On 27 May, the new Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Uganda, Sanusi Tejan Savage, presented his credentials to Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa.

This was during a brief ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also attended by the UN Resident Coordinator, Ms Rosa Malango, and the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Patrick Mugoya.
Mr Savage, a Sierra Leonean, arrived in Uganda in March, replacing Mr Ali Abdi, who left last October. He has served IOM for nearly 20 years, the last nine of them as the Head of the IOM Office in Sierra Leone.  

Among other things, Mr Savage is passionate about supporting his staff to be the best they can be in their work, he is a strong believer in the United Nations’ Delivering as One philosophy.
While presenting his credentials, Mr Savage said he was proud to be in Uganda, and thanked the Government for accrediting him and for supporting the work of IOM over the last three decades.

He pledged that under his stewardship, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, would do everything to support efforts by the Government of Uganda to ensure that migration is safe, orderly, humane and regular.
Mr Savage handed the minister a couple of cloth face masks, made by youth in Kampala with support from IOM and the European Union Trust Fund.

For his part, Minister Kutesa welcomed Mr Savage to Uganda, gently nudging him to consider the Pear of Arica his “second home”.

Together with the UN Resident Coordinator, the leaders then discussed areas of cooperation and support between the UN and Government of Uganda for the Response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Savage suggested that under Port Health Management, IOM could support staff at Entebbe airport with Personal Protective Equipment, capacity building for screening and data management. This would be in support of Government and UN efforts to ensure that when the airport opens, it is primed to prevent spread of COVID-19  

On the thousands of Ugandans stranded abroad, whom Government wants to bring home, Mr Savage said IOM was interested in establishing the different categories out there, noting that some might qualify for IOM’s Assistance to Stranded Migrants

Fact file
Prior to joining IOM, Mr Savage worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sierra Leone.  He started his IOM career in Sierra Leone 2001 in the Resettlement and Movement Operations division. He rose through the ranks, including two stints in charge of Operations in IOM Liberia.  He brings a wealth of experience to IOM Uganda in various aspects of migration management, including resettlement and reintegration, project development, civil-military coordination and camp coordination and migrant protection. Among other critical assignments in his career, he led the IOM Sierra Leone response against Ebola during the most recent outbreak between 2014 and 2016.
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For more information, please contact IOM Uganda Public Information Officer, Richard M Kavuma: ugandapiu@iom.int; +256 772 709917