Are you a journalist or media professional working on refugee issues or have a desire to do so? With nearly 80 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, and rising anti-migrant rhetoric and hate speech, it is imperative to build capacity for reporting on refugee and migration issues ethically and accurately. We are pleased to send you this call for participants for the upcoming “Changing the Narrative” project. The training programme will bring together a group of 12 journalists and media professionals from across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East to develop skills and capacity for reporting on refugee issues.

The programme will help strengthen media coverage of migration and refugee issues through skills building, networking, sharing of experiences, and learning more from experts in this field. The training will take place online in January; on-site visits and other exposure activities may be planned depending on pandemic restrictions.

The deadline to apply is Monday, 15 November at 12:00 noon (CET, Geneva time). Please see http://www.wacceurope.org/projects/changing-the-narrative-on-migration/ and the call for participants for all details and conditions. Please contact project coordinator, Erin Green (erin.green@wacceurope.org) should you have any questions.

The Changing the Narrative training programme is a project of WACC regional associations in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. WACC is a non-governmental organisation that builds on communication rights to promote social justice.

To learn more about WACC, please visit waccglobal.org. See also http://www.wacceurope.org/projects/changing-the-narrative-on-migration/

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency: 70 years protecting people forced to flee.

Kasane, 11-13 October 2021 – UNODC in collaboration with the Department of Defence, Justice and Security convened a Judicial Training of Trainers Against Trafficking in Persons (TiP) in Kasane, Botswana from the 11 to 13 July, which is part of UNODC priorities in the SADC Region in enhancing the capacity of criminal justice practitioners in the response to human trafficking using human and victim centred approaches under the joint UNODC-SADC Regional Programme (2013 -2023). The Regional Programme aims to support the SADC countries to respond to the evolving threats and challenges related to crime, drugs and terrorism in all its manifestations.

The objectives of the training were to strengthen capacity of Judicial officers to effectively address trafficking in persons with a special emphasis on vulnerabilities of victims and the trauma they suffer; strengthen Judicial officers’ understanding of vulnerability and its role in presenting challenges to evidence and using tools that explain psychology and culture with special emphasis on child victims to resolve the evidential challenges; build the capacity of judicial officers on Sentencing principles on anti-trafficking in persons and lastly to build judicial officers capacity on adult learning principles for effective judicial reasoning.

The training workshop was in line with UNODC Strategic Vision for Africa 2030, which aims to provide innovative ways to support Member States and stakeholders over the next 10 years to strengthen crime prevention, enhance the effectiveness of criminal justice systems, counter organized crime and corruption, promote balanced drug control and improve the rule of law. Furthermore, UNODC is committed to gender mainstreaming and exercises a proactive gender perspective in the process of assessing the implications of any planned action for both women and men, hence, the workshop was designed in line with UNODC Gender Strategy.

In the Southern African Development Community (SADC), one unique trend that stands out in the region is that convictions on human trafficking remain low. UNODC has over the years convened Regional Judicial Trainings on Combating Trafficking in Persons for Judges and Magistrates in order to strengthen the adjudication of trafficking in persons cases. The convening of training of trainers for criminal justice practitioners on anti-trafficking in persons remains a key intervention in the response to human trafficking in the region. Hence, such trainings enhance the institutionalization and sustainability of anti-trafficking in persons interventions in the region.

During the official opening of the workshop, Hon. Thomas Mmusi, Minister of Defence, Justice and Security said that “judicial education on emerging crimes like human trafficking is extremely important. Complex legislation which we continue to draft, and other legal issues in today’s world require continual education and training. In addition, increasing media scrutiny also require that our judicial decisions are appropriate, fair and palatable to the general public to whom we account. This Training of Trainers workshop on Combating Trafficking in Persons, is therefore, indicative of Botswana’s efforts to ensure that we have an accountable, highly educated, resourceful and competent judiciary”.

UNODC has over the years provided technical support to the Republic of Botswana on the domestication of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. This support has involved the strengthening the collection and analysis of human trafficking data, supporting the harmonization and operationalization of the Trafficking in Persons Act, building the capacity of criminal justice practitioners on combating trafficking in persons and supporting awareness raising initiatives on combating trafficking in persons.

The outcomes of the workshop include the following: the trained judicial officers will convene workshops whether formal or informal with their colleagues within the next three months; more training on Psycho-social issues related to TIP on the handling of Children and Witnesses will be convened for judicial officers in Botswana as that was identified as a gap during the training; the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security will collaborate with UNODC to develop human trafficking sentencing guidelines.

Group discussion: Human Trafficking case analyses

Furthermore, after the 3-day training of trainers, the participants were able to describe indicators of human trafficking; critical role of Judicial Officers in Human Trafficking cases and understanding the vulnerabilities including victims and witnesses; distinguish human trafficking from smuggling of migrants; discuss current global debates on the element of exploitation and the  issue of consent; describe and apply key sentencing considerations and describe and apply key principles relating to non-criminalization of trafficked persons. The training workshop was attended by Judges and Magistrates from across all Botswana’s districts; officials from the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security, officials from, the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ-Botswana Chapter) and UNODC officials.

This Training of Trainers was held under the Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM) Project which is a model of ONE-UN approach collaborative effort between 4 UN development and humanitarian agencies: the ILO, the IOM, UNODC and UNHCR. The overall objective of this programme is to improve migration management in the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region.

The reality of the COVID-19 virus in the Southern Africa region remains very present. Pressing and multidimensional challenges that arose since the outbreak of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020 continue to be felt by all groups of the population including migrant workers. Migrant domestic workers have been particularly vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic, as many do not have formal contracts or access to social security.

Consequently, the already more severe food insecurity among low-paid workers such as domestic workers worsened during national strict lockdowns for those who had temporarily or permanently lost their employment. In addition, migrant workers often have difficulties accessing government support programs. For example, Human Rights Watch noted in May 2020 that “The South African government’s Covid-19 aid programs, including food parcels, have overlooked refugees and asylum seekers”.[i] Similarly, Botswana media reported that “immigrants were initially excluded from the Botswana government’s food parcels”.[ii]

It is against this background that the International Labour Organization through the Southern Africa Migration Management Project (SAMM) funded by the European Commission launched an income relief activity to benefit migrant domestic workers. This initiative targeting migrant workers was started in Botswana and South Africa during state of emergency and severe lockdown restrictions in the course of 2020. In their calls for help, trade unions and migrant civil society organizations pointed at the serious threat to the survival of groups of migrants, including migrant domestic workers.

Accordingly, and in collaboration with the Botswana Domestic and Allied Workers Union, around four hundred (400) food parcels were distributed to migrant domestic workers in various parts of Botswana. The distribution took place in urban and rural areas in July and August 2020. Foreign nationals working as child minders, cleaners, gardeners and cooks received the relief in the form of food parcels. Many of the beneficiaries were Zimbabwean migrant women working as domestic workers.

In South Africa, more than 900 vulnerable migrant domestic workers living in Gauteng successfully received cash transfer to cover expenses relating to basic needs. These transfers were made available through Izwi Domestic Workers Alliance Project and the Disabled Disabled Migrants Rights Networking Organization. Most recipients used the cash to purchase food for members of their households including school-aged children. Female migrant domestic workers assisted through the ILO income relief grant represent the large majority of the beneficiaries, who included nationals from Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

More recently, assistance was provided to returning migrant domestic workers in Lesotho. Facemasks, sanitizers and food parcels are being distributed to around 180 migrant domestic workers in several districts of the country.

[i] HRW.2020.South Africa: End Bias in Covid-19 Food Aid. www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/20/south-africa-end-bias-covid-19-food-aid

[ii] VAONEWS. 2020.On the Edge of Starvation, Hundreds of Zimbabweans in Botswana Want to Go Home. www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/edge-starvation-hundreds-zimbabweans-botswana-want-go-home

Les 26 et 27 juillet 2021 derniers, un atelier virtuel pour le renforcement du dialogue social tripartite sur la gouvernance de la migration a été organisé à l’hôtel Retaj aux Comores par le Projet SAMM. Financé par la Commission européenne, ce projet de 4 ans vise à améliorer la gestion des migrations dans la région de l’Afrique australe et de l’Océan indien. Le Projet SAMM est mis en œuvre par l’Organisation internationale du Travail (OIT), l’Organisation Internationale pour les Migrations (OIM), l’Office des Nations Unies contre la drogue et le crime (ONUDC) et le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (HCR).

La cérémonie d’ouverture a vu la présence de Monsieur le Ministre de la Jeunesse, de l’Emploi, de la Formation et de l’Insertion professionnelle, des Sports, des Arts et de la Culture, du Vice-président du Mouvement des Entreprises Comoriennes (MODEC), du Secrétaire Général de la Confédération des Travailleuses et Travailleurs Comoriens (CTC), ainsi que du Directeur du Bureau de Antananarivo. Les spécialistes de l’OIT de concert avec les autres agences partenaires ont également appuyé les mandants tripartites par leur expertise surtout lors des discussions sur les enjeux nationaux primordiaux identifiés

Durant les deux jours, plusieurs thèmes ont été abordés dont la situation de la migration de travail à l’Union des Comores, les statistiques de la migration de la main-d’œuvre, les droits des travailleurs, la protection sociale. Les participants ont engagé des discussions sur l’identification des défis majeurs au niveau du pays des recommandations sur la Migration de la Main-d’œuvre et Mixte ont été formulées à l’issue de ces deux jours de Dialogue avec pour objectif d’élaborer une feuille de route pour les prochaines actions afin que le dialogue social soit effectif par rapport à cette gouvernance de la migration