Minsk – Coming to your phone soon: A cat from the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, or in the snow in downtown Minsk.    

IOM Belarus and the messaging app Viber this week (20/02) launched a sticker pack called “Cat on the Move” specially designed by Mitya Pislyak, a famous Belarusian illustrator and artist, to promote safe migration and combat human trafficking. 

The Sticker Pack is a continuation of the partnership of IOM and Viber, one of the leading global applications for free and safe communication. The main goal of the project is to warn Belarusians about human trafficking, safe journey, and safe stays abroad. 

After downloading the stickers, users automatically become members of the IOM Belarus Viber community Viber for three months and are able to access safe travel tips. 

“We are pleased to continue our work with Viber and use the capabilities of one of the world’s largest messenger applications. We hope that “Cat on the Move” will help the IOM Viber Community bring useful information about safe migration to a larger audience,” said Mahym Orazmuhammedova, Chief of Mission at IOM Belarus. 

Artist Mitya Pislyak, who designed the stickers, said, “I travel a lot and I’ve recently moved to New York, so I’ve realized how important it is to have comprehensive information at all stages of the journey. I hope that the ‘Cat on the Move’ will appeal to Viber users and will become a reminder of safety measures when traveling abroad.” 

The joint work of IOM and Viber in the field of trafficking prevention is founded on two pillars – prevention and partnership. 

“At Viber, we strive to give users maximum opportunities and useful content, so we often become a unique source of information on many social topics,” said Yana Rozhkova, Viber Communications Director in the CIS and France. “The topic of security is top priority in our company, so we are thrilled to support IOM in promoting safe migration.” 

The cooperation will help increase public awareness of the problem of modern slavery and reduce the risk of falling into such a situation. The community is an innovative channel of information adding to the existing IOM/Viber hotline for safe travel abroad and related campaigns.  

With IOM being present in almost all countries, and Viber being the key messenger in many regions, the partnership has a potential to become truly global.

For more information please contact Olga Borzenkova, IOM Belarus, Tel.: +375 17 288 27 42, Email: oborzenkova@iom.int