Discrimination and Xenophobia

This case study forms part of a series of case studies on good practices, lessons learnt and recommendations extracted from the projects supported by the UN Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) to enhance migration management for local development. The experience of the JMDI shows that the most effective initiatives are anchored with local or regional authorities and carried out in a multi-stakeholder and participatory approach, including migrants and migrants’ associations or diaspora.

In 2015, UNAOC launched an anti-hate speech project called Spread No Hate with #SpreadNoHate used in the social media campaign. Through a series of international discussions, media campaigns and policy reports, it tries to explore the reasons why hate speech remains such a pervasive phenomenon, which contributes to violent extremism, xenophobia, and racism.

Launched in 2014, cantonal integration programmes (CIPs) are intended to remedy gaps in the integration process. The aim is not just to assist immigrants but also to help local communities by showing them how to provide immigrants with the best possible information.

CIPs help to fill existing gaps and the lack of specific programmes to encourage integration, and also help communal authorities to welcome and provide targeted information to immigrants. CIPs are jointly funded by the Swiss Confederation and the Cantons.

Switzerland has a long tradition of sheltering refugees. At the same time, opinion polls consistently show voter concern about high levels of immigration, and about sheltering people who may not be genuine refugees.

IOM helps in building the capacities of media professionals and students to implement good standards in their reporting of migration issues. One example of this is IOM's project 'Migrants in the Spotlight: Training and Capacity Building for Media', which included training seminars in 2011 for journalists and media students from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia to raise awareness about reporting on migration issues.

The Journalists’ Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers in Greece has drafted a proposal for the adoption of the Anti-racism Ethics Code of the Greek journalists called The Charter of Idomeni, in the name of the border control village which thousands of refugees pass through to reach Northern European countries.

Greece has launched an online inter-religious dialogue aimed at exchanging views and exploring common values. 

All too frequently, xenophobia against migrant workers is fuelled by populist attitudes that are divorced from the reality on the ground. Wittingly or unwittingly, media can play its part in creating an unbalanced discourse about migration, including labour migration. To mark International Migrants Day on December 18, 2015, the ILO aunched the “Reporting Fairly on Labour Migration” global media competition to recognize exemplary media coverage and fair reporting on the issue.

Harmony Week is held every year on the week of the 21 March to coincide with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and celebrate Australia's cultural diversity.
The message of Harmony Day is that everyone belongs - it is a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home. 

Between 1999 and 2020, more than 80,000 Harmony Week events had been held in childcare centres, schools, community groups, churches, businesses and federal, state and local government agencies across Australia.

The aim of the National Anti-Racism Strategy is to promote a clear understanding in the Australian community of what racism is, and how it can be prevented and reduced.

This aim is achieved through three objectives: