IRL5052

Governance and Policy Making:

The International Context
Dr. Isabelle Calleja Ragonesi
Stud. Emilia Munteanu

IOM Romania,
Problems associated with delivering their product
focusing on relations with state and non-state players and deficiencies of organizational structures

Introduction

International Organizations are intergovernmental bodies with an important role in international relations.
IOM is one of the leading inter-governmental organizations in the field of migration, they promotes humane
and orderly management of migration for the benefit of all. IOMs structure is highly decentralized and this
has enabled them to acquire the capacity to deliver an ever-increasing number and diversity of projects at the
request of its Member States.

My interview with Catalin Bercaru, Project Assistant/Communication for International Organization for
Migration, Office in Romania was enlightening and very much focused of the practicality of the product
delivering process.

IOM Romanian office develops projects targeting the illegal immigrants living in Romania, the Romanian
citizens that plan a long term leave abroad, and the local authorities to better assist the migrants. Further on,
I will focus my presentation on ADMin4ALL, which is an initiative aiming to increase the capabilities of local
administrations and other service providers at the local level.

Relationship with the state is essential for an IO. IOM is in close collaboration with political actors and local
authorities and the NGO network, but also with the donors. They have become significantly more involved in
humanitarian issues and they came with their own agenda.

Both from the literature and from the interview I could extract few challenges, like bureaucracy, lack or
misinterpretation of the law, untrained public officers and funding conditionality.

Everything comes down to the human factor that is reflected in more ways, either in a policy, or in the
interpretation of the law or even in the empathy towards the person in front of you. - Catalin Bercaru,
Spokesperson of the IOM Romanian Office.

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International Organizations

An international organizations can be defined as an institutional agreement between members of an

international system in order to achieve objectives according to systemic conditions, reflecting attributes,
aspirations and concerns of its members (Hanrieder, 1966).

International Organizations are in fact intergovernmental bodies with an important role in international
relations. This is a new concept in the evolution of global policy and governance. Early in the nineteenth
century, the first organizations were created to deal with technical regulations at an international level, like
labor, maritime, mail service. Nowadays, more than 5000 IOs have diverse purposes, from peacemaking to
trade regulations. Couple of these organizations, have so much status that they can compete with big
government states, like UN bodies or World Bank.

The different international relations theories approach international organizations from their own set
assumptions about how the international system works, and the role of international organizations within
their respective positions. Based on how they view the world, international organizations serve a specific role
in international affairs. So, for example, for a theory that advocates power and security, international
organizations may be seen as functioning a particular way given this behavioral characteristic, whereas
someone else who views the international relations theory as something different, could also in turn have a
different perception on international organizations. Thus, it depends on who you ask as to how what role
international organizations serve, as well as their level of effectiveness in the international political system.

Further on, in my interview with the International Organization for Migration, Romanian Office, it can be seen
that, in fact, the states sovereignty in strengthened by the collaboration.

International Organization for Migration

For my example I chose the International Organization for Migration to better understand the complex and
dynamic relationships between them and the local governments, the local NGOs, and supra-national entities.
The reason for my choice is not only because IOM is one of the leading inter-governmental organizations in
the field of migration, but also because they make a point in being flexible and open to adapt to the current
context.

IOM promotes humane and orderly management of migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing
services and advice both to governments and migrants. They understand that it is a strong link between
migration and economic, social and cultural development, so they are actively involved in the right of
freedom of movement of persons. IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management: migration
and development, facilitating migration, regulating migration, and addressing forced migration. Cross-cutting
activities include the promotion of international migration law, policy debate and guidance, protection of
migrants rights, migration health and the gender dimension of migration.

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For getting more information directly from the source, I have interviewed Catalin Bercaru, Project
Assistant/Communication for International Organization for Migration, Office in Romania. His inside of the
organization is very important for understanding the way it works.

The IOM is the ONU organization for migration. We are here to give assistance to the local government to
implement migration policies. The governments have a certain expertise in managing the migration situation
and our organization, because it operates at an international level, has a wider view upon this phenomena.
Therefore, we can propose a diversity of policies and actions that have a concrete application for a certain
issue regarding the complex field of migration.

