Lome, Togo – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Togo launched on 11 June a two-week  awareness-raising campaign on alternatives to irregular migration. The campaign is implemented in partnership with LYSD-Milédou, an association that offers young people a framework for personal development within their communities through sport, as a trigger for leadership, community engagement and exchange.  

The campaign aims at raising awareness among young Togolese, their families, and their communities about irregular migration and promotes regular migration pathways and economic opportunities. The campaign targeted migration-prone areas  such as Anie, Sokode, Tchamba, Sotouboua, Aneho, Tabligbo, Kouve, Djarkpanga, Bassar, Dapaong, Binah, in the centre of the country.

Building on its network of educators and young people present in these 11 cities and villages of Togo, LYSD-Milédou joined IOM in the campaign to sensitize Togolese youth about the opportunities of success at home and to offer them through sport, a safe space for personal development and community exchange.

To rally young people around migration questions, basketball games and court renovations, group discussions with returnees, radio broadcasts of migrant testimonies in local languages, and screenings of the film " Champs des oubliés (Fields of the Forgotten)" which displays the reality of youth immigration in Africa, were organized.

"Everything they need to be happy is at home and giving them the means to access those opportunities and exchanging with them is the only solution that will make them understand it," says Samuel Nadeau, former professional basketball player and educator for the association, honorary guest of the awareness campaign.

Through initiatives led by IOM and the LYSD-Milédou association, more than 5,000 young people and 40 community leaders were made aware of the alternatives to irregular migration.

"This campaign has helped young people understand that they have the opportunity to achieve something at home but also develop their talent and seize opportunities within their community. Also, these young people now know where to get the right information if they chose to migrate", explains Yawavi Ankou, Senior Project Assistant for IOM Togo.

These activities were carried out within the framework of the Africa Regional Migration Program (ARMP) funded by the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) of the US State Department.

For more information, please contact Ankou Yawavi Mawusé at IOM Togo, e-mail: yankou@iom.int, tel: 00228 91 60 78 69/98 90 24 88.

For more information about the Association: MiLéDou — LYSD Project https://www.facebook.com/lysdproject