This publication provides guidance for carrying out planning processes related to the protection and assistance of migrants vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse. The objective is to strengthen strategic and operational responses and thereby to improve protection and assistance at the local, national and transnational levels. This Guidance should be considered as complementing the IOM Handbook on Protection and Assistance for Migrants Vulnerable to Violence, Exploitation and Abuse (hereafter the IOM Handbook).

The Guidance is intended for government officials and practitioners working on migrant protection and assistance worldwide. It can be applied in countries of origin, transit and destination, and in developing and developed contexts. Given that countries face different challenges when it comes to migrant protection and assistance and have various capacities and service delivery models, it would be impossible to come up with a one- size-fits-all solution; the Guidance is therefore intended as a general blueprint and is not region- or country-specific.

According to the IOM Handbook, “the term ‘migrant vulnerable to violence, exploitation or abuse’ means a migrant or group of migrants exposed to or with experience of violence, exploitation or abuse within a migration context and with limited capability to avoid, resist, cope or recover, as a result of the unique interaction of individual, household/family, community and structural characteristics and conditions”. The IOM Handbook also states that “the term ‘migrant’ does not refer to refugees, asylum seekers or stateless persons, for whom specific protection regimes exist under international law, but it may refer to victims of trafficking in persons and smuggled migrants, who also benefit from particular protection regimes under international and national law”. The term “vulnerable migrant” – used for stylistic purposes throughout this publication – should be understood to mean migrants vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse.

The Guidance has been drawn up as part of the project entitled Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT), a joint initiative undertaken by the European Union and UNODC. The project is being implemented in partnership with IOM and UNICEF in 13 countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

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