On the final day of the GFMD Summit in Geneva, the GFMD Civil Society Mechanism co-hosted a side event highlighting multistakeholder partnerships and ethical storytelling to communicate migrants’ stories and realities.
On the final day of the 14th Summit of the 2022-24 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD)* under the French Chairmanship, held in Geneva on 23-25 January 2024, more than 40 GFMD delegates participated in the official side event ‘How Civil Society is Changing Migration Narratives: From Multistakeholder Partnerships to Ethical Storytelling.’
Organised by the GFMD Civil Society Mechanism in collaboration with the U.S. government, the GFMD Working Group on Public Narratives on Migration, and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the hour-and-a-half agenda focused on partnership and ethical storytelling. It highlighted how multi-stakeholder initiatives can promote a more inclusive use of words and images that are true to migrants’ stories and realities.
Migration, culture, and narratives at the GFMD
Migration, culture, and narratives have been a prominent part of the GFMD since 2020, when widespread recognition of the impact of polarisation, misinformation, and negative migration narratives led to the establishment of the GFMD Working Group on Public Narratives on Migration, co-chaired by Canada, Ecuador and the GFMD Mayors Mechanism.
Priority 5 of the six thematic priorities selected by the French Chairmanship of the GFMD focuses on ‘Improving the perception of migration in public opinion through narratives, culture, emotion, and rational discourse.’ The corresponding Government-led Roundtable Teams (GRT5) is co-chaired by the governments of Canada and the Philippines.
Civil society has played a central role in the GRT5 process, making diverse and extensive contributions to consultations and discussions that together formed the basis for the final GRT5 Background Paper, presented at the formal roundtable discussion at the GFMD Summit on the morning of 25 January.
These contributions were made via civil society participation at the June 2023 GFMD Thematic Workshop ‘Culture, Narratives and Human Mobility’ organised by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris, and via targeted meetings with the GRT5 co-chairs and Background Paper penholder, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). Highlighting the importance of diaspora within the discussion, in particular for Africa, the GFMD Africa Civil Society Group additionally published the thematic policy paper ‘Role of diaspora in shaping narratives on migration and culture’.
At the side event, moderator Christina Pope, Senior Director at Welcoming America, reflected on the importance of the topic for civil society. “Narratives are at the heart of everything: they influence policy, are influenced by policy, can instill fear or build confidence, and are central to tackling racism and xenophobia,” she said. “Today, we aim to highlight strategic practice on narratives, provide concrete examples of practice underpinned by partnership and ethical approaches, and emphasise the critical role of civil society in this area.”
To kick off the panel, Christina Pope shared how Welcoming America has learned a lot from the 11-year Welcoming Week initiative, a narrative and local action campaign now active in the US, Mexico, and Australia, where the campaign is led by civil society organizations, and in Canada and New Zealand, where it is led by national governments. Welcoming Week celebrates the actions of governments, civil society organisations, businesses, and migrant leaders to create more welcoming communities. National lead implementers work in partnership across sectors and across levels of government to host local events and catalyse large-scale social and traditional media engagement.
A key lesson highlighted from Welcoming Week is that it is vital to focus not only on which messages are strategic and effective, but also to pair those messages with concrete local policy actions and social cohesion activities that show the public what is working well on migration, and help them feel they can be part of this vision. In 2024, Welcoming Week will be held September 13-22. The other examples in the panel bring this point to life.
Telling migrant stories: Ethics, inclusion and agency
In a powerful intervention during the side event’s opening panel, Nermin Ahmad of the NGO Committee on Migration reflected on her experiences as a migrant woman, and highlighted ethical considerations for stakeholders seeking to tell migrant stories in support of changing narratives.
“People on the move, those most in need and most marginalized are fearful to share their reality. With reason. They have learned to tell the stories that get the best response, to create cover stories that protect them, and their families left behind,” she stated. “‘I’m a woman on the move. My honest, considered responses based on lived experience have been interpreted, incorrectly relayed, and edited to meet the expectations or required funding narrative of the few.” Highlighting her experience compiling a guidebook for newly-arrived refugee women, she described how her organisation chose to draw on testimony and advice from established immigrant women who were less susceptible to this internalised bias. “We used data collected from established newcomers to develop basic adaptation and guidance material and delivered it as humorous, informal advice from a sister or aunt.”
