Newsletter ENG 01

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NEWSLETTER#1 APRIL 2014

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FOR THE YOUTHBY THE YOUTH

Crpuscul e

Hi chemHosni

SALEMM Regional project, funded by the European Union, aims to reduce childrens and youths vulnerability to irregularmigration by strengthening systems of social, cultural and economic inclusion in their countries of origin. The projectnvolves both governmental and civil society stakeholders. The specic objectives of the initiative are to:

Promote a better understanding of the phenomenon of unaccompanied migrant children/youth in order to dene aneective operational strategy;Promote exchanges between social workers and local actors from destination and origin countries to detect situations atrisk and intervene with families and communities;Facilitate sharing of best practices between countries involved in the project and promote bilateral /multilateral regularconsultations in order to enhance prevention, reception and (re)integration measures;Develop and implement social activities, career guidance, vocational training and psycho-social support for vulnerablefamilies in partnership with governmental bodies and civil society organizations in origin countries;Promote access to social services through information and awareness raising campaigns on the risks related to irregularmigration and information on existing positive alternatives.

The objectives of SALEMM project comply with the EU Action Plan on UAMs (2010-2014), which includes three main strandsof action: 1) Preventing the unsafe migration and tracking of children and increasing protection capacities in origincountries; 2) Protecting unaccompanied migrant children in destination countries; 3) Ensuring durable solutions.

SOLIDARIT AVEC LES ENFANTS DU MAGHREB ET MASHREQ


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SALEMM Project was launched during the kicko meetingin Turin, Italy (10-14 June, 2013) with phase 1 is now nearingcompletion. This rst issue of SALEMMs Newslettertherefore aims to give a public voice to the project bypresenting a general overview of the progress of activitiesin Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia. In the meantime, crucialsteps have been taken in order to consolidate the networkof partners at the local level. For example, the organizationof training meetings and seminars for social workers, andthe planning of awareness activities have moved forwarddespite the current uncertain political contexts, particularlyevident in Egypt.Developments are registered in all three countries andpreliminary activities have been implemented in all mainworking areas. This bulletin intends to provide a periodicupdate of the achievements and challenges faced by the

people involved and by the communities where youngpeople today are still considering irregular migration as anoption to better their conditions.

KICK OFF MEETING IN TURIN p. 2

NEWS FROM MOROCCO p. 3

FACING THE CHALLENGESOF UMC IN TUNISIA p. 4

THE TRAINING COMPONENT p. 5

TRAINING OF TRAINERSAND SOCIAL WORKERS IN TUNIS p. 6

WORKING WITH SOCIALWORKERS IN CAIRO p. 7

THE PERCEIVED RISKS ANDOPPORTUNITIES OF MIGRATION.THE RESEARCH COMPONENT p. 8

AWARENESS AND CAMPAIGNS.FOR A PARTICIPATED COMMUNICATION p. 9

Crucial steps have been takenin order to consolidate thenetwork of partners at thelocal level

KICK OFF MEETING IN TURINSUMMARY


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NEWS FROM MOROCCOInterview: Khadija Ramram (IOM Rabat)

The activities have enabledmany youngsters to engagein alternatives to irregular

migration

SALEMM will rely on theexpertise of civil society andpublic organizations.

Allowing civil and publicinstitutions to cooperate is astrategic feature.

Between 2008 and 2011, IOM developed and piloted the rstSALEM (Solidarit avec les Enfants du Maghreb) initiative

carried out in Morocco. It was an intense period of testingnew approaches and overcoming great challenges but theresults have been acknowledgedby the continuation and extension of the project to othercountries in a new edition entitled SALEMM (Solidaritavec les Enfants du Maghreb et Mashreq) involving also toMorocco as well as, Tunisia and Egypt.We asked Khadija Ramram (Focal Point for SALEMM atOM Rabat) to go a little back in time and tell us a little about

her previous experience with the SALEM project in Morocco.

What do you think are the most interesting features of thepilot project?

Khadija: SALEM activities are frequently characterized byits ex-beneciaries and partners as a project that had apositive impact in the province of Khouribga. Though theproject implementation faced some obstacles at certainmoments, the activities have enabled many youngsters toengage in alternatives to irregular migration and allowedthem to get out of the closed environment they perceivedthemselves trapped in.Social animation, psychological support and creativeworkshops provided an answer to the needs of the youth.The fact that public institutions like Entraide Nationale,together with local associations took part in the project

implementation has fostered a climate of cooperationand synergies at the a community level. The researchimplemented as part of the SALEM project was also veryinformative and provided a better understanding ofmigration as well as in terms of the social services neededby the youth.

