PROGRESS REPORT

Transcription

1 PROGRESS REPORT Mridha Plaza (2 nd floor), South Dania, Dhaka 1236, Bangladesh Tel : ; okup.ent@gmail.com 1

2 PROJECT Promotion Safe Migration and Rights of Bangladeshi migrant workers : Pre-departure, 542, Mridha Plaza (2 nd Post-arrival floor), South Dania, and Dhaka Reintegration 1236, Bangladesh assistance Tel: ; Helpline: ; okup.ent@gmail.com for migrants to the Middle East countries Donor : Caritas Luxemburg Project Period : October 2010 November 2013 With the purpose of establishing of pre-departure services and assistance in destination countries and upon return for Bangladeshi migrant workers and their families, including awareness raising on safe migration and prevention of undocumented migration/trafficking in Bangladeshi society in general, the project has been implemented in six upazillas under four districts in collaboration with Caritas Bangladesh. The implementation areas are: Nababgonj upazilla under Dhaka, Araihazar and Rupgonj under Narayangonj, Sirajdikhan and Lauhojonj under Munshigonj and Kaligonj under Gazipur upazilla. PROGRESS MADE IN MAJOR ACTIVITIES 1 Union Level Outreach Campaign The aim of Outreach Campaign is to create mass awareness at grassroots migrant communities on safe migration, and to promote access to information and services available under the project. The Outreach Campaign is supposed to be organized in three places in each union (the smallest unit of local government) as well as in each Upazilla (sub-district) under the project areas to reach out the very grassroots migrants and the communities. The campaign is to be placed in the marketplaces (village hat, Bazar, crowed place) to cover more people. The local actors including the representatives of local government, locally influential persons, government officials are invited and engaged in the campaign programmes for sensitization and future collaboration as well. Major Areas of Activities Outreach Campaign at Upazilla and Union levels for mass awareness Assistance in safe migration to the outgoing migrants through establishing Migrant Information and Service Centre (MISC) at Upazilla level Assistance in providing information through Helpline Providing pre-departure orientation and training to the migrant workers both men and women Capacity building of returnee migrant workers and local actors as peer educator for network building Provide welfare assistance and services to the onsite migrants and the members of migrant families 2

3 Usually a locally formed cultural group is performed safe migration related songs or stage show to motivate the mass which is followed by open discussion and questions-answer. Along with the infotainment performance, different IEC materials including leaflets, stickers are distributed among the mass. Apart from those, OKUP is developing a video song by a popular folk singer to be used through multi-media projector to make it more popular to the targeted audiences. During the first eight months of the period, a total of 23 Outreach Campaigns conducted in 23 unions in the six upazillas in where some 8,670 (approximate) persons were participated with due enthusiasm. The campaigns have created huge interest among the mass people and resulted in visiting the project office by more numbers of people. A PROBASHI MELA (Expatriate Fair) is also organized in partnership with the Social Islami Bank with the objective of the promotion of safe migration as well as the promotion of remittances through banking channel. The daylong programme made a huge crowed which was inaugurated by the local Parliament Member in a presence of large number of local government representatives from all parts of the upazilla, local leaders, NGOs, returnee migrant workers, migrant families etc. The programmes got a good media coverage by the local and national newspapers and the TV channels. 2 Migrant Information and Service Centre (MISC) Six Migrant Information and Support Centre (MISC) have been set up and are in full functional in the project implementation Upazillas. The MISCs are equipped with computer, internet access and other necessary tools and materials. The access to internet 3

4 facilities has made link the centre with necessary websites including Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), BAIRA (Bangladeshi Association of International Recruitment Agencies) etc. In addition, OKUP has developed an operational guideline for the function and operation of major activities, monitoring and evaluation system of the quality of services etc. A booklet has also been developed by OKUP as the recourse book of the service provider. During the period, general people around 30% of the villages under the project Upazillas have been aware of the project activities through multi-dimensional activities. Amongst the covered areas, a total of 7345 migrants and/or members of migrant families have directly been beneficial of the services available in the migrant centre. People are coming in the centres to file complaints of violation of rights and to get remedies as well. 3 Migrant Helpline Under the project, a Helpline has been set to ensure easy access to information for the potential migrant workers. An operational guideline has been developed in this regard. During the few months hundreds of calls are coming through the Helpline. At present, the average numbers of daily calls is Initially the calls came from the project areas only but people from other districts even from the destination countries are now using the Helpline for necessary information. The helpline service is being promotional day by day through different activities including the outreach campaigns, peer networks, spouse group meetings etc. 4

5 Majority of the callers, during the last few months, requested to get to know visa verification process followed by asking for the address of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET). A significant number of people asked to know the names of the registered recruiting agency and the job vacancy available in abroad. Furthermore, a good number of people requested to assist them in getting back money from the middlemen/sub-agent associated to the migration process. Some potential migrants asked to let them know the available training courses and fees of the Technical Training Centres and some asked to know the procedures of bank account opening. The bulk numbers of the callers especially the Libya-back migrant workers, tried to know the status of the compensation offered by the government. They were also provided with the updates of compensation distribution procedures and related information. 4 Pre-departure Orientation/Training A daylong pre-migration orientation session is conducted in each intervention upazilla bi-monthly for the potential men migrant workers. OKUP has developed a curriculum in this regard which contains four particular sessions including Pre-departure: does for safe migration process; does and don t and the redress mechanism at Post-arrival; migration and Health/HIV/AIDS; and Reintegration Planning for successful migration. A total of 11 pre-migration orientation sessions have been conducted till the reporting period in where some 275 men migrants especially who are on the process for migration participated. The orientation is getting popular steadily among the potential migrants; they have started registering their names for the next training in advance with a minimal fee. 5

6 On the other hand, OKUP has developed a curriculum for 7-day pre-departure training for women migrant workers. The pre-departure training is particularly designed for comprehensive education of women migrant workers on basic language, culture of destination country, rights, health, reintegration planning, life skill and redress mechanism etc. including the basic training on how to build up a good relationship with the employers, to associate with middle and upper class with special focus on Lebanon. The 7-day residential training is scheduled to be held from September 2011 in collaboration with the TTC. 5 Spouse Group Meeting With the aim of addressing problems encountered by the female spouses of migrants and members of migrant families, the project has undertaken initiatives to organize groups of migrant family/spouses. OKUP has developed an operational guideline to conduct and follow up the spouse group meeting. The spouse group is held in each union under the project areas. Some 25 spouses and/or members of migrant families are identified with the assistance of peer educators to conduct the meeting. The participants are motivated to form a group for follow up meetings. A total of 60 spouse group meetings have been conducted up to July 2011 in where some 1544 female spouse and/or the female members of the migrant families participated. Initially the groups are provided with information and education on safe migration issues including the better planning for reintegration and health issues including HIV/AIDS. They are also provided with assistance in opening bank account for remittance transfer. 6

7 6 Welfare & Legal Assistance and Service Under the project, OKUP provides welfare assistance and services to the migrant workers and their families through Migrant Information and Service Centre (MISC). Migrants at all stages - pre-departure, post-arrival and upon return are given welfare assistance and legal service including getting death compensation from BMET, arbitration for fraud/deception and rights violation cases, psycho-social support, and VCT to the returning migrants through proper referrals. The migrants in detention and/or retention centre in abroad particularly in Lebanon are also provided with repatriation support through the partner organization. Regular contact and referral of cases have been established with Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre to address cases of the migrants especially the women in Lebanon. At present, three cases are being negotiated to be settled with the support of Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre. Up to July 2011, some 16 cases have been taken care of under the project. Apart from those, the Libya back Bangladeshi migrants were provided free mobile phone service at the airport. OKUP also provided with repatriation assistance to the home-bound Bangladeshi migrant workers at in the Libya-Tunisia Border through setting up a camp under the auspices of Caritas International. 7 Capacity building of local actors With the aim of engaging local key actors including members of people s organizations, influential persons, returnee migrant workers, members of migrant families, a 3-day capacity building training is conducted in each upazilla. Initially the participants are selected through one-to-one approach and the small group meeting at the very grassroots levels. The interested persons are invited for a daylong orientation. Amongst them, the most vibrant participants are further invited for the 3-day capacity building training. In this regard, at least two participants from each union are to ensure aims to covering the whole union. OKUP has developed a training module in this regard. The training has covered 5 particular sessions including the overall context of migration and assessing the ground reality, government s initiatives for safe migration, women migration and the existing laws and government services, migration and health/hiv/aids, remittance and reintegration. There are two special sessions on the project overview and the roles and responsibilities of a peer educator for social mobilization. 7