She emphasised the need to avoid placing people at risk through storytelling, including involuntarily, and for vigilance in relation to triggering past trauma. “Can you imagine putting the family of someone on the move at risk of AI recognition, just to benefit from their stories?” she reflected. Ahmad’s recommendations centred on practice that promotes meaningful inclusion and representation. “The best way to be inclusive is to fully hear what newcomers want to share and respect it even when their narrative is not what you were looking for or wanted to hear.,” she stated. “Let their narrative emerge, and respect it – hear, honor and honestly respond. This helps them build trust, begin to release their fears, and lets them share their needs.”
Echoing her comments, Paddy Siyanga Knudsen of the Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism and the African Non-state Actors Platform on the GFMD , highlighted how migrants’ stories can change according to who is telling them. “Stories and the versions of those stories told by other people feed perceptions: it can be my story, but your version,” she noted. “Although tech offers useful approaches, we must retain the integrity of stories through direct communication, and remember that ‘balanced narratives’ are not always the same as the migrant reality.”
‘None of us can do it alone’: Multistakeholder partnerships for narrative change
Siyanga Knudsen strongly emphasised the central importance of multistakeholder and multilevel partnerships in any action seeking narrative change. “Single actors can’t change narratives on their own, because we all have different perceptions,” she said. “The fact that this topic is a priority in an international space like the GFMD is hugely positive, as is the strong engagement of civil society alongside local government,” she stated. “It’s crucial to provide spaces to share and collaborate across all stakeholders, at all levels.”
Marta Youth, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. government’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), offered a practical example of the value of partnership from a State perspective. “For us, it’s a priority to communicate the dangers of smuggling to those thinking of migrating to the U.S., but we know that people question the motivations of a government saying that.” She described the practical ways in which PRM therefore works with partners to communicate this message, including by establishing Safe Mobility Offices along migration routes in countries including Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
“Safe Mobility Offices are staffed by international organisations, with no government presence, and provide a physical location where those thinking of coming to the U.S. can speak to credible authorities and obtain information on legal pathways rather than smuggling routes,” she stated. “We also fund partners to distribute stories around this message in migrant languages: involving trusted partners is really essential to our message getting through.”
Creating local ecosystems of narrative change: community-level intervention
Contributions at the side event strongly highlighted the importance of action taken in proximity to citizens and communities for achieving narrative change.
The GFMD Mayors Mechanism was a founding member of the GFMD Working Group on Public Narratives on Migration, and the 2022-24 GRT5 Background Paper strongly emphasises the unique ability of local governments to influence migration narratives and foster a pragmatic, evidence-based debate on migration.
Corinne Huybers, diversity lead at the Belgian city of Mechelen, offered a comprehensive insight into the work of her city changing negative narratives and perceptions of migration and integration.
“37% of the citizens of Mechelen have a migrant background, and 11% of the citizens do not have Belgian nationality,” she explained. “ When we look at the city of Mechelen fifteen years ago, polarisation was high and over 30% of the city’s inhabitants voted for extreme right. Now, 76% of Mechelaars are ‘proud to live’ in Mechelen and the citizens appreciation for the city’s integration policy is one of the highest in the country.”
Huybers presented an overview of how the city reinvented narratives of migration, integration, and local identity to achieve this change, citing urban renovation and renewal projects focused on outdoor spaces and sports facilities, building dialogue with young people from migrant communities, and implementing an inclusive strategic political and communications strategy across all local government services and with external partners.
“ In Mechelen the starting point is that “we have to learn to live together”. It is not about “them” integrating into “our” society, but we all have to integrate into the super-diverse 21st century” she stated. Huybers particularly highlighted the success of the city’s ‘50 Years Of Diversity’ campaign, which promoted 128 portraits of diverse ‘Mechelaars’ and their associated stories under the banner ‘We Are All Mechelaars’.
