South Sudan – IOM and the Government of Japan are working with South Sudan’s Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Immigration (DNPI), in the Ministry of Interior, to improve migration policies and implementation through a new training facility in Rambur, near Juba.

The training center, managed by DNPI, was inaugurated on 7 March and provides a venue with technology for training, accommodation and a library for reference materials.

DNPI rolled out the first training at the center on 27 February, which lasts two weeks and equips immigration officials with up-to-date information on international standards for migration management. In November 2016, IOM trained 29 immigration officials at the IOM African Capacity Building Centre in Tanzania to become trainers, 10 of whom are now fully functioning as trainers at the new center.

“I hope that DNPI will maximize the use of the training center and nurture it to a point of becoming indeed a center of excellence,” IOM South Sudan Chief of Mission William Barriga remarked at the inauguration. “Facilities at the training center and regular access to internet will enable trainers to consistently update their knowledge with changing migration dynamics so that they can in turn update the knowledge of their fellow officers.”

The training center ensures that women have equal access to training facilities, including through a specified accommodation area for female officers.

The water system in the training center will not only benefit the trainees and instructors but also the local population in Rambur within Luri County.

At the launching ceremony, Ambassador of Japan to South Sudan Masahiko Kiya and Chief of Mission Barriga also donated a light vehicle to DNPI to facilitate transport and logistics required to ensure the training center is used effectively.

Through IOM, the Government of Japan has supported migration management projects in South Sudan since 2012, aimed at improving South Sudan’s capacity on migration policy development and operations in-line with international standards.

In 2017, the Japanese Government has donated more than USD 2.5 million to IOM to continue migration management programmes, as well as to IOM’s emergency operation, including lifesaving primary health care support, distribution of relief items and displacement tracking for vulnerable populations across South Sudan, where more than 7.5 million people are in need of assistance due to the continuing humanitarian crisis.

For further information, please contact Ashley McLaughlin at IOM South Sudan, Tel: +211 922 405 716, Email: amclaughlin@iom.int.