UJ students honoured by the IOM for Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign

​Students from the Departments of Strategic Communication and Graphic Design at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) were awarded medals and certificates by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Thursday 9 October 2014. They were heralded for their outstanding contribution in developing a Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign (#Trapped), during Human Trafficking Awareness Week in South Africa​.

 

The initial directive was to create a campaign that would raise awareness for #Trapped as a real world assignment. Ms Babalwa Kutwana, one of the bronze recipients said they gained confidence as a collective after being announced in the top ten, “We came up with the concept: Victim vs Perpetrator, targeted at 18-25 year-olds as we believed that they were the most vulnerable whilst looking for employment. The intention of our presentation was to inform people on who could be traffic and trafficker. People can seldom tell the difference.”
The top three campaigns will be given an opportunity to come to life. The Department of Justice has made funds available for the implementation and roll out of the campaigns, as the students’ work proved superior and of high quality. The application of their studies and evolving skills were apparent as their campaigns stood out even amongst submissions from top agencies.
The head of the Department of Strategic Communication, Prof Sonja Verwey said, “The University is honoured to be part of a project of this importance. We are excited about these achievements because this is recognition that it is possible to successfully integrate service learning into our curriculums, thus giving our students the opportunity to experience real life learning, whilst also reflecting on their personal roles in it by making a real contribution to society.”
The winning campaigns have also been entered into the Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards.
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