What are the most important aspect that you think willfacilitate the replication of some components of SALEMwithin the new SALEMM?

Khadija:Allowing civil and public institutions to cooperateis a strategic feature that will allow the interventionto become rooted into a long term dynamic. Capacitybuilding constitutes a crucial element of SALEMM, thisaspect is incorporated for example in the social workerstraining but it is also an important component of thecommunication activities through specic workshopsin media literacy foreseen as part of the awarenesscampaigns. We also consider the exchange among theteams from the respective countries and the involvementof local committee structures of utmost importance.

How is your experience with the pilot project going tobeneft the partners in Egypt and Tunisia?

Khadija: First, learning will be in two directions, from SALEMimplementing actors (in Morocco) to SALEMM partnersand vice versa. It is expected that the new SALEMM willenable partners from Egypt and Tunisia to build on thelessons learned of SALEM. These are mainly linked tothe question of sustainability. Ensuring the continuity of

SALEMM activities for instance by relying only on hiredsocial workers identied by public institutions and civilsociety, as was the case in the rst project, is not a viableapproach.SALEMM will rely solely on the local institutional expertisewhether that of civil society or of public organizations.Secondly, the communication component will itself allowlocal actors to master the tools of awareness raising viatraining and a eld oriented production of success stories,best practices as well as lessons learned. In the previousSALEM, the communication component was not designedin this way.


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The contemporary phenomenon of migration from Tunisiaand Sfax towards Europe particularly aects children andyouth (men between 16-18 years-old) from the capital (Tunis),the interior governorates, and southern regions of Tunisia.This phenomenon has increased since the Revolution, and in2013, almost 400 Tunisian UMC were identied and assistedby the Italian authorities.Migration of children in Tunisia is generally a self-baseddecision linked to their marginalized situation (familyconcerns, scholarship problems, socioeconomic exclusion)but sometimes, families are involved in the process andcontribute to paying the fees to smugglers so the childrencan access to a better life in Europe.

The main destination countries are France and Italy, mostlyfor community/family reunication. However, in recentyears, many Tunisian youth are willing to migrate to theUnited States or Gulf countries like Qatar or the Emiratesand this is described by the youth themselves as amaterial aspiration. However, many youth do not migrate

regularly or irregularly) with the relevant information onthese destination countries (migration legislation, labouregislation, social services, Tunisian consulate contacts,etc.) and some of them face high risks of exploitation oncethere: for instance there is evidence of some Tunisian youthbecoming victims of tracking, ending up in situations offorced labour and sexual exploitation in these destinationcountries.ndeed, information on the risks of migration is necessary

to prevent smuggling and tracking in persons, as well asthe dangers they face at sea. To this regard, IOM and theNational Youth Observatory (ONJ) are planning to createGuichets dinformation (information oces) for youth in

Tunis.

Since 2011, there is a growing interest on migration issuesin Tunisia, especially by civil society and the media. Thegovernment is currently developing a National Strategy onMigration, and Tunisian unaccompanied migrant childrengure as one of the main public concerns for Tunisianauthorities.

As a rst initiative in Tunisia on UMC, SALEMM Project hasbeen welcomed very positively by national counterpartsin Tunisia. In the framework of the SALEMM project, alocal Steering Committee was established in 2013 with theMinistry of Social Aairs as the lead institution. A group ofexperienced NGOs in Tunis and Sfax (South-East Tunisia) arefully involved in the project.To date, progress has been made on the researchcomponent of SALEMM: thanks to the cooperation of a

team of Ministry of Social Aairs social workers in the eld,613 questionnaires were prepared to be administered in 6governorates of Tunisia (4 governorates of Greater Tunis,Sfax and Kasserine). The training component of SALEMM isalso ongoing. The training for social workers is in place bothin Tunis and Sfax between 10th March and 23rd April, 2014.

The main destination countries

for UMC are France and Italy,mostly for community/familyreunication.

FACING THE CHALLENGES OF UMC IN TUNISIA

Ce matinIber Ezzaier

The government is currentlydeveloping a National Strategyon Migration.


