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9 December 2022 – IOM’s African Capacity Building Centre (IOM ACBC), in coordination with the IOM country office in Sierra Leone, conducted a day-long online training on the Standard Operating Procedures for Frontline Border Officials at Points of Entry (PoE) in response to the COVID-19 Outbreak. The training brought together 23 participants from various PoEs in the country and covered general knowledge about COVID-19 and its impact on international migration; the regular, consistent and correct use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and disinfection of equipment; the management of ill travelers; occupational health, well-being, and psychological first aid; and COVID-19 and migrants’ rights and vulnerabilities. By integrating health into the responsibilities of all border agencies, the training aimed to contribute to increasing the knowledge of the frontline border officials on the International Health Regulations (IHR) on prevention measures for pandemics including COVID-19 and deepen their understanding of mitigation measures for self-protection and for the protection of others. The key expected outcome of the event was to contribute to fostering synergies between Port Health, Immigration, and Customs in Sierra Leone. In his welcome remarks, Mpilo Nkomo, ACBC Senior Immigration and Border Management Specialist, stated that "it [was] important for all the actors present, including IOM, to demonstrate strategy and innovation in implementing the Government of Sierra Leone’s Response Plan by optimizing the resources available to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and any future disease of public health concern at international borders”. The training was organized within the framework of an ACBC-led project entitled "Enhancing African Member States Personnel’s Capacities to Respond to and Mitigate the spread of Covid-19 (ECRM-COVID-19)" funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands which aims to promote an integrated approach to health crisis management at points of entry to guarantee that no one is left behind in the fight against the pandemic. |
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For more information, please contact: Melissa TUI - IOM ACBC Project Officer (Curriculum Development) mtui@iom.int George TUCKER - IOM Sierra Leone National Project Officer (IBM) gtucker@iom.int |