and IOM Nigeria Chief of Mission Laurent De Boeck. 

“Nigeria is a champion and priority country for the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration, and it’s heartening to learn about the Federal and State efforts toward the operationalization of the compact to local contexts,” said DDG Daniels. 

Pre-migration health assessments are part of IOM’s services for migration management in Nigeria. The new MHAC in Benin City will be a pivotal addition to the two facilities already operational in Abuja and Lagos.

The MHACs carry out pre-migration health assessments for people on the move, including resettling refugees, labour migrants, internally displaced persons, and long-term visa applicants before their departure. 

Last year, more than 240,000 migrants received pre-migration health assessments from IOM Nigeria’s MHACs, which makes up more than half of the caseload throughout Africa.

While in Benin City, DDG Daniels attended the graduation ceremony of a community-based reintegration project targeting returned and potential migrants from Benin City. With support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) 62 people, including 19 women, were trained in wood crafting by IOM.  
 
To strengthen IOM’s role in engagement with diaspora communities and better collaboration with stakeholders in global migration governance, DDG Daniels also attended events in Abuja, such as the Global African Diaspora Symposium organized by the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States.  

IOM has been operational in Nigeria for the past two decades and is currently present across the country with a range of different programmes to support and lead humanitarian response, community-based recovery, and migration management initiatives.

Last week, IOM Nigeria also launched its strategy for the next five years, outlining priorities for the effective management and promotion of safe, orderly and dignified migration.
 

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For more information, please contact: 

In Benin City: Nima Tamaddon, ntamaddon@iom.int  
In Geneva: Kennedy Omondi, kokoth@iom.int