8 A total of 125 participants including 77 women and 58 men participated in six trainings under the project areas who are engaged in community mobilizations including organizing outreach campaigns, identifying spouses in their community, providing information about the MISC and the helpline among the migrant workers and their families. 8 Celebration of Migrants Day OKUP observes International Migrants Day every year with due respect both at national and local level. At national level, OKUP is one of the key members of the Day Observation Committee headed by the MoEWOE. In 2010, OKUP actively participated in the national level programme including the discussion meeting. Three TV channels (NTV, ETV, Bangla Vision) gave coverage of OKUP s rally in the news. It is to be noted that OKUP s Executive Director was invited in a Live TV talk show organized by the ATN NEWS (TV Channel) to mark the significance of the Day. Apart from that OKUP plays a key role to organize the district level rally and discussion meeting in collaboration with District Commissioner offices and like-minded NGOs in the project areas. It also organizes upazilla level rally and discussion meetings in participation of hundreds of migrant workers, members of migrant families, local leaders and the mass people. 8

9 9 Issue based Advocacy OKUP had undertaken immediate response to the suddenly happened Libya crisis. In this regard, OKUP jointly with two other organizations organized a Human Chain with the demand of immediate government actions to ensure safety and security of the stranded Bangladeshi migrant workers in Libya. The human chain activity was followed by submission of Memorandum to the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of Expatriate Welfare. The news of the human chain got due coverage by all the prominent electronic and print media in the country and made huge demand for the protection of the national heroes, the remittance earners. In addition, «free mobile phone» service is provided with the Libya returnee migrant workers at the Dhaka airport. A rapid assessment is also conducted on the initial information from the returnees at the airport. The assessment report was shared with international organizations in order to draw due attention of the international communities for support to the repatriation of the stranded migrants from the transit camps both in Tunisia and Egypt. OKUP along with Caritas Bangladesh participated in the Tunisia mission undertaken by the Caritas Internationalis and provided assistance with repatriation of Bangladeshi migrant workers through providing information, cultural mediation and necessary services to the migrants in Tunisia Transit camp at Ras Adjir border. OKUP jointly with Caritas Bangladesh also undertook a comprehensive need assessment of the Libya back migrant workers. The assessment was conducted in the existing working areas of six upazillas. A total of 383 returnee migrant workers and 86 members of stranded migrant families have been interviewed with a structured questionnaire. The assessment came up with the recommendations of a comprehensive reintegration programme for the returnee migrant workers. The recommendation also pointed out the need of a support for the school going children of the Libya back migrant workers to continue their education which is at stake due to the unsuccessful return of the migrants. 9