As he says, there is an overlap of knowledge in management between the two parts. Further on we shall see
if this turns into a competition or a collaboration.

Organizational structure

IOM is an extended organization, its growth over time forced it to change structure and adapt. An overview in
bullet points may give a glimpse of their broad operation:

166 member states

8 observer states
400 field locations
2500 active projects
10,000 field operational staff

IOMs structure is highly decentralized and this has enabled them to acquire the capacity to deliver an ever-
increasing number and diversity of projects at the request of its Member States.

IOMs Field structure is composed of 9 Regional Offices that create strategy plans and give assistance to their
state government; 2 Special Liaison Offices that collaborate with supra-national actors, NGOs and other
multilateral bodies; 2 Administrative Centers that provide technological support and administrative services;
5 Country Offices that are more hands on in the migratory realities of that country and other 4 Country
Offices that are more involved in the fundraising area. In each base country, there is a Country Office and sub-
offices with the role of implementing the projects according to the specific migration needs. In addition to
that, there is the African Capacity Building Centre (ACBC), based in Tanzania, which provides Africa with a
wide technical assistance for migration and border management. IOM has also its own data process center in
Berlin, the Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC).

The existing structure described above is a result of a review of the organizational structure made in 2009 by
the Structure Review Team (SRT). This review came as a necessity to keep up with the current economical
context and the migratory phenomena. At a time when the impact of the economic and financial crisis is
being strongly felt all around the world, it would appear prudent for IOM to reflect on steps that could be
taken to ensure that its organizational structures are so geared as to enable it to continue to fulfil its mandate

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by offering the most effective and efficient service to its Member States and migrants, and to maintain its
place as the global inter-governmental organization in the field of migration. (Review of the Organizational
Structure of IOM, 2009)

The task of evaluating IOMs organizational set up was to propose a new framework that would facilitate a
better coordination within the organization and the use of resources in order to have a more coherent action
plan. In their analysis, SRT observes that many new IOM functions have emerged over the years, while the
existing ones have changed either growing or declining in importance.

I would say that IOM organizational structure is very much related to what Max Weber describes as the
Bureaucracy Model. He says that bureaucracy is a specific administrative structure, which is based on a legal
and rule-oriented authority (Scott, 1998). The way the distribution of work / power is established between
the different members is a first sign.

Strengthening this idea, also, Bercaru states that bureaucracy is a big provocation for the organization. Well,
all the bureaucratic procedures have to be made based on a certain layout of our organization Sometimes is
quite a hassle to reconcile all the stakeholders in order to finish the activity in a timely manner.

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IOM Romania

IOM was established in Romania in 1992 to respond to the information and counseling needs of Romanian
citizens regarding emigration formalities. But in the meantime, IOM Romania has implemented various
national and international cooperation programmes in the field of counter-trafficking in human beings,
migration facilities, refugee assistance, voluntary return, migrant integration, migrants' health and authorities
capacity-building.

There are 21,112 third-country nationals registered in Bucharest, men, women and children; together are
around half of the total number of migrants in Romania. Bucharest has a reception and registration centre for
asylum seekers and the largest accommodation centre for asylum seekers and refugees in Romania, with 470
places. In the last few years, the average of asylum requests was around 1500.

Bercaru offers more details on the tasks at hand. IOM Romanian office develops projects targeting the illegal
immigrants living in Romania, the Romanian citizens that plan a long term leave abroad, and the local
authorities to better assist the migrants.

In this moment, IOM Romania carries out a series of activities for the illegal migrants, on one hand
facilitating their integration in Romania, on the other hand for their return home, if they voluntary choose so.
Also, we work with public institutions, to present the migrants rights and obligations. Other activities we
promote strive to facilitate the integration of migrants in Romania by empowering local organizations and
public authorities.

For such a wide spread of activities, there has to be a proper system in place to deliver the products and to
ensure a good collaboration with the stakeholders.

