Cairo, 19 January – To promote community cohesion among migrants and the Egyptian communities hosting them, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) partnered with Egyptian Startup Bassita, UNAOC Innovation Award 2^nd place winner Safarni, Drosos, and the French Institute in Egypt to launch a Clickfunding Campaign on 19 January, 2018.

The campaign, titled “Living Together,” features Egyptian singer and actress Boshra, speaking about the importance of children having opportunities to discover diversity and be accepting of others.

Developed by Bassita, the campaign uses clickfunding to capitalize on viral posts in social media in order to crowdsource Safarni – an initiative designed to take children on an imaginary journey to a new country, through simulated travel experiences and intercultural workshops, where they meet children from other cultural backgrounds and are introduced to the local language, food, games, dances and songs.

“IOM is pleased to support the Clickfunding campaign for Safarni; an initiative that will contribute to IOM Egypt’s ongoing efforts to foster community cohesion and promote cultural diversity between migrants and the Egyptian communities hosting them.””, declared Laurent De Boeck, IOM Egypt Chief of Mission.

Relying on recent research in the field of tackling the root causes of discrimination and prejudice, the workshops provided by Safarni to Egyptian and migrant children in Ard El Lewa district endeavor to humanize diversity and support communities in their efforts to become more inclusive and better integrated.

“After the success of the first IOM campaign ‘A day without migrants’, it was important to continue to promote community cohesion between migrants and Egyptians. This second campaign will deeply impact the lives of children living in Ard El lewa, by allowing them a positive platform to connect with cultures from around the world” stated Alban de Ménonville, the Clickfunding, Co-Founder.

“Travel shapes one’s personality, free their mind and nurture their soul. This campaign and the activities that will follow will provide children of Egyptian and migrant communities in Ard El Lewa with a simulated travel opportunity which will enable them to meet and interact, learn about cultural diversity, and most importantly learn to accept each other.” Said Zeinab Sabet, IOM Egypt Programme Office.

Clickfunding gives viewers the chance to contribute to fundraising for social initiatives through “the click of a mouse or tap of a screen”. The objective of the campaign is to gather 1 million points and for every point 1 EGP will be given to Safarni to further promote cultural diversity and contribute to enhancing community cohesion.

“I believe that diversity creates a context for innovation to emerge and Egypt has always been land of hospitality for different cultures.” stated Salem Massalha, the Clickfunding, Co-Founder.

 “Living Together” is under the framework of the EU-funded “Regional Development and Protection Programme for North Africa (RDPP NA) and supports the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals 4. Quality Education, 10. Reduced Inequalities and 17.Partnerships for the Goals.

For more information about the campaign, please contact Zeinab Sabet: iomegypt@iom.int