MRF NAIROBI BULLETIN

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1 MRF NAIROBI BULLETIN INSIDE THIS ISSUE: IOM Spearhead Peace Building During a Cattle Vaccination Workshop IOM Supports Reintegration Opportunities For Returned Rwandan- Refugees Pre-Departure Orientation For Kenyan Youth Labour Migrants IOM Calls for Migrant Friendly Medical Services on World Health Day Traditional Conflict Resolution Mechanisms Adopted by Pastoral Communities to Curb Escalating Cattle Rustling International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission with Regional Functions For East and Central Africa, Church Road, Off Rhapta Road, Westlands PO Box Nairobi, KENYA Phone: /174 Fax: piunairobi@iom.int 1 Website: V O L U M E 4, I S S U E 1 0 HOW TO VACCINATE CATTLE AND KEEP THE PEACE WITH YOUR NEIGHBOURS - THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION (IOM) AND THE KENYA MINISTRY OF LIVESTOCK ASSIST TURKANA PASTORALISTS Pastoralists feeding their animals in Northern Kenya IOM 2011 ( PHOTO: Lilian Matama) Northern Kenya is a very arid region inhabited by nomadic pastoralists and characterized by a fragile ecosystem ravaged by climate change. It is also an area which is susceptible to insecurity due to regional ethnic tensions within the Kenya- Uganda-Sudan-Ethiopia-Somalia borderlands. Increasingly scarce resources have led to increased pastoralist movements to insecure and more environmentally fragile places in search of water and pasture. Whilst these communities have had long-standing historical tensions and conflict over resources, chronic drought has significantly increased the frequency of pastoral movements and the duration of time spent in foreign territory. These conditions create an increased need for mobility by the herders to move further and further afield for the survival of pastoralist livelihoods. IOM and the Ministry of Livestock s veterinary department carried out a skills training programme from 31 March to 3 April, 2011 for pastoralists in Turkana County as part of IOM s Emergency Livelihood Support for Peace Building and Safe Migration Programme, in an effort to counter the effects of drought caused by climate change and conflicts due to scarce resources. A P R I L IOM facilitated the four-day training session in which forty pastoralists from Komudei water point near Kakuma refugee camp were trained on issues crucial to their interests including learning about livestock diseases, veterinary drug usage to treat livestock correctly, the importance of regular vaccination for cattle, as well as peace building and conflict prevention awareness techniques. The participating Turkana community members were urged to be ambassadors for peace and conflict prevention. This latest training session revealed the urgent need for continued information dissemination by the trained pastoralists to their fellow community members as most herders were not aware of the dangers of sharing veterinary drugs with humans. James Echoto, one of the elders who participated in the training said: For all my life I used to share my animal drugs with my family members and even my kraal members. We give it to the people and even children when they are sick. I never knew it kills. Now I am happy that this training has come to save our children and also our animals. He said further, For the vaccination of livestock like for our children, we have been refusing to take our animals for vaccination because we think that they will bring diseases to our livestock. Now we shall be bringing them! Plans are underway to organize additional training workshops for the Turkana herders once the short rains have begun and many of the pastoralists, who have moved far away across the border across to Uganda, have returned to Kenya. IOM s programming in Northern Kenya generously funded by the Government of Japan, aims to counteract the growing culture of armed violence and promote peace among pastoralist communities and address the underlying issues surrounding resource based conflict and inter ethnic/cross border conflict situations through the promotion of solidarity among conflicting communities.

