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Emergency Trust Fund for Africa
News article13 June 2018

Women on the move: stories of resilience and reintegration

Women on the move: stories of resilience and reintegration

Women on the move: stories of resilience and reintegration
European Union

The European Development Days 2018 have offered the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa the opportunity to present the work carried out jointly with the UN International Organisation for Migration and the International Trade Centre to achieve greater efficiency for the people in despair risking their lives in irregular migration attempts or as a consequence of forced displacement.

The session focused on girls and women in the migration process. The EUTF, through the Initiative with IOM, provides every month assistance to hundreds of women migrants to return to their home countries. Many amongst them are survivors of traumatic migratory journeys. In close cooperation with the governments of the countries of origin, we support returnees’ resilience through psycho-social services in addition to reintegration packages. This session provided the EUTF with the opportunity to discuss the positive side of the story: resilience and recovery in women’s migration, empowerment through reintegration micro-projects, while looking at the partnerships established with the private sector to promote reintegration opportunities.

The session was notably sparked with the testimonials of Aline and Deborah, who after returning home from Libya, managed to process their migration journey and make a successful fresh start back home.

Ashraf HASSAN, operations officer for IOM – Libya, explained the local context in Libya with a special attention to the return and reintegration activities, while Guglielmo SCHININA, in his quality of IOM’s Head of Mental Health, Psychosocial Response and Intercultural Communication, shared with the audience his expertise on psychosocial assistance provided to vulnerable migrants and victims of trafficking, notably women and girls. Idrissa Sompare, as IOM Project Manager in Guinea, gave some insight on the operations in Guinea, while Fatou Mbenga Jallow, as the Project Coordinator and Senior Technical Adviser of the EU-funded Youth Empowerment Project, explained the work carried out with ITC in the Gambia to create sustainable economic and job opportunities for all, including returning migrants.

Finally, this was the opportunity for the EUTF to remind the audience that its utmost goal is to save and protect lives. We foster to help partners manage migration safely and in line with human rights, create economic opportunities on the ground, fight traffickers and smugglers and create legal pathways, so that migration happens as a choice out of aspiration and not as a last resort out of desperation.

Details

Publication date
13 June 2018
Thematic
Improved migration management

Programmes in the region