“ Change, transition and critical self-reflection is a slow, difficult and sensitive process. We are very vigilant about using language and images that does not polarise, and to use a consistent, persistent, positive and inclusive narrative,” she concluded. “For us, the key is the repetition of our message, and a focus on the power of storytelling to shift narratives.”
The value of locally specific action and collaboration was further highlighted by Nathalie Porte, project and programme coordinator at E-Graine, a citizenship education movement based in France. “Our Migrant Education Programme aims to restructure narratives of migration presented in mainstream media,” she explained. “We work with local and regional multistakeholder partnerships, including, for example, civil society, academia, local government, and communities, to implement actions to mobilise citizens in a way that responds to each specific geographical context.”
Porte described several successful actions supported by E-Graine, including an immersive exhibition placing viewers in the position of a migrant, exhibitions and workshops on migration as part of French national history, and educational initiatives to build young people’s capacity to critically engage with discussions on EU migration policy. “We’ve also supported projects that provide much-needed practical assistance for newcomers while also promoting exchange, network-building, and mutual understanding,” she stated, highlighting a programme of local actions centred on cooking and French language practice. “Our ethos is rooted in place-based approaches focusing on animation, cooperation and training.”
Enabling narratives, independent voices: Engaging media
Media coverage of migration has the potential to promote balanced narratives, but can also fuel division by spreading and amplifying both misinformation and racist rhetoric.
Julien Simon, Head of the Regional Office for the Mediterranean at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), shared a historical overview of his organisation’s work with media to address the “perceptions of permanent crisis in relation to migration” prevalent in the EU since 2015-16, including learning from both successful and unsuccessful approaches.
“Our first assumption was that working with the media would help, but our initial attempts to support and recognise journalists writing on migration showed that almost all focused specifically on more ‘dramatic’ reporting of irregular migration,” he said. “While this is a reality, it’s only a small part of migration.” Subsequent attempts to refocus on more positive and balanced media reporting also suffered from both an overemphasis on reporting irregular migration and a lack of interest from journalists and media outlets.
“The positive is that we’ve taken this learning on board, and developed a new focus on promoting enabling narratives on migration emanating from governments,” he concluded. “We’re working with public communications specialists from the Club of Venice, an informal group of Europe’s most senior and experienced government communications professionals, on how they use evidence to build these narratives, and seeing much more positive results.”
Etaf Roudan, a Jordanian journalist representing the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), highlighted the potential of migrant communities to bring new voices and perspectives into traditional media landscapes.
“In Jordan and in Arab countries generally, there is a real lack of independent media and government agendas tend to dominate,” she explained. “We wanted to create media space for Syrian refugees in Jordan, so we trained community members to be journalists and supported them to create ‘Syrians Among Us’, an independent radio news bulletin covering the challenges for them living as refugees in Jordan.”
She highlighted the positive practical impacts that injecting refugee and migrant voices into media narratives can create, such as improvements to refugee registration in Jordan prompted by coverage of this issue by refugee journalists. “It’s essential to listen to the people concerned, from their own perspective, and support them to raise the issues that are of concern to them,” she concluded.
‘We’re doing it, but do we see the shift?’: Measuring the impact of action for narrative change
Echoing the conclusions of the GRT5 Background Paper, side event discussions emphasised the lack of systematic evaluations of communication actions on migration, and of qualitative analyses to measure attitudinal and behavioural change.
“So much is being done in Africa on this issue, as we highlight in our policy paper,” said Paddy Siyanga Knudsen. “We’re doing it, but we see that the image of the migrant hasn’t really changed. We need to ask what we can do differently with existing tools, to get better results.”
Etaf Roudan highlighted educational awareness-raising with children as one area in which positive results can be seen. “We’ve produced video education materials for use in schools with Syrian refugee children and those from Jordan,” she explained. “There we can see tangible impacts, such as a reduction in bullying and conflict in schools.”
Marta Youth called on all stakeholders to remember the long-term nature of efforts to shift migration narratives. “We need to do better with evaluations and data, but this is iterative work,” she stated. “Narrative change by its nature necessitates a ‘drip-drip’ approach, and we have to persevere.”