3.5.1 Community mobilization activities

All activities falling under the community-based psychosocial approach to reintegration support the wider objective of community mobilization. 

Community mobilization aims to develop inclusiveness and a positive attitude towards returnees’ reintegration by counteracting potential stigma. In sensitization activities, community members, groups or organizations plan and carry out participatory activities, either on their own initiative or stimulated by others. Such work involves processes like raising awareness and building commitment; giving community members the opportunity to explore their current beliefs, attitudes and practices; setting priorities; planning how best to meet their challenges, implement their plans and monitor their progress; and evaluating results. Through their participation in the process, communities establish necessary organizational structures and relationships. Returnees develop their social support networks, which helps them to reduce stress factors and improves other aspects of their lives.

With relation to community mobilization in the context of psychosocial reintegration assistance, three types of community level interventions are presented in this section:

• Facilitation of peer-support mechanisms and systems;
• Introduction of returnees to identified cultural, recreational and artistic systems and support to those systems; and 
• Promotion and support for events and processes that positively affect the social perception of returnees.

3.5.2 Peer support mechanisms

Peer support mechanisms use resources and capacities within the local community (including returnees) to build support networks to deal with reintegration or other challenges. Because they rely on existing resources, the support provided is not only locally appropriate but likely to last beyond the timeline of the programme. 

Mentoring approach 

This approach is based on a supportive relationship between two peers with similar experiences, for example a newly arrived returnee and a former returnee from the same location. It is an empowering form of psychosocial support that is learned through organized training activities. 

Returnees who have been particularly successful in their reintegration, those with experience in community engagement, or those with specific backgrounds (such as social workers or teachers, for example) can act as mentors. These returnee mentors act as an informal support network for the newly arrived returnees. They can help them navigate the difficulties of return or just function as a point of reference. 

A network of mentors can be established, formalized and supported with annual reunions and training sessions, such as training in the mentoring approach described below. During individual counselling, returnees should be referred to the mentor network where available and appropriate.

➔ Who IS a mentor

A mentor is usually a volunteer who is available to support a returnee in acclimatizing to the return context, thus reducing their isolation. They are someone who can understand the experience of the returnee because they have also experienced something similar. They have received some training to fulfil this role. A mentor can also be a community member who might not have migrated, but understands the returnees’ needs and opportunities.

➔ Who a mentor is NOT

A mentor is not a case manager, because mentors act in a more informal fashion. Mentors are not supervisors, because they do not direct or monitor the reintegration of the returnees.

➔ What a mentor DOES

The mentor supports the newly arrived returnee with solving practical problems, like giving information about services, procedures or formalities, connected with the fact that the country may have changed and the returnee needs help navigating. The mentor, relying on their personal reintegration story, fosters the returnee’s proactivity and also helps reduce the social barriers to reintegration.

➔ Training for a mentor

Apart from some attitudes such as being sensitive, empathic and available, the mentor should receive training covering such aspects as:

• The types of activities that mentors and returnees can do together;
• How to listen effectively (see Annex 1.A);
• How to manage and adapt expectations;
• How to encourage equal and respectful relationships;
• How to refer the returnee to a help service or agency;
• How to provide Psychological First Aid (see Annex 1.C);
• How to end the mentor relationship.

➔ How to set up an effective mentoring approach

The lead reintegration organization, with the help of local organizations, communities and authorities, can set up an effective mentoring approach by:

• Meeting the community leaders or, if possible, local communities during collective events to explain the role of the mentor and its value;
• Asking for volunteers, preferably among former returnees who have already benefited from the support of helping organizations or entities. When possible, both male and female volunteers should be selected;
• Organizing formal training on the mentoring approach, covering the topics described above. This should usually entail at least a two-day initial training period and yearly refreshers;
• Organizing regular supervision with the mentors so that they can share their views and tackle the most common issues and ask for solutions;
• Supporting returnees in their emotional needs; and evaluating the mentoring approach on a regular basis by meeting the returnees at the end of a mentoring cycle.

➔ Peer support groups

Peer support groups are a consolidated form of group support in which individuals having similar life experiences interact and form helping connections. In the context of reintegration, the similarity stems from participants in the peer-support groups having gone through similar migration experiences. In this sense, peer support groups form a social, emotional, physical and tangible support network and can help returnees feel part of a group, overcome feelings of social isolation and build a bridge towards the community. Depending on the context, due consideration should be given to whether it is appropriate or preferable to have mixed or single-gender groups.