Product delivering system

IOM has a complex and very well organized system of production and deliverance. One of the interesting
inventions is the projectization. This is something similar to activity-based costing, whereby staff and office
costs associated with implementing a project are charged to projects through a time allocation concept. Every
activity in IOM is assigned a distinct project code. Every project is managed by a project manager to ensure
that projects are monitored in a responsible, transparent and efficient manner.

Like Weber was describing the bureaucracy structure, having a rule-oriented organization, this projectizatin is
a system for evaluating performance of work.

As Bercaru is saying, IOM is an agency that works a lot at the grassroots level. We get involve in policy
making, but big part of our job is working with people, whether they come from NGOs, public institutions or
Migrants. Working simultaneous in both directions, toward the end beneficiary and in policy making and
advocacy, a well-organized delivering system is very important.

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ADMin4ALL

ADMin4ALL or Supporting Active Inclusion of Disadvantaged Migrants in Europe is an initiative that takes
place in Italy, Austria, Poland and Romania and that aims to enhance the capacity of local governments to
develop sustainable strategies for the successful social and economic integration of vulnerable migrants. In
Romania, the representative cities are Bucharest and Cluj Napoca.

The main objective of this project is to increase the capabilities of local administrations and other service
providers at the local level, and in particular their front-line staff, in dealing with the multiple dimensions of
long-term socio-economic inclusion of migrants and refugees at local level. This will be done through a series
of trainings and peer mentoring activities for the local authorities and both governmental and non-
governmental service providers.

IOM Romania spokesperson, Catalin Bercaru, provides us with a bit more flavor the local situation.

The ADMin4ALL program deals with the local authorities, describing to them what are their responsibilities
and rights. Also we try to encourage other emotional characteristics, like empathy, respect toward the person
in front of you, even if it is from another culture. For them this is something new, dealing with migrants, it is
new at a procedural level, but also at a human level. The migrants are a special category of people, and they
presume a special intervention, especially in the first part of their residence in Romania. They dont know how
to breath this country, what is the pace of the society. So, this process is something new both for the migrants
and for the public officers.

In the next few paragraphs, I will show how the relationships with the local and supra-national actors develop
and particularly, how they apply to this specific program.

Relationship with third parties, IOs place in the bigger picture

Relationships of collaboration are imbedded in the structure of the IOs. This is mainly due to the fact that
modern international system has three main architectural features, built in overlapping phases over time. The
first stage concerns the definition of the state as a primary tool of decision in international relations. The
second stage refers to the agreements between states. The third stage consists of the architecture of
multilateral system, having in its core the United Nations.

Over the last two decades, the international community has increasingly become so interconnected and
interdependent due to the rapid progress in technology and the development of economic integration
processes. The recent economic crisis has revealed the weaknesses and shortages of cooperation in the
global economy and only the diplomatic consensus has led to the adoption of urgent solutions. The challenge
of international organizations and their role in the global economy is very connected to the global economic
governance approach.

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 IOM is not floating in the air. It is in close collaboration with political actors and local authorities and the
NGO network. says Bercaru in the interview.

Since the relationships are such an important part in the life of IOs, we can assume that the politics of
diplomacy is built, carried out and mutually used by all the actors. But, then the question arises: After all this
investment, how are all the interests managed? Are they hierarchized based on the ranking on the global
arena? And what priority holds the interest of the end beneficiary, for example the migrants?

Relationship with state government

A big question deriving from the intervention of an International Organization in a country is related to the
states sovereignty. In his book, Samuel Barkin, develops a system of analysis in order to evaluate the
International Organization and their impact in the international political arena. The conclusion is simple: Are
IOs fundamentally changing the way in which international relations work? Yes. (Barkin, Samuel, 2006,
International Organization: Theories and Institutions). Now, from this idea one can believe that the states
identity is losing importance in the face of such an important multilayered actor like an IOs, but, this is not so.
After analyzing the sovereignty, power, trade, development, human rights and institutions, the response is
clear: States sovereignty is intact.

