Objective 17: Eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse to shape perceptions of migration

At the beginning of 2020, at the proposal of Canada, the GFMD Steering Group endorsed the creation of a Hoc working Group on Public Narratives on Migration.

Ambulante Film Festival uses documentary film as a tool for social and cultural change. Ambulante brings documentary films and training programs to places where they are rarely available in order to foster a cultural exchange, encourage a participative, informed and critical attitude in audiences, and open new channels of expression in Mexico and abroad. For the past 15 years they have been producing and showcasing stories about migrants, their families and communities.

Initially a citizen movement, SINGA creates opportunities for refugees and their host communities to meet and cooperate. Their aim is to build bridges between people, encouraging dialogue, fostering cultural enrichment and creating job opportunities. 

SINGA seeks to create opportunities for in-person interaction and dialogue between refugees and host community members to change perceptions about refugees and asylum seekers. 

On the occasion of International Migrants’ Day, as part of a global call to Stand Up for Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Office launched in 2017 a series of animated videos to amplify the voices of migrants, the communities that welcome them and the conversations they have along the way. 

This campaign shared stories in video format of British public figures talking about their refugee heritage (or, “refugenes”) with pride. The purpose of the campaign was to show how past refugees have become part of the fabric of British society in the present day. In addition to circulating videos of public figures, the campaign included a call to action inviting members of the general public to share stories from their own family trees about finding safety in the UK as a refugee. 

The UN Migration Agency’s Global Migration Film Festival  (GMFF) showcases films that capture the promise and challenge of migration for two weeks every December.  Migration is at the heart of storytelling and the festival. As a partnership between IOM, governments and universities, the GMFF can stimulate healthy debate about integration through the lens of independent filmmakers.

The “Mein Deutschland” (My Germany) campaign, launched by Deutschlandstiftung Integration in 2019, used the 70th anniversary of the German constitution as an opportunity to build inclusion and support for migrants by emphasizing shared values. 

 It incorporated a strong storytelling component through its use of personal narratives communicated through images, articles and videos of individuals with an immigration background that can be shared across multiple media platforms. 

The Second National Integration Plan for Costa Rica 2018 - 2022, emerges as a propositive response to guide the country's actions over the next few years in terms of integration of the migrant and refugee population. The initiative is based on the framework of the initiative MIgration EU eXpertise (MIEUX) funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).

Welcoming International is an expansion of the non-profit NGO Welcoming America. It aims to foster cultures and policy environments which create welcoming communities for newcomers of all backgrounds to fully participate in the social, civic and economic life of their place of residence. Welcoming International takes a local approach, working with institutions across a community to reduce barriers immigrants face to fully participating, rather than focusing on a single program or service. 

The city of Mannheim in Germany is developing a ‘living together in diversity’ alliance across over 300 local actors including schools, cultural centres, sports centres, etc. with a view to jointly deciding, with all including migrants, how society would like to ‘live together’.