Let's talk: Community Conversation in Ethiopia

Let's talk: Community Conversation in Ethiopia

Facilitating conversations about the risks of irregular migration

Participants at a Community Conversation meeting

The context

With a population of over 119 million, Ethiopia is the largest migration-sending country in the Horn of Africa. Many of its citizens are at risk of human trafficking and smuggling as they seek opportunities abroad. In rural areas, media is often inaccessible and information is instead passed through word of mouth with religious and community leaders acting as opinion leaders and gatekeepers.

A grassroots approach was needed to help mitigate the risks of irregular migration through a sustainable, community-led approach that could help shift social norms. Enter the Community Conversation programme!

Community Conversation in action in Ethiopia
Community Conversation in action in Ethiopia

What is Community Conversation?

Community Conversation is a process of engaging communities in interactive discussions through a series of facilitated dialogues that lead to collaborative action. Community Conversation is a model that is being used across a wide range of topics in different contexts around the world.

IOM Ethiopia has been implementing the Community Conversation programme for over a decade, in partnership with the Government of Ethiopia. Through Community Conversation, forums are being created where communities can discuss local alternatives to migration and ways to combat irregular migration.

Together, they create action plans that can include information campaigns, support for returnees and livelihood options. IOM trains volunteer community conversation facilitators, including religious and community leaders and representatives of vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and women. Over 7,000 community members and government officials have been trained from 3,600 kebeles, or neighbourhoods!

Once trained, the facilitators engage their communities to discuss the risks of irregular migration and encourage informed decisions about migration. In addition, this approach supports accountability among stakeholders through community initiatives that help ensure information reaches policy makers at regional and federal levels.

Community conversation in action in Ethiopia
Community conversation in action in Ethiopia

What impact has the programme had?

Findings from an impact evaluation carried out in 2022 looking at kebeles where Community Conversation was implemented compared to ones where it was not, indicated that:

  • Community engagement and trust towards authorities was reported as higher.
  • People reported feeling more informed about the opportunities and risks of migration.
  • Obtaining information about regular migration pathways was perceived as easier.
  • More people felt that returnees should receive community support.

Overall, Community Conversation has been shown to be a useful starting point for discussions that form a vital step in the long-term process of shifting social norms and changing behaviour. Creating and implementing an action plan together is a vital part of this process and 68 per cent of Community Conversation groups achieved this milestone – creating and sharing a community action plan with local authorities and the wider community.

To learn more, check out this article from IOM Ethiopia. 

Community
on the ground
youth