3.13.3.2. Fostering cooperation among stakeholders

Information provision for beneficiaries of international protection continued to be an area where different stakeholders worked together (see Section 3.8). 

UNHCR continued its initiatives to make Italian cities welcoming and friendly for refugees, asylum applicants and statelessness persons with the opening of a new multifunctional centre in Naples.893 The centre, known as Spazio Comune, is part of the Charter of the Integration of Refugees project, which was signed in February 2022,894 and serves as a hub for citizens, associations and institutions working on the integration and inclusion of applicants and beneficiaries of international protection.

In November 2023, the Henryk Wujec Civic Fund in Poland launched a competition to support local activities which are initiated and led by refugees to support the integration and inclusion of other refugees. The activities include creating support groups, strengthening refugees’ self-organisation, cooperating with local partners and neighbours, and carrying out of civic activities.895  

Similarly, the MindSpring programme was launched in Estonia between March and December 2023. The programme aims to support refugees with adapting their life to the new country and focuses on three target groups: parents, youth and children, with activities adapted to the needs of each of them.896
 
The Nordic Council of Ministers launched a call for projects in Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden that promote the integration of refugees and migrants. Projects that are eligible must support ongoing initiatives, share Nordic knowledge and bring together multiple stakeholders, including official agencies and civil society organisations.897  

In Bulgaria, a forum on “Social adaptation, inclusion and integration of persons granted international protection” brought together representatives of the national administration, civil society and international organisations working on integration to present challenges and practices.898 A similar forum was organised under the UNHCR-funded project “Advocacy for the Integration of Refugees in Bulgaria” in October 2023 to share experiences and good practices, and call for continued cooperation in the field of migration and social integration.899  

Integration programmes continued in Malta for beneficiaries of international protection, such as information sessions by the Migrant Advice Unit at AWAS, workshops by the Migrant Women’s Association, activities organised by KOPIN, collaboration with JobsPlus for language learning, heritage skills information sessions by the Restoration and Preservation department and community programmes organised by Spark15. 

In France, following the inclusion of the AGIR programme to the AMIF country programming, an international conference was organised in December 2023 to take stock of the lessons learned from the first 2 years of implementation of the programme, in the context of generalising contractual schemes between the state and local authorities in the field of integration. 

Building on the experiences of various organisations in the field of asylum and migration, as well as on the responses to the conflict in Ukraine, the Federation of Non-Governmental Organisations for Children (FONPC), in partnership with Care France, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies and Eurochild, organised an international conference on the role of civil society organisations in the integration of refugees across Europe.900