Repository of Practices
Encontrarnos nos hace crecer” (“We grow together”) Fighting xenophobia and promoting cultural diversity in educational programmes
Secondary GCM Objectives
Dates
Type of practice
Summary
According to the estimates by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), in 2020, 2.3 million people residing in Argentina (5% of its total population) were born abroad. Of this total, the percentage of migrants between the age of 0 to 19 years old was of 17.4%.
Children of migrants who maintain the cultural practices of their parents may also become victims of xenophobia and discrimination. According to reports by the public agency in charge of fighting racism and xenophobia in Argentina (INADI), the notion of racism has become more complex in recent years and has begun to emphasize culture and nationality. In Argentina, several ethnic and cultural groups experience racism, including indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and African migrants, and migrants from neighboring countries, Asia, the Jewish and Muslim communities, among others. Argentina offers a number of educational programs to promote cultural diversity, to encourage everyone to respect cultural differences and to be involved in learning about other cultures. Promoting diversity requires an intersectional approach that include human rights perspectives such as access to health and education as well as gender identity.
Therefore, the importance of organizing and carrying out awareness-raising activities that address the issues affecting migrant children and youth has become clear and led to the development of a media campaign.
In alliance with the public TV channel Pakapaka; UNICEF; and the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family (SENAF), IOM Argentina led and financed the development of a cycle of 6 microprograms for TV, aimed at children, seeking to raise awareness about the values and benefits of culturally diverse society. “Encontrarnos nos hace crecer” communicates a positive message about migrants through experiences commonly found in from our daily lives, by dealing with topics such as food, games, cultural practices, music, and dancing, among others.
The episodes were aired on the cable television channel Pakapaka as part of its regular programming. Due to the short length of each episode, they were inserted at different times throughout the broadcasting schedule. They were also published on IOM, UNICEF, Pakapaka and SENAF social media.
The content was developed with a series of technical reports contributed by each of the participating organizations specifically on the subject of migrant children, which helped establish the needs and direction of the initiative. The scripts were developed in conjunction with a creative production company specializing in children and adolescent content. These scripts were then reviewed, modified and validated by the participating organizations, prior to the graphic production of each episode.
At the initial stage of development, 6 dimensions (sport, food, celebrations, language, dance and clothing) were identified to help formulate the stories and to tell a wide range of culturally diverse experiences of migrants. The team also made a decision not to make explicit references to nationalities, so that the focus of the messages stays on the integration experience and to avoid labeling of certain migrant groups.
Organizations
Main Implementing Organization(s)
Detailed Information
Partner/Donor Organizations
Benefit and Impact
Paka Paka is a public TV channel and its programs are developed in close coordination with the curriculum criteria established by the Ministry of Education for different educational levels. One of the objectives of this project was to develop of a series of curricular materials that would allow students to appreciate and respect diversity and help teachers to develop and incorporate relevant themes in their own teaching. Additionally, the team is working to develop complementary materials based on the existing episodes that can serve as a guide for early childhood educators who wishes to explore this further in the classroom setting.
Key Lessons
Carrying out the activities with multiple organizations can be challenging in terms of coordination. A good practice identified is to involve all participants from the beginning, to align expectations and to make decisions early to facilitate subsequent development.
IOM led the coordination of the project by working to ensure the goals of each organization were reflected and managing the publication deadlines and development of the materials, so that each episode could benefit from timely feedback of all participants and meet the production schedule. Although all the agencies involved were very much willing and interested, proactive leadership was essential to carry out the necessary communications and coordinate information sharing. The team developed a calendar of activities to facilitate monitoring of the progress, which worked well. In addition, it is recommended the coordination role should continue through to the dissemination stage, particularly in the use of social media, to maximize the outreach. In coordinating the social media campaign, IOM established a standard publication date and time (Fridays, 11 am) and circulated a proposed copy, which was then validated by each organization and this practice allowed all the social media channels to show and amplify the same message.
Recommendations(if the practice is to be replicated)
Innovation
Also, it is a sustainable initiative, it continues to be available online to an audience that is constantly renewed.
In the context of COVID-19 aftermath - the local socioeconomic situation, aggravated by the effect of the pandemic- it risks the appearance of xenophobic and discriminatory discourses. This type of initiative is important, mainly in these contexts, to promote inclusive narratives that allow society to empathize with migrants from a deep understanding of the complexities of migration processes.
Finally, this project can both be replicated and escalated, taking into consideration local contexts and complexities in order to promote discourses to shape positive perceptions of migration in different realities.
Additional Resources
Date submitted:
Disclaimer: The content of this practice reflects the views of the implementers and does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations, the United Nations Network on Migration, and its members.
More Related Practices:
- Comité de Cultura de Paz y Derechos Humanos
- Disaggregated Data Action Plan (DDAP)
- Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada’s Use of Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)
- Alianza Social IntegraCallao
- A Journey of a Thousand Mile Begins with a single Step: Djibouti’s Experience in Strengthening Migration and Displacement Data Governance
Peer Reviewer Feedback:
*References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
Newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter.