The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in partnership with the National School of Public Administration (ENAP), launched an online course, called "MigraCidades: Improving Local Migration Governance", on 3 June 2020. The course has already more than 350 participants enrolled. The 30-hour training is free, available in Portuguese on the Virtual School of Government (EVG) online platform. The course is part of the 2019 project “Enhancing Migration Governance in Brazil” financed by the IOM Development Fund.

The course was developed as a response to a need identified by the federal government to support states and municipalities experiencing migration influxes, both spontaneously and as part of the relocation and interiorization strategy of Venezuelans from the border state Roraima. Its objective is to support civil servants and local government staff in the coordination and preparedness of public services to better receive and integrate international migrants, thereby unlocking the positive potential of migration for both migrants and host communities.

"IOM has extensive experience in supporting dialogue on migration and developing results-based projects tackling migration related issues," said IOM's Chief of Mission in Brazil, Stéphane Rostiaux. "We carried out a national Migration Governance Indicators exercise in Brazil in 2018 and a local exercise in São Paulo in 2019. Now, with the online course, our goal is to capitalize on what we learned from these activities and apply it to municipalities across the country".

“ENAP aims to develop and strengthen the capacities of civil servants managing public policies, and to be an inductor of innovation in public management to deliver results for the well-being of the society,” explained Paulo Marques, ENAP’s Director of Continued Education.  “Thanks to our online platform, we have students from all Brazilian states. As a result, we are able to reach a wide audience, which can directly contribute to improving services to migrants. This convergence allows us to catalyze the promotion of education and professional development in public administration, as well as to contribute to relevant projects such as the capacity-building initiatives promoted by the Fund”.

In addition to civil servants and local government staff, the course can also be accessed by civil society organizations and academia. Registrations can be made at any time by anyone seeking to improve their knowledge on the subject.

The course has 10 modules, each adapting migration policy to the various local Brazilian contexts. Five modules address cross-cutting issues, and the other five focus on migrants’ access to rights. The course content also highlights a series of best practices in relation to migration governance and some of them are already being implemented by states and municipalities across Brazil.  

In addition to participating in the online training, states and municipalities can enroll in a certification process to ensure the recognition and the mainstreaming of good practices in relation to migration governance. The certification is implemented by IOM, in partnership with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and registrations are open until 3 July 2020.

Learn more about MigraCidades at: www.ufrgs.br/migracidades.