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EU Statement - IOM 37th Session of the Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance - Opening Statement

27.10.2025
Geneva
Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in Geneva

International Organisation for Migration 

37th Session of the Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance

27-28 October 2025

Item 2 - Presentation by the Director General

Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States 

 

Chair, 

I speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania*, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Georgia, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

 

Director General,

  1. We thank you for your report and continued commitment to transparency and results-oriented management.

  2. We also extend our sincere appreciation to all IOM staff for their dedication and resilience in this challenging year. We appreciate the structural realignment undertaken by IOM in response to the current financial crisis and in view of the outlook for next year and express our sympathy to colleagues who have been affected. We urge the organisation to continue these efforts in close coordination with the Member States. We welcome that early measures and efficiency gains have safeguarded core functions to ensure integrity, accountability and transparency and underline the importance of maintaining IOM’s organisational capacity and expertise in migration policy.

  3. Meaningful and streamlined reform remains essential within the context of the UN-80 Initiative and the Humanitarian Reset to achieve synergies, efficiencies and substantive cooperation across agencies, from field to headquarters. Each organisation shall focus on its core mandate and comparative advantage, particularly in the context of IOM’s cooperation with UNHCR. Strengthening collaboration across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and advancing joint action plans and their effective implementation remain crucial for more coherent, effective and sustainable responses.

  4. We reaffirm our support to IOM as a key partner in comprehensive and humane migration policy, ranging from protection and inclusive integration to preventing irregular migration, promoting regular pathways in line with national competences, and supporting returns and reintegration, through a route-based approach. We thank IOM for its contribution to implementing EU and its Member States’ migration policies and instruments, notably the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. We also look forward to IOM´s expertise and assistance in finding innovative solutions in the migratory field.

  5. We call on IOM to maintain a strong focus on the interlinkages between migration and climate change and on cross-cutting priorities, especially equality, diversity and inclusion, while taking into account available resources. These priorities, as articulated in the Strategic Plan 2024-2028, should be consistently reflected across budgetary and programming documents. Keeping a protection-centred approach and upholding the UN Charter and its principles remains essential.

  6. We welcome the streamlined Programme and Budget for 2026 and the progress towards results-based budgeting. The document for the first time reflects IOM’s strategic objectives, provides a clearer link between planning, resources and expected results, and offers a more transparent view of projected and secured resource allocations by region and strategic objective.

  7. We welcome IOM’s efforts towards receiving more flexible, predictable and sustainable funding, and to diversify funding sources, including through the Resilience Campaign, as well as to continue engaging new and emerging donors, while ensuring accountability and transparency and avoiding overreliance on any single donor.

  8. We commend IOM’s commitment to providing and sharing timely data and evidence with UN partners and donors. We support IOM’s efforts to advance AI-driven innovation, including the climate data-sharing initiative with sister UN agencies, which can inspire broader collaboration.

  9. Accountability, transparency and regular, proactive consultations with Member States are essential to fostering trust. We welcome IOM’s forthcoming membership in the Joint Inspection Unit, which will further strengthen its financial accountability, oversight framework and credibility.

Thank you!

 

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.