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The training component is one of the core activities of theSALEMM Project. It is aimed at empowering the local socialsta in each country to carry out a competent and eectiventervention with adolescents and their families. It isbasically the capacity strengthening activity of the Project.The methodological assumption of the SALEMM project isbased on the results of the most recent studies on childrensand adolescents irregular migration, which showed thatthe migration project is mainly due to the lack of socialntegration in the social environment. Factors as schooldrop-out, limited and unstructured leisure activities,lliterate parents with low income jobs, spatial and socialmarginality, lean towards a negative image of oneself andthe future and, combined with the one-way, winning imagesof the emigrants, foster the idea of seeking ones own futureabroad.

Now, if migration and mobility unquestionably constitutenormal processes in the world today, they also require asolid personal capital of knowledge and experience that veryrarely is available to young or very young people. If we addthat the migration project is often conceived as an individualendeavor, which has to be accomplished without parents and even, as children in Morocco often say, to save theparents we may understand that the risks of exploitationand personal failure are extremely high. The main studies onthe phenomenon actually show that minors who travel alonewho in Europe are dened unaccompanied minors), are

highly exposed to labor and sexual exploitation, petty-crime,mprisonment, mental and physical health problems and,generally, repeated traumatic experiences. Repatriation atcoming of age may represent the nal sanction that producesstigmatization and exclusion in the same home country, withconsequences for the rest of the life.

Migration and mobilityconstitute normal processesin the world today but requirea solid personal capital ofknowledge and experiencerarely available to young

people.

The training component is away of reinforcing the abilitiesof the local social teams.

Proposing an approach basedon promoting the social andcommunity participation of the

youth (and their families).

The project an initiative of social and community intervention proposes an approach in terms of preventing vulnerablemigration. Such an approach is based on promoting thesocial and community participation of the youth (and theirfamilies) and on identifying alternative options based oneducation, vocational training and fair employment. As wealready experimented in Morocco during the rst SALEMinitiative, a local team of social workers will get in touch withthe adolescents in their daily environment and will proposeinitiatives and group activities. In this way, social workers maybe acquainted with the youth, their history, their dicultiesand the problems of their families, and may oer a structuredplan approved by parents of formal and informaleducation, vocational training and so on.The training component of the project is hence a way ofreinforcing the abilities of the local social teams so as to enable

them to intervene with the adolescents and their families in aproper way, that is listening to their priorities, understandingtheir choices and using the whole range of instruments madeavailable by the project. In order to implement the training,we rstly established a group of trainers, composed by twointernational trainers and by the best experts available ineach country. The group met in Tunis in November 2013 anddened a tentative training program that Egyptian partnershave already nalized and that Moroccan and Tunisianpartners are completing in these days. We plan to carry outtraining sessions in the three countries along the next monthand that the local intervention teams will be able to start

operating on the ground in April.After the training, local intervention teams will be supportedby an applied training methodology called supervision,leaded by the two international trainers and aimed atdiscussing the problems encountered in the daily activity withyouth and families and at nding solutions according to theprojects methodology.It is a methodology of supporting social intervention thatwe have experimented in several initiatives and that we aretrying to apply on a larger, international scale.

THE TRAINING COMPONENT


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The training component is one of the core activities of theSALEMM Project. It is aimed at empowering the local socialsta in each country to carry out a competent and eectiventervention with adolescents and their families..The methodological assumption of the SALEMM project isbased on the results of the most recent studies on childrensand adolescents irregular migration, which showed thatsuch migration is mainly due to the lack of social integrationwithin the social environment. Factors such as school drop-out, limited and unstructured leisure activities, illiterateparents with low income jobs, spatial and social marginality,ean towards a negative image of oneself and the futureand, combined with their perception, of = Egyptians successabroad, foster the idea of seeking ones own future abroad.

Migration and mobility unquestionably constitute normalprocesses in the world today. They also require a solid

personal capital of knowledge and experience that is veryrarely available to young or very young people. Moreover,given that the migration project is often conceived as anndividual endeavor, which has to be accomplished withoutparents and even, as children in Morocco often say, tosave the parents it is clear that the risks of exploitation andpersonal failure become extremely high. The main studieson the phenomenon actually show that minors who travelalone (who, in Europe, are dened unaccompanied minors),are highly exposed to labour and sexual exploitation, petty-crime, imprisonment, mental and physical health problemsand, generally, repeated traumatic experiences. Repatriation

at coming of age may represent the nal sanction thatproduces stigmatization and exclusion in country of origin,with life-long lasting consequences.

