Under the guidance of ICMPD Director General Michael Spindelegger, the organisation saw a significant growth in staff, projects and financing. ICMPD was also able to gain three new member states and increase its presence in the field.
In January 2016, Michael Spindelegger was elected ICMPD Director General for the first time and served his first term from 2016-2020. Following re-appointment by the ICMPD Steering Group, he takes on his second term, starting 1 January, 2021.
When Michael Spindelegger first took office, the organisation counted 15 Member States. In 2018, first Malta joined ICMPD, and then Turkey, followed by Germany, who joined the organisation most recently in 2020. The membership of these countries is proof of the far-reaching impact that ICMPD has been able to demonstrate in recent years.
This impact is also reflected by the number of new regional offices that have been opened across Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean Region, the Silk Routes countries and the Middle East since 2016, growing from 19 duty stations to 30 worldwide. Numerous country cooperation agreements, alongside a lean organisation structure, ensure that ICMPD staff can carry out their duties in the field stations in the most efficient way. The growth is reflected by the number of ICMPD staff members, which rose from under two hundred people in 2016 to close to four hundred in 2020 – doubling capacity.
Finally, ICMPD’s impact under the leadership of Michael Spindelegger can be assessed by its financial figures. More than 60 projects carried out worldwide operated on an overall annual budget of 60 M. euros in 2020. In 2016, the organisation was operating with approximately 20 M. euros. The annual budget has tripled within just four years.
ICMPD Director of Policy, Research and Strategy, Lukas Gehrke, has been reappointed as Deputy Director General.