We can see clear in the IOMs strategic focus that five out of twelve points are relating to assisting and
empowering the state government.

Here are the extras of the strategic focus plan:

No.3 To offer expert advice, research, technical cooperation and operational assistance to States,
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders, in order to build national
capacities and facilitate international, regional and bilateral cooperation on migration matters.

No.4 To contribute to the economic and social development of States through research, dialogue, design and
implementation of migration-related programmes aimed at maximizing migration's benefits.

No.8 To assist States to facilitate the integration of migrants in their new environment and to engage
diasporas, including as development partners.

No.11 To assist States in the development and delivery of programmes, studies and technical expertise on
combating migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, in particular women and children, in a manner
consistent with international law.

No.12 To support the efforts of States in the area of labor migration, in particular short term movements, and
other types of circular migration.

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Collaboration with the state is essential for an IO. Using Bercarus own words Our organization, like any
other IO, comes in support of the national state. So, even if the end beneficiaries are the migrants, the
product arrives to them through the filter of the governments structure. Talking about their relationship with
the General Inspectorate for Migration, which is a part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Bercaru continues:
This relationship has been welded in twenty years, reaching to some very complex work formulas. We have
come to build, in the last 15 years of collaboration with the General Inspectorate for Migration, a work system
that relies a lot on institutional trust.

Relationship with civil society & intermediary organizations

In May 2016 IOM Romania, in partnership with AIDROM and three other organisations, launched the project
INTERACT Integrated services for migrants, social and multicultural dialogue, which aims at promoting a
one-stop-shop approach in the delivery of information and services for migrants in cooperation with public
institutions and with the private sector.

From Bercarus interview we can extract the main challenges relating with the local entities. Some
challenges are also coming from the legal perspective. Other problems come from the interpretation of the
legal framework, by the local authorities Then is the issue of the people.

The interesting part is that relationships are working even in this situation. For example, responding to the
Romanian language courses problem, some of the NGOs came up with the solution of alternative classes.
Also, for the situation of officers lack of experience and tolerance, the solution came as a result of IOMs
relationship with the local authorities to create a mentoring partnership.

Not all the problems can be fixed, as even Bercaru is saying Sometimes we reach an agreement, sometimes
no, but we always come and sit at the table of negotiation. The relationship is not all honey and milk, there
are ups and downs, but we still go in the right direction ahead.

What is mostly interesting about multilayered collaboration is that the organization can use one relationship
to fix another challenging relationship.

Relationship with supra-national organizations

IOM is a subsidiary organization of the UN body. Therefore, the relationship with the other sister organization
is essential not only for the good unfolding of IOMs services, but also for the success of the UN system.

Migration now features increasingly on the UN agenda, and in the work programmes of a large number of
multilateral forums, including those dealing with human rights, trade and the environment. It is at the centre
of the concerns of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which IOM assists by hosting its Support
Unit. It is also increasingly the focus of Regional Consultative Processes in all regions of the world, with IOM

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providing upon request a wide range of support services. Beyond all the internal justifications for structural
reform, therefore, is the need for IOM to be equipped and organized to enable it to contribute
comprehensively and effectively to international endeavors in the field of migration.

Using the example of the emergency transit center, Bercaru, as the representative of IOM Romania is
describing how they work together with UNHCR and the state government.

In the framework of this program, even if there is a common management, the activities are very clearly
defined. IOM handles the transportation from and to the center, including the medical tests and all the
necessary papers. UNHCR deals with the day to day life inside the center and all the issues that come with
that. The General Inspectorate for Migration offers the legal frame for the appropriate unfolding of the
activities.

