IOM & FAO Webinar: Sustainable Reintegration in Rural Areas: Lessons Learned and Tools from FAO

11.05.23: Nassim Majidi shared insights at a webinar organised by IOM - UN Migration on lessons learned on sustainable rural integration based on our study with The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

The study analyses 120+ reintegration programs in 6 countries - Afghanistan, Kenya, Moldova, Nepal, Senegal, Tunisia. Engaging with returnees, communities, and stakeholders, it explores rural context fit. The webinar highlighted the diverse nature of the returnee profiles, including international & internal returns during the COVID period. Factors like choice vs. forced return, successful reintegration & impact on perception were analysed. Challenges for women were also a key factor of discussion.

The webinar raised points on how only 40% of the reintegration programs had links to agriculture or rural transformation. The panellists drew examples from Senegal's successful involvement of regional/local authorities and Kenya's need to bridge national-county gaps.

Key recommendations by panellists included multi-stakeholder partnerships, inclusive food systems, location/learning-based approaches etc. Nassim Majidi emphasised on the need to link reintegration to development plans & the different ways to finance rural reintegration. Swipe through to know more
The accompanying toolkit introduced in the webinar also supports local stakeholders & agrifood actors in integrating rural returnees into agrifood programs. It guides stakeholders throughout the program cycle of pre-design, design, implementation & monitoring/evaluation.