Accra – Last week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ghana organized a training for 59 community influencers in the Bono and Bono East regions, two migration-prone areas in the country.

Since May 2017, IOM has assisted over 1,260 migrants to voluntarily return to Ghana and reintegrate into their communities. Engaging directly with community influencers allows to ensure that these leaders are able to help potential migrants in making informed decisions; understanding the risks and the available regular pathways better; as well as knowing their rights in the migratory process. Furthermore, the engagement of the leaders can help reduce stigmatisation returnees often experience.

One of the training participants, a teacher in the Dormaa community, confirmed her commitment to the initiative, saying: “It is sad to see that young people risk their lives and even die in search of greener pastures. As community members we have a responsibility, and that’s why we will actively engage with potential and returned migrants which will eventually benefit the community at large.”

The community influencers include respected traditional authorities, religious leaders, leaders of youth groups and other associations, staff of social welfare, medical practitioners, assembly men and women, teachers as well as returned migrants.

“It is key to involve people at the grassroot level who have impactful social footprint to educate their community on safe migration,” said Collins Yeboah, IOM Ghana Community Outreach Assistant. “These influencers occupy important and respected positions in the community and are always in direct contact with their community members. We expect that with the skills acquired during the training, they will be able to raise awareness of the risks of irregular migration and promote safe migration,” he added.   

Additionally, IOM empowers the influencers to identify psychological distress in returned migrants by providing information about basic psychological first aid and how to appropriately refer them to specialised services. “Stigmatisation deeply affects the wellbeing of returnees, and the communities need to be sensitised about it,” explained Robert Ketor, IOM Psychosocial Project Assistant (Clinical Psychologist).

The training is a collaboration between the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration, funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), and the “Assistance to Ghanaian Returnees and Potential Migrants” project, supported by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the German Corporation for International Development (GIZ).

Since the launch of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative in May 2017, IOM Ghana has undertaken 107 awareness raising activities involving community events, awareness raising sessions in schools, via radio and TV programmes, focus group discussions as well as trainings of journalists and community influencers with an estimated total reach of over 138,000 people. 

For more information, please contact Collins Yeboah at IOM Ghana, Tel: +233208268289, Email: cyeboah@iom.int.