Relationship with donors

Bercarus declaration at the end of the interview was surprising:

In the moment we win the project, the biggest constrain comes from the initial request that the donor had.
For example, the donor wants a specific thing, and then we are obligated to say that we can achieve that
specific thing but also we can add extra value to that. Based on our experience so far, we propose to provide
within the same project, some activities that bring more benefits to the beneficiaries. These suggestions are
usually rejected.
All along I was analyzing the relationships at different levels of national-international cooperation, just to find
out that actually the biggest problems are coming from the donors. But if the point is to keep donors
convinced that their money is being well spent, then why are they opposing the organizations expertize.
At the same time, donors have become significantly more involved in humanitarian issues (Macrae et al,
2002)
Since we discuss the state sovereignty facing the intervention of the IO, I wonder if we should not talk also
about the sovereignty of the IO in front of the donor just as much.

Organizational change

In order to be successful an organization has to respond to developments and stimuli in its environment and
has to adapt to these. If it does not do so, it will fail and maybe threatened to become less relevant or to die.

Migration has undergone considerable change in scope and volume over the last 10 years. Patterns of
migratory movement have diversified so much that most countries of the world are simultaneously countries
of origin, of transit and of destination. Migration has consequently become a major international issue, one
that interacts closely with a number of other policy domains, including development, trade, security, human
rights and the environment. In the meantime, the Organization has grown exponentially in terms of its

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outreach, membership, budget and staff numbers, but the organizational structure has not kept pace with
this growth.

Internal processes may explain the related agency. In Beyond the Nation-State (1964) Ernst Haas explains this
by the internal and external leadership of an IOs secretary-general as someone controlling the bureaucratic
apparatus and acting as an international politician representing the interests of the IO. Barnett and
Finnemore, who in Rules for the World (2004) understand an IO as a bureaucracy, explain that an IO is an
authority in its own right because of the missions it pursues and because of the ways it pursues them.

It is interesting to see this adaptation process, in the example of IOM Romania. Only glimpses can be
recognized through the interview I had with their representative. He talks about the complicated bureaucracy
that has to be made in order to please all the different stakeholders. one of the biggest challenges is that
our work is doubled if not tripled, because we have to respect the rules of the IOM headquarters and also the
national rules. Can you imagine, for example, that every budget has to be made in two or three styles, and
there are a lot of translations on top of that.

The solution, or better said, their escape is found in the use of their status in order to joggle the relationships
and cut the red tape. This situation can facilitate a much flexible relationship when it comes to bureaucracy.
This institutional prestige can be used to take things to a higher level.

Theories of international organization suggest two primary ways in which IOs can improve cooperation
among states: by improving the efficiency of cooperation among states that recognize cooperative interests
and by making the perceived interests of states more cooperative (Barkin, 2006). In IOMs case, I believe that
they implement change by working on the governments interest at the local level; at least this is my
conclusion for Bercarus interview. But, in the same time, the Review of the Organizational Structure made in
2009 at the request of the Director General of IOM is proof that they also work to improve the cooperation
between the state members, so everyone has an equal opportunity to give their input.

Conclusion

Everything comes down to the human factor that is reflected in more ways, either in a policy, or in the
interpretation of the law or even in the empathy towards the person in front of you. This is an excerpt from
the interview with Catalin Bercaru, Spokesperson of the IOM Romanian Office.

As a conclusion I wanted to use this quote, not to discard the importance of the inter-organizational
cooperation and not because the relationship challenges are not fundamental, but more even to underline
the complexity of this multilayered system in which an IO is functioning.

All the challenges mentioned above, like bureaucracy, lack or misinterpretation of the law, untrained public
officers and donors agenda, have in common the human factor. Whether is the willingness to negotiate and
move forward or the openness facing a new thing, personal attitude is the key factor in every step of
delivering the product.

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References

Structure Review Team & International Organization for Migration, 2009, ADMIN4ALL - research
report, for highlighting the situation in the 12 municipalities and staff training needs
http://oim.ro/attachments/article/540/admin4all_scoping_study.pdf

Laegaard, J. & Bindslev, M. 2006, Organizational Theory, Ventus Publishing ApS

Paul, T.V. & Barkin, J.S. 2011, "Realist Constructivism: Rethinking International Relations
Theory", Canadian Journal of Political Science, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 980-981.