The project an initiative focused on social and communityintervention proposes an approach based on preventingvulnerable migration. Such an approach aims to promotethe social and community participation of the youth (andtheir families) and on identifying alternative options basedon education, vocational training and fair employment. Aswe already experienced in Morocco during the rst SALEMinitiative, a local team of social workers will get in touch

with the adolescents in their daily environment and willpropose initiatives and group activities. In this way, socialworkers may be acquainted with the youth, their history,their diculties and the problems of their families, and mayoer a structured plan approved by parents of formaland informal education, vocational training and so on.

The training component of the project is hence a wayof reinforcing the abilities of the local social teams so asto enable them to intervene with the adolescents andtheir families in an adequate manner, by listening to theirpriorities, understanding their choices and using the wholerange of instruments made available by the project to guidethem. In order to implement the training, we rst establisheda group of trainers, composed by two international trainersand by the best experts available in each country. The groupmet in Tunis in November, 2013 and dened a tentativetraining programme that Egyptian partners have already

nalized and that Moroccan and Tunisian partners arecurrently completing. We plan to carry out training sessionsin the three countries along the next month and that thelocal intervention teams will be able to start operating onthe ground in April.After the training, local intervention teams will be supportedby an applied training methodology called supervision, ledby two international trainers and aimed at discussing theproblems encountered in the daily activity with youth andfamilies and at nding solutions according to the projectsmethodology.This is a methodology based on supporting social interventionthat we have experienced in several initiatives and that weare trying to apply at a larger, international scale.

Migration and mobilityconstitute normal processesin the world today but requirea solid personal capital ofknowledge and experience rarelyavailable to young people.

Proposing an approach basedon promoting social andcommunity participation ofyouth (and their families).

The training component is away of reinforcing the abilitiesof the local social teams.

TRAINING OF TRAINERS AND SOCIAL WORKERS IN TUNIS


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Following the signature of the cooperation agreementbetween the IOM and the governorate of Fayoum on 19thNovember, 2013, the second objective of the SALEMMproject, the training of local social workers, started in January2014. This training aims to build a system of social inclusionat the local level and strengthen the capacities of localactors involved in child protection. The 31 social workers,selected according to criteria set by the Local CoordinationCommittee, which convened for the rst time on 28thNovember, 2013, pertain to governmental institutions (suchas Ministries of Social Solidarity, Education, Youth, Health,Religious Endowment, Manpower and Emigration, and civilsociety organizations dealing with children in the selecteddistrict of Etsa. The training is based on an interactiveapproach including presentations, role play, group workand discussions and will cover the following topics through

8 modules:

1. Presentation of SALEMM project and role of theparticipants;

2. Introduction to the concept of migration;3. Concept of children at risk;4. Professional and ethical procedures and principals of

treating children and their families;5. Basic skills of social work;6. Child and family psychology;7. Case Management system to detect and refer children

at risk8. SALEMM four areas of intervention

The content of the training provided by the 2 nationaltrainers has been well received by the participants as well asthe local authorities.

Indeed, as a sign of the excellent relationship between theIOM and the governorate of Fayoum, we were honored tohave H.E. Governor of Fayoum Hazem Ahmed Atyatallah

join us for the inaugural session of the training on the19th January, 2014. In his intervention he reiterated theimportance and the relevance of the training activities forthe social workers in the framework of their commitmentto protecting youth from the dangers of irregular migration.He also emphasized the responsibility of the state andof society in dealing with the phenomenon of irregularmigration of minors and that, to this end, the Governmentof Egypt is working to enhance measures and mechanisms,at the national and local level, aimed at reducing irregularmigration of Egyptian youth.

Governmental support for this is reiterated in the legalprovisions on child protection included in the recentlyapproved Constitution. After the training, social workers willbe divided into four groups according to SALEMM areas ofintervention (social animation, career guidance, vocationaltraining, psycho-social support) and will be monitored by theLocal Coordination Committee with the technical supportof IOM. Other workshops on specic topics (such as socialinclusion, legal background) will be organized in the comingmonths.

A commitment to protectingyouth from the dangers ofirregular migration.

The Government is working toenhance measures aimed atreducing irregular migration ofEgyptian youth.