10 PROJECT Orientation of Women Migrant Workers on Violence and Vulnerabilities link to HIV/AIDS Donor : UN WOMEN Project Period : August 2010 September 2011 With the growing concerns that women migrants face gender based violence at their workplace abroad with no redress opportunity, OKUP and UNIFEM jointly decided to develop an orientation toolkit aiming to creating awareness of potential/departing women migrant workers on prevention of violence against women and associated vulnerabilities to HIV/AIDS. In line with that, the project came out with two specific objectives: To develop an innovative toolkit for low skilled women migrant workers who are also in the bottom rung of literacy rate, focusing on gender based violence and the link between violence and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS To identify the most efficient opportunity for providing the awareness orientation to the women migrant workers at DEMOs/TTCs In regard to developing the toolkit, a need assessment was conducted to identify gender-based violence linked to HIV/AIDS related risks and vulnerabilities of the overseas women domestic workers and to determine the training and orientation gaps. The assessment showed that majority of the women migrants are illiterate or semi literate which should be taken into due account in developing the orientation content and methods as well so that the training package is easily 10

11 understandable, valuable and effective to the targeted beneficiaries. The assessment also found the lack of appropriate information and negotiation skills of potential women migrants to deal with the middlemen and recruiting agencies, and also knowledge about the protection mechanism to prevent and protect themselves from gender-based violence and sexual harassment. The toolkit has taken the assessment findings into due account. The toolkit has five sessions on «migration, violence and vulnerability» ; «HIV/AIDS and STIs» ; «Assertiveness and SAY NO against violence» ; «Migration and Future Planning» ; and «Prevention of Stigma and Discrimination». Each session requires 30 minutes and therefore, the total duration of the toolkit is 2 hours 30 minutes. The toolkit is particularly designed for the women with very low literacy rate adopting different participatory training approaches to make it more understandble and effective for the targeted participants. Usually, participants can take part in each session. The sessions are designed flexible to be conducted in order to fit with the number of participants, available facilities and time as well. Therefore, the orientation can conduct for a bigger group of participants as well in which one certain group of participants will take part in a particular session while the others play roles of observer. In this regard, a new group of participants takes part in each session. The multi-media might be a good tool for the bigger group orientation. Five orientation sessions have been conducted in collaboration with the Technical Training Centre (TTC) based in Dhaka. A TOT is also scheduled for the trainers in the District Employment & Manpower Offices (DEMO) and the TTC for further uses of the toolkit at DEMOs and TTCs for wider coverage of the migrant women. OKUP along with the UN Women is doing advocacy with the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training to mainstream the toolkit sessions in the 21-day official pre-departure training for women migrants. The toolkit can be used at grassroots for mass awareness in decision making stage of migration. 11

12 PROJECT HIV Prevention Initiative for Returing Migrants Donor : International Organization for Migration (IOM) Project Period : May 2010 September 2012 Migration in itself is not a risk factor for HIV infection but there are economic, socio-cultural and political factors associated to HIV infection to migrant workers. Despite being a vulnerable group to HIV infection (around 70% of identified HIV/AIDS cases in Bangladesh), migrant workers are absent in the national HIV response both in the countries of origin and destination. In such circumstances, OKUP is assigned by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to implement peer outreach activity to provide HIV/STI education to the returnee labour migrants and to build awareness in the migrants communities in two selected upazillas namely Nawabgonj and Brahmanpara under Dhaka and Camilla districts respectively. The project is funded by the Family Health International (FHI), Bangladesh. The project is being implemented through Peer Outreach Network. Based on OKUP s experiences and expertise in Peer Outreach Networking, some 20 peer educators are selected and appointed in two upazillas, 10 in each covering one union by one peer educator. The project ensures gender balance in peer educator selection, which is significantly important to cover both sides of population male and female. Numbers of orientation and training as well as follow up activities were conducted to develop skills and capapcity of peer educators to deliver their services. The targeted beneficiaries of this particular project are returnee migrant workers, spouses of the current migrant workers as well as the potential migrant workers. Migrant workers are referred as both men and women while spouses are referred as female spouses of the male migrant workers and male spouses of the female migrant workers. Three approaches were followed to identify the targeted beneficiaries small group meeting, one-to-one discussion and household visit. Initially, the appointed peer educators conducted small group meetings in market places, for examples, tea stalls, village hut/bazaar etc. in different villages in each union. The peer educators also made individual meetings with the local government representatives, local elites and leaders in the respective unions. The meeting with the local government representatives and the small group meetings with general people made acquaintance of peer educators in their respective unions. It also helped develop a network to identify the targeted beneficiaries and made supportive environment for the peer educators to carry out their activities. The peer educators also made household visits and one-to-one contact in different villages under each union to identify the targeted beneficiaries. Through the household visits, the peer educators were able to identify the current migrant workers and reached out the spouses of the 12