Barkin, J.S 2006, International Organization. Theories and Institutions, Palgrave Macmillan

Paul Clarke, P. & Ramalingam, B. 2008, Organisational change in the humanitarian sector, ALNAP

International Organization for Migration, official website, http://www.iom.int/

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Interview with Catalin Bercaru, Project Assistant/Communication for International Organization for
Migration, Office in Romania, 02.14.2017, via Skype

1. Who is IOM?

The IOM is the ONU organization for migration. Our organization is an international organization, which
means that it is a support for national governments. We are here to give assistance to the local government
to implement migration policies. The governments have a certain expertise in managing the migration
situation and our organization, because it operates at an international level, has a wider view upon this
phenomena. Therefore, we can propose a diversity of policies and actions that have a concrete application for
a certain issue regarding the complex field of migration.

2. What are the services that IOM facilitates at this moment in Romania?

In this moment, IOM Romania carries out a series of activities for the illegal migrants, on one hand facilitating
their integration in Romania, on the other hand for their return home, if they voluntary choose so. Also, we
work with public institutions, to present the migrants rights and obligations. Other activities we promote
strive to facilitate the integration of migrants in Romania by empowering local organizations and public
authorities. There are some organizations that didnt work with migrants at all, whether it is a local city hall or
a social service office. Practically, we come in their support, both migrants and local authorities, explaining to
both parties what are their rights and responsibilities. To be more precise, we translate to them what local
institutions have to do for the migrants and what migrants have to do to integrate better.

Likewise, IOM Romania has a medical department that promotes activities for prevention and supporting
public health, but there are facilitated also medical tests for the Romanian Migrants that want to go for long
term in Canada, New Zeeland or Australia. Here are completed also the medical reports for the refugees that
transit Romania through the transit centers, like the one in Timisoara. For example, if a refugee family living
in a camp in Turkey is to be relocated in USA, they come to the transit center where they go through a series
of procedures, including medical controls. The emergency transit center is the first one in the world, now
there is one more in Slovenia. The center is managed by IOM, Romanian government and UNHCR.

ADMin4ALL is a program that targets the public authorities in cities with a significant number of migrants. We
transmit them competencies and abilities to work with migrants. For them this is something new, dealing
with migrants, it is new at a procedural level, but also at a human level. The migrants are a special category of
people, and they presume a special intervention, especially in the first part of their residence in Romania.

They dont know how to breath this country, what is the pace of the society. So, this process is something
new both for the migrants and for the public officers. The ADMin4ALL program deals with the local
authorities, describing to them what are their responsibilities and rights. Also we try to encourage other

12
emotional characteristics, like empathy, respect toward the person in front of you, even if it is from another
culture.

In parallel, there are programs through which the migrants are informed and guided how to integrate in the
Romanian society.

3. What is your collaboration with the government looks like?

Our organization, like any other IO, comes in support of the national state. These states, when they are in
need of help, they come and ask for assistance. The situation does not have to be only like this, need driven.
The IOs, when they see a problem, or an issue that can be improved, they themselves come towards the state
government, actually to the specialized structure within the government.

In our case, we work a lot with the General Inspectorate for Migration (IGI), which is a part of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs. As we come in assisting the migrants, a lot of what we implement would be impossible
without the support of the government. This relationship has been welded in twenty years, reaching to some
very complex work formulas.

As I was saying, there is a program through which, the migrants that reside illegally in Romania, receive help
to return home, if so they choose voluntary. We have come to build, in the last 15 years of collaboration with
the General Inspectorate for Migration, a work system that relies a lot on institutional trust.

Therefore, IOM is not floating in the air. It is in close collaboration with political actors and local authorities
and the NGO network. IOM is an agency that works a lot at the grassroots level. We get involve in policy
making, but big part of our job is working with people, whether they come from NGOs, public institutions or
Migrants.

4. How is the collaboration with the local authorities, what challenges have you encountered so far?

Some challenges are also coming from the legal perspective. For example, one of the problems is that the
Romanian language courses in Bucharest are done only in one school. The course starts in September and
continues for one year without breaks. Therefore, for a person that arrives in Romania, lets say, in February,
is very difficult to adjust to that level. For this situation, at least in Bucharest, they are few NGOs that develop
Romanian languages classes in parallel. The advantage is that these courses are much more flexible and
better adjusted to the educational level of migrant.

