By ‘Majirata Latela
In a bid to support sustainable reintegration of returnees who continue to come back to Lesotho affected by Covid-19, as well as host communities in migration affected areas, the government of Japan will provide support to the project called ‘Socio-Economic Reintegration of Returnees and other vulnerable members in migration affected areas severely impacted by Covid-19 pandemic.’
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been advocating for the adoption of sustainability-oriented reintegration policies that respond to the economic, social and psychosocial needs of returning migrants while also benefiting communities of origin and addressing structural challenges to reintegration.
The project will be implemented by the IOM, which is a UN Migration Agency, for 12 months from March 2021.
In this project, IOM intends to apply part of the reintegration assistance modality which proved to be effective and productive based on the global IOM Reintegration project which will be modified and tailored to the Lesotho context and the urgent needs of returnees pressured by continuous challenges of Covid-19.
The project has three outcomes: the government of Lesotho has improved its ability to successfully implement reintegration programmes; vulnerable Basotho returnees impacted by Covid-19 have enhanced their livelihoods through restoring their dignity, income generating opportunities and enhanced their living conditions in the district of origin; and local government has improved its ability to enhance social unity and cohesion through community development initiative.
These activities are designed to improve beneficiaries’ livelihoods through maximizing income-generating opportunities and enhancing their living conditions while addressing the returnees’ immediate needs to restore their livelihoods and ensure their safety from being infected/affected by Covid-19.
The project will be implemented in close collaboration with the ministry of local government, ministry of social development, ministry of labour and employment, and the Disaster Management Authority, among others.
According to Eriko Nishimura, Head of Office of IOM Lesotho, “IOM is committed to bring changes to the lives of people in Lesotho – in particularly returnees and other vulnerable people affected by Covid-19. We also implement community development activities in migration affected area which can economically support returnees and host communities while facilitate social cohesion.’’
