IOM has launched a new campaign in Ukraine aimed at encouraging
youth to overcome prejudices and stereotypes and to be more open in
accepting people of other cultures.

With the message "We have more in common than we think; the
colour of our skin doesn't matter", the campaign has kicked off
with the showing of three TV spots on MTV-Ukraine and the release
of a song called "We are all neighbours" by popular Ukrainian
singer and guitarist, Pavlo Gudimov.

The campaign, broadcast on national TV and radio, is
complemented by a series of "Living Library" events, where real
people, representatives of minorities and foreigners in Ukraine,
act as "live books" and talk to "readers"—students of
secondary schools—about their lives and experiences as a way
of breaking down perceptual barriers. Among the "live books"
participants is Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine, Daniel Caron, whose
embassy has helped fund the campaign.

"We believe that prejudices and stereotypes can be overcome
through cross cultural friendships. This is why we often work with
high school and university students," says Jeff Labovitz, IOM Chief
of Mission in Ukraine and co-chair of the Diversity Initiative
(DI), a network of organizations working to promote the dignity and
well-being of migrants, refugees and minorities in Ukraine.

IOM, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Amnesty
International established the initiative in 2007 in response to an
unprecedented increase in the number of suspected racially
motivated attacks. It began as an information coordination
mechanism and gradually developed into the current partnership of
50 organizations from the international, civil, corporate,
government and diplomatic sectors that today primarily focus on
developing intercultural dialogue in Ukraine.

Videos, posters and a ring tone version of the song can be
downloaded from the IOM country mission's website:  "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://iom.org.ua/index.php?page=video" target="_blank" title=
"">http://iom.org.ua/index.php?page=video for distribution
among friends and school mates.

For further information, please contact:

Daiva Vilkelyte

IOM Kiev

Tel: + 38067 466 02 83

E-mail: "mailto:pr@iom.kiev.ua">pr@iom.kiev.ua