Other problems come from the interpretation of the legal framework, by the local authorities. For instance, it
is very difficult to make public health insurance for the refugees. The law states, but not explicitly, but the
interpretation of the Health Department is that the person has to pay also from back, prior to the date of the
application. This is of course totally illogical, because, six months back, the migrant was not even in Romania.

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Then is the issue of the people, the officers that have never encounter a situation like this, having to deal with
the foreigners. Some of the officers, in small cities, do not even recognize the official documents, because
they are new for them, and if the migrant has a different culture background, than the situation gets even
more complicated.

Even so, both challenges can be overcome, but the process depends on the openness of each and every
person and if the institutions are willing to solve the situation or not. Everything comes down to the human
factor that is reflected in more ways, either in a policy, or in the interpretation of the law or even in the
empathy towards the person in front of you.

5. In relationship with IGI, the General Inspectorate for Migration, how did it grow since twenty years ago?

Comparing with the beginning, when we were working punctual on certain project with the implication of
one or two people, the discussions were much more targeted on what to do and how can we do better.
Now, there are so much more projects, with more complex and deep subjects. So, as you can imagine, this
program cannot unroll without a relationship of total collaboration. This means that when a problem rises,
we gather, talk and negotiate, because both of us know the situation at the grassroots and we try to find a
solution.

Sometimes we reach an agreement, sometimes no, but we always come and sit at the table of negotiation.
The relationship is not all honey and milk, there are ups and downs, but we still go in the right direction
ahead.

6. How is the relationship with the supra-national partners?

I will use as an example the emergency transit center which is administrated by IOM Romania, UNHCR and
the General Inspectorate for Migration. In the framework of this program, even if there is a common
management, the activities are very clearly defined. IOM handles the transportation from and to the center,
including the medical tests and all the necessary papers. UNHCR deals with the day to day life inside the
center and all the issues that come with that. The General Inspectorate for Migration offers the legal frame
for the appropriate unfolding of the activities.

7. What challenges rise inside the organization structures, and how do you deal with them?

Well, all the bureaucratic procedures have to be made based on a certain layout of our organization.
Therefore, one of the biggest challenges is that our work is doubled if not tripled, because we have to respect
the rules of the IOM headquarters and also the national rules. Can you imagine, for example, that every

14
budget has to be made in two or three styles, and there are a lot of translations on top of that. Sometimes is
quite a hassle to reconcile all the stakeholders in order to finish the activity in a timely manner.

In the same time, our organization, being the local branch of an international organization, has certain
privileges and benefits. This situation can facilitate a much flexible relationship when it comes to bureaucracy.
So, there is a lot of red tape, but we also have stateliness when we sit at the negotiation table with the
Association of Filipinos, but also with the foreign affairs minister. This institutional prestige can be used to
take things to a higher level.

8. In order to deliver a product, at the level that you know is best, which direction is the biggest challenge
coming from: local authorities, supra-national entities or the end beneficiary?

I will bring in the discussion something that is very important, finances and budgets. Our organization is
totally self-sustainable and survives from the projects. Along the years, we gain quite an expertise. Therefore,
being projects with European financing, under the administration of the General Inspectorate for Migration,
the donor says that we should do this and this for the migrants. And then, the NGOs that are willing to do the
activities, apply for the project. In that case, we come and say, we can do this, this and this for the same
budget.

In the moment we win the project, the biggest constrain comes from the initial request that the donor had.
For example, the donor wants a specific thing, and then we are obligated to say that we can achieve that
specific thing but also we can add extra value to that. Based on our experience so far, we propose to provide
within the same project, some activities that bring more benefits to the beneficiaries.

These suggestions are usually rejected. So, the greatest constrain comes from whatever it is desired by the
one that gives the money. All the other challenges are elements that carry a lot of work but are manageable.

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