By Ernest Smith, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The Netherlands IOM /TRQN Project Director Zia Gulam (photo) is presently visiting Sierra Leone to evaluate TRQN Experts and to also see first hand the impact the project has made on host institutions.

International Organisation for Migration (IOM) IOM was established in 1951 and it is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. IOM has 127 member states and offices in over 100 countries and it’s dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.

In 2006 IOM the Netherlands came up with a project called Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals (TRQN) for Afghanistan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Sudan and now Georgia. TRQN is a response to the Dutch policy on Migration & Development which shows an increased need for an integrated and coherent approach. TRQN is a unique program that gives opportunity to highly qualified nationals residing in the Netherlands to return temporally to their countries of origin to help in nation building. IOM/TRQN Project is funded by the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

Zia Gulam would evaluate IOM/TRQN Experts working with The Ministry of Agriculture, the National Association of Farmers of Sierra Leone (NAFSL), Fourah Bay College USL, IPAM, Coalition for Justice and Accountability (COJA), Milton Margai College MMCET, USL, St. George Foundation, Soso Gospel Ministry/ Lungi, Foundation Help Sierra Leone, Community Biodiversity Action Network (CBAN), Mabayla Fish Market Cooperative and CCSDO/Lungi.

The IOM/TRQN Project Director in the Netherlands on the 17 th of November visited the National Association of Farmers of Sierra Leone (NAFSL) with headquarters in Freetown, one of the host institutions. He was warmly welcomed by the president of NAFSL P.C. Sumanoh Kapen, who thanked IOM for the role it’s playing in nation building. Kapen further outlined the positive impact the IOM/TRQN Project has created on NAFSL and Farmers of Sierra Leone, citing the creation of the NAFSL’s website http://www.nafsl.org, the reviewing of their constitution and the possible creation of a marketing unit as a positive impact that would be long lasting. The President pleaded with the visiting IOM/TRQN Project Director to look for possible ways of helping youths and women in agriculture.

On behalf of NAFSL, P C Sumanoh Kapen extended an invitation to Zia Gulam to visit some farms owned by member organisations of NAFSL in the north of the country. The president also gave strong reasons for the need to have IOM/TRQN Experts for 6 months rather than 3 months. Various representatives of member organisations of NAFSL expressed their satisfaction with the project and the impact it has on them.

In his remarks Zia Gulam thanked the president for the comprehensive report he gave on the impact of the IOM/TRQN project. He also stressed the long term impact the project would have on host institutions since experts are only assigned for a short period and urged NAFSL to make good use of the brief stay of the experts.

Gulam thanked the experts for coming back home to help in nation building and adding that if there are no experts there would be no IOM/TRQN project. He encouraged NAFSL executives together with IOM to look for ways of increasing the output of the resource persons.