This year, for the first time, the Government of Nepal (GON) collaborated with NGOs and an INGO to celebrate December 18 by carrying out various weeklong activities. National Network for Safe Migration, an umbrella organization for NGOs working in the area of safe migration, took the lead in organizing various programs during this weeklong period. There are 35 members and 9 committee members of the Migration Network.

Interaction Program with Media Personnel: The main objective of this event was focused on discussing with the various media personnel who are involved with the issues of migration with various channels both print and audio-visual about the International Migration Day so that they could report on these issues with least amount of duplication.

Some issues were noted for reinforcing through the media in view of the International Migration Day celebration.

Press Conference: The minister for Labour and Transportation Management, Nepal shared his views in the press conference. After the address by the minister, the chairperson of National Network for Safe Migration and the secretary of Department to those present at the conference, questions on migration issues were put up. Some of the questions were: on why the government had not undertaken deliberations on the issue of grave problems faced by men and women migrating via India, why a separate division for migration was not created despite having a provision to do so, what home work had been done to provide migration opportunities to Dalits, people from remote areas and victims and families of victims of the conflict, what decisions have been made on the policy level to materialize these opportunities, what was the time frame for bringing a policy on this issue, why there was no coordination between the MoLTM and Foreign Ministry in migration related issues. The Secretary of MoLTM addressed the issues raised by the media personnel.

Interaction Program: Around 90 people participated in this program from various migration related organizations, including media, professors and students of women studies, government officials, NGOs etc.

Mr. Lamsal, the Joint Secretary MoLTM, presented his paper which was centered on the Implementation Status of Foreign Employment Act, 2064. He then delved into the topic of Foreign Employment Act. He indicated that the Act was enacted with the aim of solving the myriad problems faced by potential migrant workers and migrant workers working overseas.

Mr. Rajiv Gautam, the under Secretary of MoLTM then took over the floor to present his paper on the Role of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board. This was followed by Mr. Ganesh Gurung’s presentation, which focused on the need for Nepal to ratify the UN Migration Convention. The final presenter at the program was Ms. Sharu Joshi Shrestha of UNIFEM who presented on the global initiatives on the issue of migration and development, particularly on the Global Forum on Migration and Development, and the Manila Call for Action. The floor was then kept open for further questions and discussions.

Morning Rally: Around 500 people participated in the rally, representing various Non-governmental organizations, International Non Governmental organization, Government officials, former and potential migrants, members from Recruiting Agencies and media personnel. The participants carried a main banner that read “Honor the Contributions Made by Migrant Workers.” The Rally went from Basantapur square through the Ratna Park and finally convened at Bhrikutimandap at Exhibition Road.

Once the participants of the Rally assembled at Bhrikutimandap, several speeches were made by various dignitaries who focused the need for a safe migration.

Exhibition Show: An Exhibition on safe migration was also held at the Bhrikutimandap grounds where five different stalls were organized, one each by Youth Action Nepal, POURAKHI, SOLIDARITY, Women’s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) Nepal and UNIFEM. All stalls displayed materials such as pamphlets, flyers, posters, books, stickers etc. The posters were on the facts on Foreign Employment Act, 2064; Equal rights of women to migrate; information on safe migration process etc. The stalls also distributed flyers with information of safe migration.

A signature campaign was also carried out at the Bhrikutimandap venue where participants of the Rally and members of the general public signed on four large banners which transmitted messages of promoting safe migration and honoring the contribution of migrant workers. These banners were presented to the Prime Minister.

Street Drama: A drama troupe also performed a 30 minutes long street drama at Bhrikutimandap ground where the spectators mostly included the Rally participants and few members of the general public. The second performance was shown at the Gongabu bus park, a local and major bus park in Kathmandu. Around 400-500 spectators watched this street drama. The drama had six characters and it portrayed both success and hardship stories of migration. The central message of the drama focused on the need to migrate only after arming oneself with all the prerequisite information on safe migration and migrating only by using reliable Recruiting Agencies.

Welcoming and Bidding Farewell to Migrant Workers at the Airport: A program of bidding farewell and welcoming the Migrant workers at the Tribhuvan International Airport was conducted by members of the Migration Network. The members put Khada around the neck of each workers leaving on Gulf Air destined to various Gulf countries, as a farewell gesture. Similarly, Khada were also put on returnee migrant workers flying into Nepal through Gulf Air, Thai Airlines and Singapore Airlines. According to Manju Gurung, member of the farewell and welcoming team, a large number of migrant workers were women. Many returning women were either on a break or returning home for good. Many were coming from Korea, Kuwait and Dubai.

Migrant Workers’ Hearing: A Migrant Workers’ Hearing was designed to create a forum for returnee migrant workers to share their experiences (both good and bad) while working abroad. Migrant returnee from countries such as Oman, Malaysia, Kuwait, British Island Angola, Israel, Hong Kong, etc shared their experiences at this program.