Emergency Response and Community Stabilization

IOM’s emergency, post-conflict and recovery activities focus on the needs of individuals and uprooted communities, thereby contributing to their protection. They are addressed in all phases of IOM’s Migration Crisis Operational Framework (MCOF): pre-crisis preparedness, emergency response and post-crisis recovery.

The region covered by IOM’s Vienna Region Office is, mainly, made up of countries which are economically and institutionally able to respond to emergencies. However, the ongoing conflicts and violence within and near the region (Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq) underline the need to provide emergency assistance, as well as durable and sustainable solutions, for conflict-affected populations. There are also several frozen conflicts in the region which have left people displaced for many years. Much of the region is prone to rapid-onset natural disasters such as flash floods, as well as slow-onset disasters related to climate change, such as protracted droughts, harsher winters, desertification and even technical disasters. All these serve to make preparedness, disaster risk-reduction and community stabilization measures essential.