With migrants becoming a sizable group in societies all over the world, the work of emergency manager is changing. Their efforts to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies increasingly often need to account for the needs and capacities of more diverse communities. 

Working with, and assisting, migrants who may not speak the local language, may not trust local institutions or may not have solid social networks in their places of destination can be challenging, but is key to providing adequate assistance to all affected persons in emergencies. At the same time, leveraging the migrants’ unique knowledge, skills and experiences can be an effective way to ensure inclusive, non-discriminatory provision of services to all people in a community at risk of, or affected by, an emergency. 

To help emergency management institutions in countries of destination include migrants in their work, IOM has developed a manual and a training course that builds on past case studies and experiences to provide a set of indications and tools on key topics, including: understanding the characteristics of local migrant groups, communicating with migrants,  planning for migrants’ evacuation; and assisting migrants before and after emergencies. This manual covers the substantive aspects of these topics.