WORKING WITH SOCIAL WORKERS IN CAIRO


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Stefano Volpicelli is the coordinator of the transnationalresearch team of SALEMM, we have asked him to explainthe objectives of this component and how the results aregoing to be utilized.

Can you tell us in short what the research activities consist of?Stefano: The objectives of the SALEM/M researchcomponent are the identication of the main factors thatinuence the representation of migration among youthsuch as the daily life, the values the idea of migration, thesatisfaction towards the daily life etc.. All factors, whichunder specic conditions could contribute to inuencethe decision to migrate in the future. The research is

carried out in a traditional way through quantitativemethodology (with data gathered through close endedquestionnaires) to mathematically represent the attitudetoward migration of the youth interviewed. This researchis a very rst, explorative study of such issues, and itcontributes to provide a comprehensive picture of theelements that might inuence the propensity of youthsurveyed to migrate. Moreover, understanding socialrepresentations, values and orientation of young peoplecan support social workers in better understanding howthe desire towards migration can be shaped.

A comprehensive picture ofall the elements which mightinuence the propensity ofyouth surveyed to undertakemigration.

Help the youth to grow and

carry out their projects, both intheir countries or abroad.

What is the approach you are utilizing and how do youthink the result will beneft local and international policymakers?

Stefano: This research is not assistance-oriented, itdoesnt focus on the unaccompanied minors motivationsand experience nor can identify those who have decidedto leave in order to stop their attempts. Instead, it isprevention-oriented, focusing on the complex mix ofexternal and internal elements that contribute to buildingup a specic perception positive or negative amongyouth toward migration. This approach relied on thehypothesis that migration/ mobility, in a globalized world,is one of the opportunities at the disposal of the youthfor their future, and that it is perceived positively and aspart of the mental landscape of the youth, provided thatcertain conditions are given.Because of these characteristics, the outcomes mustbe considered as a compass to guide the work of social-workers, researchers or decision makers for a better,tailored use of the resources available in order to helptheir youth to grow and carry out their projects, both intheir countries or abroad.

THE PERCEIVED RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF MIGRATION.THE RESEARCH COMPONENTInterview toStefano Volpicelli (Head of research)


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An integral part of SALEMM consists of developing severalawareness raising activities aimed at sensitizing local

communities on the alternatives to youths irregularmigration paths. Promoting further education as a meansfor young people to acquire new skills, following vocationalemployment careers and developing entrepreneurialattitudes, is one of the specic components of the plannedcampaigning activities. A participatory media training andproduction process aimed at distributing User GeneratedContents (UCG) will be carried out.

The realization of UGCs audio-visual materials, supervisedby a local Media Agency in each of the target countries, willfocus on presenting positive examples of informal successfulachievements, concentrating on eective entrepreneurialendeavors by groups of youth. The hazards of irregularmigration, delinquency and marginalization will be

highlighted in the UGC campaigns through the testimoniesof young people that have migrated irregularly to Italy.

This communications component constitutes an innovativemodel for peer-to-peer awareness raising. The published

workshops outcomes will contain real-life episodes centeredaround young peoples eorts to build entrepreneurialactivities and small businesses. The group of participatingyouth will be actively involved in conceiving, developing andproducing a series of episodes to be published on severalplatforms (projects website, most popular social networks,home-pages of partners and media etc.).

This communications component constitutes an innovativemodel for peer-to-peer awareness raising. The publishedworkshops outcomes will contain real-life episodes centeredaround young peoples eorts to build entrepreneurialactivities and small businesses. The group of participatingyouth will be actively involved in conceiving, developing andproducing a series of episodes to be published on severalplatforms (project website, most popular social networks,home-pages of partners and media etc.).

To this end, young talented and motivated participants areto be identied in the following months through a seriesof public events and casting sessions. With the help of aspecialized team, they will follow a period of extensive mediatraining workshops. In conjunction with local authorities,a workshop space will be identied to provide a base forthe envisaged training activities. These accessible venueswill store the equipment acquired by the project and couldbecome, in the medium to long term, small centres for futherproductive activities lead by the youth in the media eld.

The development of UGCaudio-visual materials willfocus on presenting positiveexamples of informalsuccessful achievements.

In the medium tolong term,further productive activities in

the media eld could be led bythe youth.

An innovative model forpeer-to-peer awareness raising.

AWARENESS AND CAMPAIGNSFOR PARTICIPATIVE COMMUNICATION.

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Newsletter ENG 01