2 RWANDA: IOM SET TO SUPPORT REINTEGRATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR RWANDAN RETURNED REFUGEES P A G E 2 Rwanda lacks adequately trained human capital, particularly for technical professions, as a result of the 1994 genocide, in which many members of the educated and skilled workforce were lost. As a result, the Government of Rwanda (GoR) has called for a well-trained, motivated and adaptable workforce as key to its economic and social development. IOM s project adopts a collaborative approach to the implementation of this project by working hand in hand with GoR counterparts at national (with the new line ministry in charge of Refugee Affairs heading the National Refugee Council), district (represented by the district social development officers) and at community level, to ensure the sustainable delivery of project results. PRE-DEPATURE ORIENTATION FOR YOUTH LABOUR MIGRANTS IOM s Regional Representative Mr. Ashraf EL NOUR signs Letter of Agreement for second phase TICAD Project with the Minister for Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs Gen. Marcel GATSINZI. Looking on is the Ambassador of Japan in Rwanda H.E Mr. Kunio HATANAKA IOM 2011 ( PHOTO: Jean Luc Ndahimana) Rwanda s Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR) H.E. General Marcel Gatsinzi and the Regional Representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mr. Ashraf El Nour, signed a Letter of Agreement (LoA) that will see IOM continue with the implementation of phase two of a project that seeks to enhance the socio-economic reintegration opportunities of returned refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in an event that was witnessed by the Japanese Ambassador to Rwanda H.E Kunio Hatanaka. IOM received an additional USD 1 million from the Government of Japan (GoJ) to implement the second phase of a livelihoods and skills training project for 1,000 returnees and their families in five additional districts in In phase one of the project IOM supported approximately 10,000 returnees and their families in 10 districts across Rwanda through the provision of livestock and skill training, funded with an initial USD 2 million dollars from the GoJ. The project also strengthened 80 skills training institutions. IOM will expand on the achievements of the first phase which included a crucial rapid needs assessment that established baseline data on returnees in 10 districts. IOM also assessed the capacities of institutions supporting returnees. As a result IOM and MIDIMAR now have comprehensive data on the returnees who will be supported by this project in those districts. One of the key achievements of the first phase of the programme is the enhancement of service delivery by Rwanda s National Refugee Council (NRC) and District Social Welfare officers was also increased. IOM trained district social development officers in data collection and database maintenance, identification of beneficiaries and development of monitoring and follow up procedures and mechanisms. During the development of the Youth Employment Scheme Abroad (YESA) by the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) in Kenya in 2007, it became clear that pre-departure orientation is a very critical component in the labour migration process. A Memorandum of Understanding between IOM and YEDF designated IOM to assume a leading role in the provision of this critical service. The IOM Cultural Orientation Programme has been providing pre-departure orientation for youth labour migrants before they leave Kenya for their destination countries for secured employment since There has been a constant increase in the number of participants since the start of the program in November The first 49 youth trained in 2008 were destined for Iraq as security guards on a two year contract saw 64 trained migrants leave for the Middle East, in particular Qatar and Kuwait, to assume two-year jobs as drivers and carpenters, while in 2010 a significantly higher number of 719 young Kenyans left for work as drivers, domestic workers as well as fish cleaners, and similar jobs in Qatar, Afghanistan, UAE (Dubai) and Saudi Arabia. This trend continues in 2011, as 521 young labour migrants have already been provided with pre-departure training by the end of March. The countries of destination are diverse, but statistics show that the top receiving countries for labour migrants through this program are Afghanistan, Qatar, and UAE Dubai, followed by Saudi Arabia. Just as the countries of destination vary, the types of jobs that are in demand are manifold. In March 2011, for example, the most common jobs offered to young Kenyans abroad were driver (31%); loader, including airport cargo handler and fork lifter (16%); fuel operator (11%); mechanic (10%); domestic worker (10%) laundry attendant (5%) and electrician (2%), with other jobs, such as waiter, pot washer, cook, gym instructor etc. making up 15 % of the offered positions.

