One Movement Campaign

Campaign activities including public awareness and education campaigns, community dialogues and outreach programmes, sporting and musical events, and training programmes for public officials and service provider are designed to promote social justice, human rights, migrant rights, tolerance, respect, inclusivity, unity in diversity, and the spirit of "Ubuntu" (togetherness).

Supported by radio station Metro FM as a media partner, the One Movement campaign will also include a number of celebrities and media personalities from several parts of the African continent as goodwill ambassadors. The public will be encouraged to blog, share their experiences, and download wallpapers, reports, and other resources of the One Movement through social networking groups including Facebook and YouTube, and through a dedicated blog and the One Movement website.

Xenophobia, Migration

Under the patronage of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the One Movement initiative follows xenophobic attacks on thousands of foreigners in South African cities in May 2008. According to a survey conducted in 2008 by Future Fact Mindset, South Africa has witnessed a significant increase in social divisions in recent years. The 2008 South African Development Indicators Report testified that positive sentiments about race relations in the country fell from 60% in May 2004 to 49% in May 2008. The report also revealed that South Africans are increasingly identifying themselves in terms of ethnicity and language. The One Movement launch was accompanied by the release of a new IOM report on xenophobia in South Africa which suggests that the xenophobia-related violence of May 2008 did not exclusively target foreign nationals - it also affected people seen as "outsiders."

The IOM research identifies a number of common factors that fostered violence in those places where it occurred. These include: institutionalised practices that exclude foreigners from political participation and justice, often premised on limited knowledge of and respect for law; a lack of trusted, prompt, and effective conflict resolution mechanisms that leads to vigilantism and mob justice; and the emergence of illegitimate forms of local leadership, some of which seek to enhance its authority by reinforcing the resentment of communities towards "outsiders."

The study suggests that systematic efforts are needed to hold individuals accountable for the violence, together with more concentrated and coordinated reintegration efforts, if community cohesion is to be restored, conflicts resolved, and future similar attacks prevented. The study includes recommendations to help reduce xenophobic tendencies and the risk of future violence, including: developing interventions to promote accountability and counter a culture of impunity; creating reforms to build inclusive local governance structures; opening up more channels for legal migration; supporting the government in addressing xenophobic and discriminatory practices in public institutions; and promoting a human rights culture in South Africa.