13 current migrant workers. On the other hand, the returned migrant workers as well as the potential migrants were identified and reached out through one-to-one contact. Quantitative results of activities undertaken by the project are as follows : Awareness raising and referral services Male Female Grand Total Number of returnee migrants educated /informed on STIs 5, ,443 and HIV/AIDS Number of spouses of current migrants educated /informed ,255 12,892 on STIs and HIV/AIDS Number of potential migrants (preparing to go abroad) 2, ,939 educated/informed on STIs and HIV/AIDS Number of returnee migrants referred for VCT Number of returnee migrants received VCT service Number of returnee migrants referred for STI service Number of returnee migrants received STI service Number of spouses of migrants referred for STI or HIV related service Number of spouses of migrants received STI or HIV related service Total 24,909 13

14 PROJECT Share based Investment of remittances for reintegration OKUP own funded project As a migrant association, OKUP s experiences found that the majority of migrant workers returned home with only a small amount of their remittances which were hardly enough to invest for sustaining the livelihoods of their families. Sometimes social attitudes discourage the migrants from investing in small enterprises. Therefore, many migrants have found themselves unemployed when they return home and fall back into a state of economic hardship. This initiative made a model of collective-based small investments of remittances for medium/large-scale ventures. It has also made collective entrepreneurship of migrants and their families. The medium/large-scale ventures turned out more employment opportunities for returnee migrants and subsequently generated revenues for the national economy as well. The initiative has created a common platform of migrants to work together and to raise their collective voices to ensure the protection of their rights. Bangladeshi migrant workers who are both current and returnees covering both men and women are the sole beneficiaries of these projects. Furthermore, the projects also benefit the immediate and extended members of the migrant s families. Project Activities The aim of this project is further develop the economic capacity of migrants and their families. It is planned to further develop the existing projects such as the OKUP Tourism Village, Apartment, and Cow rearing and Dairy projects through the successful collective investment accumulated from migrants remittances. OKUP has been implementing the following activities to accumulate shared money, enhance management capacity, and develop human resource. Carrying out peer outreach activity to provide information on safe migration to migrant communities and in the countries of destination Organizing orientations and training seminars for the prospective and returnee migrant workers on issues including better management of remittances Organizing community mobilization activities including mass education through campaigns and cultural events Organizing a network team capable of providing a wide range of skills on project management and human resource development in order to maximize the activities OKUP has also been carrying out a market research study through action-based research on the proposed projects to identify the gaps and difficulties for better planning and implementation. 14

15 Cow rearing in Sirajgonj Project and Selling in the EID Hat 2010, Dhaka Achievements Organized and united 1000 migrant workers both at home and different destination countries Established a limited company entitled OKUP Enterprise Limited under the registration of Joint Stock Company regulation of the People s Republic of Bangladesh Some $41,250 (USD) was accumulated through 2810 shares which were distributed among 600 migrant workers till September 2009 Bought 20 acres of land in an Island locally known as Nizhum Dip or «Silence Island». This is located in the south of Bangladesh. The place is located in the point of conjunction of rivers and was selected for its scenic beauty of mangrove and plenty of deer. Established a Cow Rearing and Dairy Project in a northern district of Bangladesh and has been running for the past three years. This project has resulted in 100 cows having been reared annually for local meat houses. The cows are sold in the local markets as well as during the Muslim religious festival followed by the annual Haj. The initiative has created a common platform of migrants to work together and to raise their collective voices to ensure the protection of their rights 15