The Regional Offices oversee, plan, coordinate and support ORPE activities within the region. Regional Offices are responsible for project review and endorsement and provide technical support to Country Offices, particularly in the area of project development. A brief description of the nine Regional Offices is outlined below.

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Bangkok,  Thailand. Provides support to ORPE offices in Asia and the Pacific; plans and coordinates ORPE activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems, as well as in the areas of emergency response, disaster risk reduction and climate change-induced migration. The Office works closely with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and other regional multilateral bodies such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asian Development Bank and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation; and provides programme support for regional initiatives, including the Colombo Process, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

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Brussels, Belgium. Provides support to ORPE offices within the European Economic Area and Switzerland; maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration governance systems. In addition to its regional functions, the Office provides, by virtue of its liaison role with the European Union (EU), a range of functions benefiting IOM offices worldwide. These include the Office’s coordination function in ORPE’s institutional approaches to policies and activities in relation to the EU; negotiations and advisory role for the Organization as a whole and for ORPE offices worldwide on EU policies, programming and funding; liaison, on behalf of the Organization and its offices worldwide, with EU institutions on matters of a political and financial nature; support for EU dialogues with third countries on migration issues and liaison with regional bodies; and assistance in strengthening ORPE’s relations and liaison with the EU institutions, including through advancement of the ORPE–EU strategic cooperation on migration and the administrative and financial Framework Agreement. Furthermore, the Office coordinates ORPE’s relations and liaison with NATO, the Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the World Customs Organization and other multilateral bodies with headquarters in the region.

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Vienna, Austria. Provides support to ORPE offices in South-Eastern Europe, including Turkey, Eastern Europe and Central Asia and works to implement projects in those countries where no office is present, including Israel; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; plans and coordinates ORPE activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region. The Office is responsible for liaison with the United Nations Office in Vienna, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the International Anti-Corruption Academy and other Vienna-based international organizations; it also liaises with regional and subregional organizations and coordination structures, such as the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative, the Regional Cooperation Council and the Central European Initiative, as well as with regional integration processes, such as the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union. The Office also promotes  regional dialogue  and  cooperation on migration by supporting  the Almaty Process,  the   EU Eastern Partnership Panel on Migration and Asylum, and the Western Balkans Initiative.

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Buenos Aires, Argentina. Provides support to ORPE offices in South America, supports and implements projects in Brazil, where a small project office was recently opened; plans and coordinates activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; conducts research and publishes studies on migration issues in the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems, particularly within the framework of the Technical Cooperation in the Area of Migration for Latin America (PLACMI) programme; acts as the technical secretariat for the South American Conference on Migration; works with and provides technical support to subregional integration processes like the Andean Community (CAN) and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR); interacts with regional bodies like the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR); and liaises with multilateral institutions based in the region such as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and its Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE), the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and the Pacific Alliance.

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San José, Costa Rica. Provides support to ORPE offices in Central America, North America and the Caribbean; plans and coordinates strategies and activities within the region and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; works with the Regional Conference on Migration and other relevant subregional and regional processes such as the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Central American Commission of Directors of Migration, and the Caribbean Community; and liaises with regional multilateral institutions, such as the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Pan American Health Organization.

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Cairo, Egypt. Provides support to ORPE offices in the Middle East and North Africa, through technical advice, training and the formulation of strategies, processes, projects and programmes; promotes and facilitates international dialogue, partnerships and coordinated migration policy development and programming between States, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society, including by supporting regional dialogue processes such as the Abu Dhabi Dialogue and the Arab Regional Consultative Process on Migration; maintains liaison and partnerships with regional organizations, in particular the League of Arab States (LAS), the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Arab Labour Organization, and co-chairs the inter- agency Working Group on International Migration in the Arab Region, together with LAS and ESCWA; shapes a common platform of response and preparedness for migration crises in the region; promotes and undertakes information-sharing and research to help national, regional and international partners carry out evidence-based advocacy, policy development and programming, including by hosting the North Africa Mixed Migration Hub on behalf of the North Africa Mixed Migration Task Force; and undertakes regional public information activities to contribute to IOM’s visibility and to promote its activities vis-à-vis counterparts and donors at the regional and global levels.

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Dakar, Senegal. Provides support to ORPE offices in West and Central Africa; plans and coordinates activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides governments with technical support to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; liaises with and provides capacity- building support to the Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States; and promotes and supports regional dialogue processes such as the Migration Dialogue for West Africa and the Migration Dialogue for Central African States. It also maintains close liaison with the United Nations system, including the Regional UNDG Team for Western and Central Africa and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel.

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Nairobi, Kenya. Provides support to ORPE offices in East Africa and the Horn of Africa; maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; promotes the RCPs for East African States; maintains liaison with the United Nations Office in Nairobi, the United Nations Environment Program and UN-Habitat; liaises with and supports the East African Community and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to enhance regional cooperation and dialogue on migration.

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Pretoria, South Africa. Provides support to ORPE offices in the Southern African Development Community member countries, the Comoros and Seychelles; plans and coordinates activities and maintains liaison and partnerships with governments, development partners and civil society within the region; provides technical support to governments to develop national migration frameworks and strengthen migration management systems; promotes the RCPs for Southern African States; serves as a link between migration and development and the Secretariats of the Pan-African Parliament and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development of the African Union (AU), and works with the Secretariats of the Southern African Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa to enhance regional cooperation and dialogue on migration.