Tenkodogo - “I am the slave who slams to save souls.

I am the slave who slams to wipe tears,

the slave who slams to extinguish flames

and to make life rosy through his rhymes,

verses and proses”, slams Serge Pawintoré Guébré, a high school student from Tenkodogo, in Center East Burkina Faso.

Serge is the winner of the slam competition "Youth, migration and social cohesion" organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to raise awareness on the dangers of irregular migration in Tenkodogo, one of the main migration-prone region in the West African country. More than 2,000 youths from Tenkodogo and nearby towns attended the event last week.

Due to a precarious economic situation, as well as social and cultural factors pressuring youths to leave the country as a way of gaining social capital. In 2018, 56% of the migrants who voluntarily returned to Burkina Faso through the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration support came from that region.

"In recent years, we have had more and more students drop out of school to embark on the adventure. This competition is really welcome because it contributes not only to raising awareness among our children, but also to reinforce the culture of academic excellence", said Julien Yougbaré Central East Regional Director of Secondary Education.

The slam competition was organized as part of the FasoNooma (“Burkina Faso is Good”) awareness raising campaign implemented by IOM in Burkina Faso and funded by the EU-IOM Joint Initiative. As part of the campaign, IOM partnered with local and traditional actors, including community leaders, a local theatre troupe and regional authorities, to establish a network of community mobilizers. So far, more than 36,000 youths have been reached through these activities.

"If only I had known that migrating meant risking my life, and that I would be humiliated from head to toe, I would have stayed in my country, taken a calabash of mile beer and dance over traditional music and dance to the rhythm of traditional music Then I would work the land that buries my ancestors,” Serge concludes.

In Tenkodogo, IOM implements the “Youth, Employment and Migration” project which promotes youth entrepreneurship and provides funding for micro-businesses set-up by youths in the region. 750 youths have been trained in entrepreneurship as part of this project, among which 375 received technical and vocational training, as well as funds to set-up their businesses.

For more information, please contact at IOM Burkina Faso Marie Stella Ndiaye : email : msndiaye@iom.int; Tél : (+226) 56587471 ; Emmanuel KANSIE : email : bekansie@iom.int; Tél : (+226) 74938024