As part of an exciting initiative to visually document happenings around the world on a single day, IOM South Africa filmed “The experiences of irregular migrants in Musina on the 11th of November 2011 (11.11.11).    

Staff from IOM missions in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe also participated in this initiative and filmed many different aspects of a truly global phenomenon – human migration.

Every day on earth, millions of people are migrating to another town, city or country to begin a new life. Some of them have been forced to leave their homes through conflict or natural disasters. Others are risking their lives by using human smugglers as they chase a dream of a better future on another continent or are simply returning home and ending their migration experience.

“Today, we live in an era of the greatest human mobility in recorded history,” says IOM’s Head of Media and Communications, Jean Philippe Chauzy. “By taking part in 11.11.11, one day on earth initiative, IOM missions around the world seized the occasion to illustrate the many opportunities and challenges of international migration in the 21st century.”    

Footage filmed by IOM, along with that of many other organizations taking part, will be available for use for a One Day on Earth film and by anyone wanting images on migration issues in specific countries through the event’s social networking platform www.onedayonearth.org.

One Day on Earth, which began life in 2008 with the aim of creating a unique worldwide media event, has steadily grown as a grassroots film-making initiative. On 10.10.10, it successfully pulled off its first major one day global event, generating images from every country in the world that truly captured the diverse nature of life on the planet.