Ecuador 2019

Together with the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration, ICMPD (under the MIEUX initiative) deployed this social marketing tool in attempting to influence the behaviour of different segments of the population (young people, students, women, would-be migrants, etc.) in relation to a campaign on trafficking and illegal recruitment. Social marketing campaigns are designed to influence the target group’s actions and adopt a new behaviour or change a current behaviour which affects the target group in a negative way.

The Crisis Communication Plan in the field of irregular migration was devised with the participation of a wide range of governmental actors and institutions at local and central levels.

Within the EU-funded ENIGMMA project, implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), project team together with Georgian state institutions and stakeholders in the destination country started a practice of joint development of legal residence guidelines for Georgian migrants in several destination countries (Greece, Spain and Italy). On the Georgian side, the Georgian Diaspora department within MFA is involved, alongside the State Commission on Migration Issues, the Consular Department of MFA, and consular services abroad.

Good communication can be a powerful tool in support of migrant integration. The “Communicating on Migrant Integration” website of the OECD Network of Communication Officers on Migration (NETCOM) makes available articles and good practice examples on the topic.

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, launched the MigrantApp (MigApp) in 2017, the first pilot of an IOM global initiative to provide information to facilitate regular, safe, and orderly migration using mobile devices.

Governments at the local level, while often lacking a voice in setting immigration policy, are responsible for many concrete aspects of migration, from the organization and use of public spaces to the development of affordable housing, and plans to meet the social, cultural, religious, and other needs of diverse communities. An example of this is the “DiverseCity” campaign in New York, which presents immigration as part of the city’s identity and richness. 

In order to better deal with inclusion and integration, Mexico conducted an assessment to identify institutional competencies and attributions at different levels of government, analyze competences, identify the needs of institutions and migrants respectively, and streamline service provision across the country based on available resources for migrants’ care. The assessment enabled the Government to identify key partnerships based on the data collected through the assessment.

Ecuador has put in place the National Human Mobility Round Table involving a wide range of actors (ministries, public agencies, CSO, academia, UN agencies, business) to work on various issues and identify solutions, including on inclusion. Coordination among central government, provinces and regional actors aims to ensure the application of public policies at different levels of administration;

The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees is a document providing an assessment of higher education qualifications designed for refugees, including those who cannot fully document their qualifications. This initiative has inspired a UNESCO led initiative to establish a Global Qualifications Passport for Refugees and Migrants.

Mexico has been implementing programs to evaluate and certify middle skilled workers for migrants with relatively lower levels of formal education but who have acquired significant and complex skills through on-the-job learning. Migrants that fit this profile include, for example, skilled construction workers, experienced garment manufacturers, workers in the high-end service and hospitality industry, and home-health care providers.