Key Regional Updates

• As of 30 June 2021, a total of 6,426,518 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, out of which 103,624 fatalities have been reported.

• On 15 June 2021, the IOM Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (RO MENA) organized a Regional Partners’ Briefing to launch IOM MENA Regional COVID-19 Strategic Response and Recovery Plan for 2021 (SRRP). Building on its achievements in 2020, IOM’s SRRP for 2021 - with a 142 million USD funding requirement targeting 16 countries across the region - encompasses life-saving assistance and response to humanitarian needs, initiatives to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on migrants and societies, as well as support to sustainably recover and build resilience. The briefing was opened by IOM MENA Senior Regional Liaison and Policy Officer, followed by a presentation of the Regional SRRP launch alongside an overview of achievements and responses during 2020 from IOM offices in Yemen and Tunisia. These discussions were followed with a presentation that explored the impact of COVID-19 on the socio-economic outcomes of migrants and displaced populations in the MENA region. The SRRP is available in Arabic and English, while the IOM’s MENA Regional Achievement and Innovation Report for 2020 can also be found in Arabic and English.

• On 08 and 09 June 2021, the IOM MENA Regional Director and the Regional Labour Mobility and Human Development (LHD) Specialist participated in a Tri-Regional Policy Dialogue on International Mobility of Health Professionals: New Challenges,
  Shared Solutions, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). The dialogue aimed to strengthen cooperation across Member States of the three (3) WHO regions during the COVID-19 context, covering all phases of the migration cycle from safe, orderly and regular labour migration for health professionals, to integration, and diaspora engagement. The tri-regional policy dialogue ensured that health workforce issues and concerns remain on the policy agenda by giving a floor to those who could share good practice as well as those who do research or policy around mobility of health professionals.