MEC Hosts JIFORM Continental Migration Summit In USA

The Medgar Evers College (MEC) of the foremost urban, City University of New York, US is set to host the 2022 Journalists International Forum For Migration (JIFORM) Intercontinental Migration Summit at its campus in Brooklyn between November 2-4.

The hybrid event both in person and virtual is themed: Appraising Human Mobility and Security: Prospects and the New Challenges of Labour Migration Post Pandemic Era.

A statement signed by the President of the JIFORM, Dr Ajibola Abayomi said invitations had been extended to the Presidents Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, his counterpart, Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera from Malawi; Joyce Banda, the ex-President of Malawi; and a member of the African Union Labour Migration Advisory Committee, Dr Princess Kabuki Ocansey from Ghana while the summit would feature speakers and participants from several continents.

The JIFORM said the event was put together to serve as capacity building for journalists, academics and other migration stakeholders to contribute to the policy direction on migration and its importance to humanity and the economy.

Leading the pack of scholars from the School of business is the Dean of MEC,  Dr. Jo-Ann Rolle; Byron Price, a professor of Public Policy and Administration; Dr. Antionette Coleman (Senior VP & Provost of MEC), and Dr. Nathifa Forde, the Deputy Executive Director with the NYC Young Men’s Initiative (YMI).

Other distinguished speakers apart from the JIFORM President listed were former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Hon Gerry Weiner; Professor Patrick Lumumba from Kenya; member African Union Labour Migration Advisory Committee, Her Excellency, Dr. Princess Asie Kabuki Ocansey; Minister of Labour and Social Security Sierra Leone, Dr Alpha Timbo; Captain Vergil Ratliff, the Texas Comptroller of Accounts- Criminal Investigation Division; Dr. Fadhel Kaboub; Dr. Wale Ajibade, Chief Vera Bumpers, Metro, and Christopher Isiguzo, MFR, the President Nigeria Union of Journalists who doubles as the President of African Journalists Congress.

Dr Ajibola confirmed that several personalities across the continents had been nominated for awards at the event. Participants and other visitors are advised to contact Raquel Bennett, one of the coordinators of the summit through: [email protected] to acquire tickets for the summit.

Some of the participating organizations are: International Organization for   Migration (1OM), Home for the Needy Foundation, Nigeria and Germany, Young Men’s Initiative, New York, Diaspora Innovative Institute (DII) and others.

Medgar Evers College has the distinction of being the youngest of the four-year senior colleges in The City University of New York. In the early 1960’s, the Central Brooklyn community recognized the need and expressed a desire for a local public college.

After many discussions and much involvement by community residents and the Coalition, the Board of Higher Education, on November 17, 1967, “approved the sponsorship of Community College Number VII, with the indication of an intention to admit students in the Fall of l969.”

The JIFORM reachable on www.jiformalert.org is a non- profit / Non Governmental Organization media foundation comprising over 300 journalists covering migration matters across the continents with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. Since its inauguration in 2019, the organization has become a force on migration matters staging an annual global migration summit apart from other activities both within and outside Africa.

JIFORM was at the International Organization For Migration (IOM) International’s global training for journalists in 2019 in Tunisia where a charter was developed by journalists for migration coverage. In Africa, the body has held a series of workshops and training programmes for journalists and other stakeholders and engagements with the IOM Nigeria, Gambia, and Ghana.

In February 25-26, 2021, the body organized the maiden African Migration Summit (AMS) in Accra, Ghana in partnership with the Nekotech Center for Labour Diplomacy and pioneered the West African Media Migration Summit in Togo on June 22-23, 2021.

For the record, over 3000 journalists apart from other stakeholders from Africa and other continents have benefited from several workshops put in place by the media body to promote advocacy on safe, orderly, and regular migration over the years. JIFORM in 2021 published a book on migration terminologies and concepts titled: Guide To Migration Reportage also subtitled in French as part of contributions to increase knowledge on migration matters.

The 3rd Global migration summit of the JIFORM held in Canada ended onOctober 15 with a special award session postponed till a later date in Toronto. The body has training partnerships for journalists with the Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, USA and the ESCAE University, Porto Novo, Benin Republic, and other institutions in Nigeria.