3 P A G E 3 IOM AND PARTNERS CALL FOR URGENT ACTION AGAINST DRUG RESISTANCE IN KENYA ON WORLD HEALTH DAY The International Organization for Migration in coordination with the Government of Kenya and the World Health Organization call for immediate action against drug resistance April 7, 2011 marked World Health Day: an international commemorative day to platform pressing global health issues. This year focuses on drug resistance, a serious worldwide health concern also affecting Kenya. A group of young migrants in a group discussion during predeparture training. PHOTO IOM 2011 For the young migrants, the process to find employment abroad begins with an interview process by recruitment agencies, who are trying to find the best candidates for the job. As a next step, these agencies contact YESA to request training for their selected candidates, who then participate in a one-day, interactive training provided by IOM Kenya. Through this pre-departure training, IOM helps young migrants to develop realistic expectations about working in their destination countries. A lack of information about their destinations causes a lot of insecurity and tension among potential migrants, who are often worried about the situations they are likely to encounter abroad. To counter this, IOM provides them with accurate information about their destination countries and information about rights and benefits in the context of their employment. Most importantly, however, IOM enables the young migrants to develop the awareness and the skill that they will need if they are to successfully adapt to the society at their destination. Today powerful and effective medicines known as antimicrobials exist to treat diseases and infections such as malaria, tuberculosis and respiratory ailments. It is hard to imagine a world without antimicrobials, but we are now on the brink of losing their potency and effectiveness. In Kenya antimicrobials are continuously being misused: drugs are shared, patients are self-medicating and buying their medicines directly over the counter, prescriptions are not duly followed and treatments often go uncompleted. The misuse of such medicines is causing a spike in health care costs, greater suffering, disability and even fatality. Over 35,000 cases of resistance to several effective drugs for tuberculosis have already been notified by over 35 countries since 2007 in East and Central Africa. As an official World Health Day partner in the region, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) asks the international community not to forget the specific health care needs of migrants and mobile populations. The challenges that these young migrants will face are diverse and they begin at the start of their journey. Many of these young Kenyans have never travelled before, much less set foot on a plane. The IOM pre-departure training gives them the opportunity to learn about the flight process through watching a video; they learn the dos and don ts of packing and, most importantly, how to behave on a plane. Many of the young migrants feel that the training was the best thing that ever happened to them. Towards the end of the session many participants have renewed confidence, are happy and confess to having learnt how to handle new situations and to have an open mind. IOM has so far helped a total of 1,353 labour migrants to prepare for their journey and stay in their country of destination, to overcome and cope better with the culture shock upon arrival and to deal with situations as they may arise during the duration of their contracts. Boys performing a skit during the 2011 World Health Day IOM 2011 (PHOTO: MARY-SANYU OSIRE ) Ashraf El Nour, Regional Representative for IOM, comments: Due to a number of social factors, such as immigration status and language barriers, migrants and mobile populations are more likely to self-medicate which often leads to drug resistance.

4 P A G E 4 The issue is inequality; such populations are invisible and existing disparities are preventing them from accessing quality health care. We must ensure medical services are migrant friendly to reduce these disparities and curb drug resistance in Kenya, and indeed, globally. If drug misuse continues unchecked, many infectious diseases risk becoming uncontrollable and could derail progress made towards reaching the health related United Nations Millennium Development Goals for World Health Day will be commemorated at the Riruta Health Centre, Dagoretti, Nairobi with Hon Beth Mugo EGH, MP leading the proceedings. TRADITIONAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION MECHANISMS ADOPTED BY CROSS BORDER COMMUNITIES TO CURB ESCALATING CATTLE RUSTLING ACTIVITIES AMONG THE POKOT (KENYA) AND KARAMOJA (UGANDA) form a joint surveillance team to monitor and report conflict issues along the two borders. Elders engaged actively in dialogue citing common cultural practices between the communities and the need to cultivate good neighborliness. To put theory into practice, a cleansing ceremony of warriors from both communities who had been known to be involved in cattle rustling and who agreed to desist from doing so in future, were blessed by the elders in a ceremony publicly witnessed by the provincial administrators, political leaders and members of their respective communities. A surveillance team comprising six community members was established including two from Uganda, one from Orolwa, two from Kapenguria and one from Marakwet on the Kenyan side in an effort to keep the peace in future. To end the meeting both communities were led into reciting the peace pledge by IOM officials and committed themselves to promote non violence development activicties. IOM officials on the ground took the opportunity to brief on the dangers of human trafficking. A bull was ceremoniously slaughtered, roasted and shared among the elders as a sign of reconciliation. Kenyan elder addressing cross border communities during the IOM 2011(PHOTO: Richard Mutai) Persistant insecurity has been a major challenge along the Kenya- Uganda border arising from cattle rustling as communities scramble for access to diminishing pasture lands, and water for their animals. In April 2011, IOM convened a meeting between the Pokot (Kenya) and the Karamoja (Uganda) communities; who are predominately nomadic pastoralist living along the Kenya-Uganda border region. The meeting held at the border point of Orolwa North Pokot District in Kenya and the neighboring Karita Division in Uganda. Facilitated by IOM, the meeting brought together some 500 participants including local administrative government officials from both communities, political leaders, Pokot and Karamoja elders and community members. The main purpose of the meeting was to bring together the two communities in an attempt to curb escalating cattle rustling and

5 P A G E 5 MRF NAIROBI WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE DONORS AND PARTNERS WHO HAVE FEATURED IN THIS MONTH S NEWSLETTER AND WITH WHOSE SUPPORT THESE PROGRAMMES HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission with Regional Functions For East and Central Africa, Church Road, Off Rhapta Road/Westlands PO Box Nairobi, KENYA Phone: /174 Fax: piunairobi@iom.int Website: