The Power to Choose - a Video Series Supporting Successful Migration

Migrant workers are confronted with many new personal challenges that strongly affect their own security, productiveness, longevity and support to family and community back at home. For many migrant workers these challenges are exacerbated by new social cultural, linguistic, political and other differences. The cumulative effect often leads to the worker being less effective or protected in their new environment, leading to difficulties for the migrant, the host society and the migrant's family.

This project offers information and materials to help migrant workers and migrant worker social support organizations better recognize threats to successful migration experiences, to avoid such threats and to more effectively deal with such threats. These threats include (amongst other areas) poor hygiene, inadequate treatment of infection and disease, lack of professional access to assistance, potential to harm family and community, and generally misunderstanding disease transmission. Using multi-media techniques and real migrant situations, this project will share key messages and responses to migrant health threats in a video series and related discussion setting format. Tested and proven effective through Philippines and other government-supported and NGO-assisted application, the ‘Power to Choose’ video training system is an effective way to promote better migrant awareness, preparation and response.

Through the 1035 funding (and then through further other donor approaches) IOM intends to expand the pilot video and associated training materials to subsequent videos, and to better promote the entire series.