Peer groups can form themselves spontaneously, but they can also be programmatically envisaged and structured. A structured peer-support group consists of:

• One to six one-hour initial meetings that the group can decide to extend up to one year;
• Ideally 8 to 20 participants. Although newcomers should not be included in existing groups and instead form new ones, this can be kept flexible due to geographical distances and consideration of existing bonds;
• An experienced facilitator: they can be identified among professionals or can be a returnee that has been trained to facilitate peer support groups;
• Information about the peer support group should be communicated to the returnee during counselling sessions;
• Community leaders and peers should be informed about the group and as much as possible involved in the activities of the group. This would require the approval from community leaders; and
• Follow-up sessions should be organized based on the interest and availability of the group.

The objectives of peer support meetings are sharing experiences, discussing return and reintegration related topics and giving and receiving support.³¹

3.5.3 Community networks

Cultural, artistic and physical expression can play important roles in supporting returnees and communities to establish or improve social links and combat social stigma during the reintegration process. These interventions recognize that the returnees’ culture, experiences, knowledge and skills have changed as a result of the migration experience and sharing this can assist in building more supportive community networks. Storytelling, theatre, visual art, music, dance and sport can all be powerful vehicles for sharing. They can have a strong potential impact on reintegration, social cohesion and on the well-being of individuals. 

At the individual level, these activities help release stress and anxiety and promote self-awareness and confidence. Within a group of people, they can create strong bonds and break down barriers by discussing difficult issues through metaphors and in a safe place. At the community level, the expressive arts can produce positive images and increase understanding of returnees. Therefore, it is important for a case manager to:

• Identify and map existing formal and informal theatre, visual art, music, dance, sports and other interestrelated collectives and groups in return communities;
• Sensitize these groups and stakeholders using information on the needs and creative resources that returnees may bring;
• Identify any returnees with possible creative interests during counselling;
• Refer the returnees to these groups, based on their interests; and
• Identify support for creative initiatives that are inclusive of returnees, through grants, publicity and so forth.

Building on the partnerships established through referrals, or independently, the lead reintegration assistance can support events (such as exhibitions, readings, storytelling, performances, sport events) that display the creativity and skills of returnees together with those of community members. For example, sports game  involving both returnees and non-migrants can bring together not only the players but also the community to watch. Understanding local preferences in cultural, artistic and physical activities can guide decisions on what is appropriate to support.

➔ Storytelling events

Storytelling is an effective tool for mobilizing communities and promoting social cohesion towards the reintegration of returning migrants. It is the oldest and easiest known form of sharing stories and exerts an emotional impact on both the tellers and the listeners. Stories that relate experiences can create understanding and have the power to unite people while they are being told. They work on a deep emotional level and benefit all participants: it is not only the listener who learns, but also the teller who becomes aware of the value of his or her own unique experiences and background.

Storytelling can be structured as a group activity or an event, involving returnees, their families and the communities. Returnees who feel so inclined can tell not only about hurdles but also about courage, skills and learned lessons that can be transferred to the community. 

Storytelling can be verbal, in the form of a video or a reading. A facilitator can help the returnees combine their stories in different narratives to share in public. Digital media has been playing an increasingly influential role in shaping the perceptions and outcomes of migration processes and can be shared widely and easily between audiences. A digital story, with the editing of images, sound, music and voice does not require extensive technical knowledge or skills and can offer both the returnees and their communities opportunities for learning new skills. A digital storytelling laboratory can bring together members of the community and returnees and enhance social cohesion. Combining the art of storytelling and the practice of exploring meaning through image making, each returnee can engage in remembering, reconstituting and performing their story.

➔ Staging the experiences of returning migrants

Staging the experiences of returnees in dramas written and played by the returnees themselves is a form of psychosocial support and a tool for community mobilization. It empowers returnees to become protagonists of their own stories. It enhances their sense of control and reduces feelings of helplessness; it can have an effect on the audience as well, changing their perceptions about return migration. Under the guidance of a play writer and of a director, these writing and acting workshops have the power to foster social cohesion and facilitate reintegration.

➔ Theatre forums

Another example of staging returnees’ experiences can be inspired by the forum theatre. Through this technique, a problem that oppresses an individual is presented unsolved in a theatre scene and spectators are actively engaged in the performance. The scene is repeated twice and during the replay, which is facilitated by a presenter or joker (who is also expert in moderating interactions), each audience member can stop the scene at any given moment, step forward and take the place of the oppressed character, showing how they could change the situation to allow a different outcome. Breaking the barriers between performer and audience, the dynamic engagement on stage is powerful and has transformative effects on all the people in the theatre. In addition, practical and shared solutions to general problems can emerge.

Usually, the scene is the result of a workshop of a few days with a group of people sharing similar situations, such as returning migrants. Forum theatres on problems faced by returnees can sensitize communities on these problems and help returnees and communities create bonds and find solutions in a creative and participatory way

³¹ To learn more about how to organize these groups, the following guide should be referred to www.mind.org.uk/media/17944275/ peer-support-toolkit-final.pdf.