On 5 December, the joint EU-ICMPD MIgration EU eXpertise Initiative (MIEUX+) released format the second annual report of the current phase launched in April 2020, as a video. The video covers the period between April 2021 and May 2022, providing highlights of several ongoing projects in Benin, Brazil, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mauritius as well mentioning new projects, publications and engagement efforts with its 1,000-strong community of international migration practitioners.
In under three minutes, the annual report summarises how the demand-driven facility got 21 projects underway, published a new discussion paper on the topic of migration and the Green Economy and created a new module about Cultural Agility for migration practitioners, which is freely available on the project website.
Why produce an audio-visual report?
International organisations are increasingly resorting to multi-channel communication campaigns to create, display and disseminate their knowledge products. In the last fifteen years, the rise of social media channels, mobile applications and video-based tutorials has significantly changed how audiences access and analyse information. The acceleration of online usage during the pandemic intensified this behaviour from all audiences, even specialist ones. Communicators must analyse, understand and incorporate trends into the production of new knowledge products, adopting new channels and resorting to a fuller range of audio-visual tools to go beyond written reports.
As Alfred Woeger, MIEUX+ Senior Project Manager said, “The decision for the Migration EU eXpertise Initiative to present yearly results in an audio-visual format was taken during 2020 in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The unstable environment proved ripe for innovation, prompting new decisions to be taken and new storytelling techniques to cater to the MIEUX+ global community of practitioners online”.
Visual language and migration
Narrating an annual report through visual language has its own set of constraints, especially when catering to an international audience that does not necessarily recognise the same visual symbols. Creativity is needed to adapt visual elements to the style and tone of an expert organisation such as ICMPD.
For Laura Zorrilla-Fernandez, MIEUX+ Knowledge Management and Communications Specialist, “Illustrating a balanced view of migration has its specific challenges given that visual representation of migration tends to focus heavily on images of hardship, loss or strife. While these experiences are a part of many migrants’ migration project, there are other sides to this complex phenomenon worth showing”.
International cooperation on migration and the Migration EU eXpertise Initiative
The story of MIEUX+ is one of cooperation between migration practitioners all around the world, and visual representation is linked to the concept of building bridges through capacity development. Working on a demand-driven basis, MIEUX+ has implemented 141 projects in almost 100 countries, and deployed over 400 migration practitioners to share knowledge and expertise among their peers working for Public Administrations in Asia, Africa, the Eastern and Southern European Neighbourhood, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Viewers will be able to appreciate the fast-paced nature of this programme in the three-minute video that encapsulates 12 months of activity. The pace of implementation picked up after the COVID-imposed hiatus, resulting in a flurry of activities with 21 ongoing projects on topics ranging from climate change, communications and consular crisis management, to more traditional migration topics such as trafficking in human beings, labour migration and diaspora engagement.
View the video on the MIEUX+ YouTube Channel
For more detailed information regarding ongoing activities, please visit the MIEUX+ website.