We’re happy to announce our participation in an exciting project that will represent an added focus on migrant-led advocacy. Following from our Erasmus+ project, where we are developing a training kit for refugee led organisations, the 2inING project will continue our work in supporting the growth and empowerment of migrant- and refugee-led groups.
Why?
The perception of refugees as solely passive receivers of humanitarian aid or different integration measures is changing as the result of growing activities and advocacy of migrant and refugee-led CSOs (like SYVNL in the Netherlands and GFR in Greece). Migrant activism manifests in different ways, through different cultural activities aimed at promotion of intercultural dialogue and cultural visibility, but also through political and policy advocacy that refugee and migrant groups try to assert in the political arena.
These advocacy efforts for greater inclusion in the policy-making processes can be seen in connected fields – such as legislation on racism and discrimination, anti-Muslim hatred, integration, asylum and migration, as well as labour rights etc. There is greater understanding on all levels (from EC and national governments) that including people in the policy-making process of laws and regulations that directly concern them will result in more inclusive, coherent and needs-based policies.
Those policies and their implementation will ultimately benefit both migrants and refugees as well as European societies as a whole, making them more inclusive, democratic and socially cohesive.
Some of the institutions of project countries included in this project are already implementing such practice of inclusion (in Croatia by The Governmental Office for Human Rights that is in the process of forming Refugee Advisory Boards), but they should be strengthened.
The proposed project offers a set of activities that will support the EC aim of inclusion of refugees and migrants in the policy making process by raising awareness among refugees and migrants, and also – policy makers. Additionally, it will form dialogues where both groups of beneficiaries will have the chance to meet, discuss, learn by doing and implement good practice examples from other countries (fitting it to the context).
What will be doing?
The project will work on a number of parallel initiatives, including:
- desk research on active refugee and migrant advocates;
- interactive map of refugee and migrant advocates;
- national educational workshops for refugees and migrants;
- international online lecture on innovative tools (G100 conference) to create dialogue among refugees/migrants and decision makers;
- national G100 conferences (200 participants);
- national Advocacy Academy workshops for decision/policy makers,
- train the trainers workshop (40 participants);
- awareness-raising campaign.
We’re terribly excited to be working on this initiative, confirming our commitment to broadening migrant and refugee protection to include those organisations that more effectively bring migrant and refugees voices to the advocacy table.
