Since the spread of the Coronavirus, as soon as someone coughs or catches a cold, people distance themselves from that person. So when someone catches a cold or the coronavirus, the person is shunned and so they feel isolated, which makes them feel lonely.

To fight such stigmatization, an advisory was sent to IOM staff about the modes of transmission of the virus. To protect ourselves while continuing carrying out the duty of assisting migrants.

-  Aichatou Hassane, IOM staff in Niger.