Community Conversations (CC) is an IOM flagship program that provides a platform for local communities to discuss reliable and regular information on challenges of irregular migration enabling them to access information on alternative livelihood options, including legal labour migration channels.

Under this program, IOM conducted a Community Conversation Facilitators Training in Jimma zone, Oromia Regional States for 3 woredas and 25 kebeles. The selected locations are irregular migration hotspots whereby migrants primarily take the eastern migratory route: heading to Djibouti, Yemen and onwards to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or other oil-rich Gulf countries.

During the training, a total of 60 (34=male, 26=females) community facilitators from government staff  of the Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs (BoLSA) and woreda administrators attended the three day training from 31 May – 02 June 2016 in Jimma town.

IOM aims to enhance and strengthen the existing Community Conversation activities through community based Behavioral Change and Communication to help communities make well-informed decisions on migration underlining that humane and orderly migration benefits all.  

Specifically, the training is based on the IOM community conversation manual tailored to communities at grassroots level within the Ethiopian context and is delivered using participatory methods that encourage participants to contribute their experiences in relation to TIPs, people smuggling and irregular migration practices in their respective places.

“Community Conversation sessions have encouraged communities to build resilience and promote social cohesion through finding home-grown solutions to address challenges of irregular migration”, states Liyunet Demsis, National Programme Officer in IOM Ethiopia.

The training was organized by IOM and Regional and Zonal Social and Labor Affairs under the Population Refugee and Migration (PRM) project entitled “Horn/Gulf of Aden/Yemen: Improving Protection of Migrants, Phase VI”.

As part of a comprehensive approach, IOM Ethiopia is actively engaged in sensitizing the public through other avenues and channels, including peer education, forum theater, and media campaigns with tailored messages for specific groups.