Peer To Peer Education: Empowering Young Ethiopians to Make Informed Decisions About Migration

East Hararghe, Ethiopia – Yatu School is nestled in a remote and mountainous area in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. There are over three hundred pupils who attend the school between the ages of 6 to 15.

Students learn all the subjects in Ethiopia’s national curriculum. But the teaching goes much further, and to subjects much broader. At Yatu School students are also taught about migration. In particular, the dangers of irregular migration – the attempt to migrate without the required documentation. Students are also made aware of the dangers and risks of being trafficked or smuggled. The teaching is part of a peer education programme, where young students teach and talk to other students about this sensitive subject.

Migration is particularly important issues in this region because every year thousands of young Ethiopians from the Oromia region, including students, are driven to migrate irregularly due to poverty, the region is one of  the poorest in the country. Unemployment, a lack of opportunities, and increasingly climate change and environmental degradation also drive irregular migration. Many young people head towards the Gulf countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, via Yemen. They are exploited by people traffickers who charge exorbitant fees to get them to the Gulf. They face danger, violence and other abuses along the way.

Evidence shows the peer to peer learning approach to be one of best strategies to educate the youth about migration, and in particular, irregular migration. The programme is supported by IOM Ethiopia with financial support from KSrelief.

One of the students leading the peer education classes is 17-year-old Taju. A few months ago, he participated in a training organized by IOM, the International Organization for Migration, and funded by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief). The programme is designed to ensure that young people gain the skills and knowledge to make well-informed decisions about migration, in a familiar environment, school. And the many risks associated with travelling irregularly.

The peer to peer education on migration strategy also supports government efforts to address irregular migration, through its own behavioural change communication campaign.

Another important initiative running in tandem to the peer to peer programme is facilitating dialogue through community conversations, which gather community leaders and members and provides them with a space to talk about irregular migration, human trafficking, and smuggling, with those who might have experienced it firsthand. Community conversations are contributing to promoting regular migration pathways and to stimulate counter-trafficking initiatives at the grassroots level by the community.

“By strengthening of the role of community leaders and members, Community Conversations have encouraged proactive thinking and community-led actions. Participants took a proactive role in mobilizing their communities, by sharing information on available resources and opportunities in their communities and taking a more active role in decision-making processes,” says Liyunet Demsis, National Community Outreach Officer for IOM Ethiopia.

This initiative is funded by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief).