Berekum – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ghana has engaged a creative group of young people from the Bono region and Bono East regions to design a new IOM X campaign in the country. The youth’s brilliant ideas will contribute to impactfully raising awareness on safe migration, the dangers of irregular migration and opportunities at home under the hashtag #WAKAwellGhana.

Aware of a clear need for accurate information on migration and local opportunities for young people, as well as a strong desire by community members to be active leaders in the design of messages and content, IOM X Ghana has identified 16 young people from Sunyani (Bono region), Techiman (Bono East region) and nearby communities to actively shape the design of the campaign.

IOM X is a global campaign aimed to encourage safe migration. In 2019, IOM X adapted its model to the West African context to empower young people to make informed migration-related decisions.

The Sunyani workshop, held from 23 to 25 November 2021, and led by IOM Ghana Community Outreach Assistant Collins Yeboah, kicked off with a training on Communication for Development (C4D), the basic approach to the IOM X campaign.

Subsequently, a 2-day Design Lab encouraged the participants to showcase their creativity and apply their C4D knowledge in exercises aimed at creating the #WAKAwellGhana campaign. “I foresee this campaign to have great impact on the lives of young people. Knowing there are opportunities here in Ghana we can take advantage of, I believe will reduce the urge to embark on irregular migration. I am happy that this campaign is being shaped by young people like myself for other young people in the region,” said Victor Gyabaah, a teacher and a participant of the workshop.

Prior to the workshop, a baseline KAP (knowledge, attitude, practice) study was conducted. Over 400 young people (15 to 35 years) living in the Bono and Bono East regions were interviewed about their perceptions on the risks of and alternatives to irregular migration; media consumption behavior; knowledge on migration (in-country, regionally, internationally); and available employment and educational opportunities at home. The study will allow to evaluate how far IOM X activities shift people’s KAP vis-a-vis migration at the end of the project.

Based on the KAP study findings and applying the learnings from the C4D session, the participants developed a series of messages, identified channels and activities to reach the target audience, and discussed the roll-out of the campaign in 2022.

Going forward, the creative tools – including videos for TV and social media, drama, poetry and street art for community interventions, and radio jingles, to name but a few – will be produced.

“The participants’ creativity and readiness to be part of the roll-out of the campaign convinced us that this collaborative approach is what is needed to run a successful campaign,” said Collins Yeboah.

The campaign, WAKA Well by IOM X, was launched in December 2019 in Nigeria and Guinea. Ghana is one of three countries in West Africa – together with Nigeria and The Gambia – that are part of IOM X West Africa in 2021/22, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. Information on migration and opportunities in Ghana will be accessible on the WAKA Well website.

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For more information, please contact Collins Yeboah, Community Outreach Assistant at IOM Ghana, at cyeboah@iom.int