Throughout the month of October, the CinemArena campaign was promoted in more than 20 Senegalese villages originating large migration flows to inform a large population segment, and especially youth and the most vulnerable categories of people, on the risks of irregular migration. The campaign, financed by the Foreign Ministry through the Africa Fund 2018, was implemented by the International Organization of Migration (IOM) with the support of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).
Italian Ambassador Francesco Paolo Venier and the regional representative of the IOM, Richard Danziger, took stock of the results of the campaign, which will soon be extended to the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Guinea, Sudan, and will wind up on 30 April in Gambia.
Ambassador Venier recalled that the campaign represents one of the several preventive information instruments developed by the Cooperation service to support a longer-term action aimed at creating job opportunities and improving local living conditions. Moreover, CinemaArena – the Ambassador added – has the added value of being an outdoor cinema, which has always been particularly loved in regions lacking any form of entertainment. A short movie filmed during the information campaign was screened at the press conference.
The October campaign included the screening of films and documentaries as well as direct testimonials by migrants to stimulate a debate with the local population on the difficulties connected to irregular migration, thus directly involving the recipients of the project.
Hugues Diaz, the Director of the Cinematography Department of Senegal’s Ministry of Culture, and Alessandro Palumbo in representation of AICS Dakar, underscored the importance of cinema as a direct and effective instrument to directly approach populations.
