A nationwide multimedia campaign to raise awareness and stimulate
discussions on issues related to human trafficking will be launched
12 November in Eldoret in Kenya's Rift Valley Province.

The Kaa Chonjo (Watch Out!) campaign will use a wide variety of
communication channels including radio, television, mobile cinemas,
billboards, posters and road shows to raise awareness among
communities living in Northern Kenya and the North Rift Valley made
vulnerable by drought, the food crisis, as well as civil and
political unrest, all of which have often resulted in forced
displacement.

"Forced displacement disrupts social and economic support
systems within communities and is conducive for traffickers to
recruit, transport and exploit women, children and men," says IOM's
regional counter-trafficking officer Tal Raviv in Nairobi.

An assessment carried out by IOM in the target regions
establishes poverty and the search for livelihood as key factors
that render people vulnerable to trafficking. It notes, for
instance, that impoverished families from the North Rift Valley
tend to migrate to coastal areas in search of employment in the
hospitality sector, where they are exposed to
exploitation.    

In addition to awareness-raising activities, IOM's
counter-trafficking team has established a referral system that
enables vulnerable households within the targeted areas to embark
on livelihood activities. 

"Providing grants for small scale entrepreneurship or to help
poor families send their children to school reduces their
vulnerability to human trafficking, smuggling and other forms of
irregular migration," Raviv adds.

In Northern Kenya, IOM is working with the Ministry of State for
National Heritage and Culture through a public private partnership
to support the construction of cultural centers that will serve as
skills centers where targeted host communities can work and
preserve their culture while engaging in income-generating
activities.

In addition, IOM is working with the Department of Children's
Services in North Eastern Province to support the establishment of
a Children's Call Centre at the government-run Child Rescue
Centre. 

The information campaign, which will run until the end of the
year, is part of a larger project to provide assistance to
vulnerable families in the Rift Valley and Northern Regions of
Kenya funded by the Japanese government and supported by its Kenyan
counterpart.

For more information please contact:

Alia Hirji

IOM Nairobi

Tel+254 714 606 725

E-mail "mailto:ahirji@iom.int">ahirji@iom.int