“Cities of Welcome”: Improving the Participation of Young Migrants at Local Level

"<< Background >>""Cities of Welcome - Improving the Participation of Young Migrants at Local Level"" is Key Action 2 Project betweenMigrafrica (Germany), DYPALL Network (European Network based in Portugal), Fundació Catalunya Voluntària (Spain)and Citizen Association United Youth (North Macedonia) which aims to improve the conditions, overall integration andparticipant of young migrants and youngsters of migrant background in their local communities by sharing good practicesand examples of integration and collectively trying to find better solutions together with and for this target group.This project will allow municipalities in partner countries to exchange best practices and models coming from the South,North and East Europe, and compile experiences and integrated ways to facilitate and support the participation of youngmigrants and youth with migrant backgrounds and thus easen their integration in society.<< Objectives >>The project has the following specific objectives:• Build a network of organizations supporting migrant youth participation in decision making.• Map and identify good practices of inclusion and participation on decision-making at the local level of youth with a migrantbackground and young migrants that support their integration and inclusion in their communities;• Identify and document quality indicators that will allow local authorities to assess the impact of their practices of youthmigrant participation in decision-making;• Identify and document guidelines containing the actions that CSO and local public bodies can undertake in order toimprove their policies towards the participation of youngsters with migrant background;• Encourage active citizenship of youth with migrant background, developing their sense of belonging at local level bypromoting their participation in decision-making.<< Implementation >>This 2-years long project included the following project activities:- Study Visit “Welcoming Cities: Good practices of Participation of Youngsters with migrant background"" (20 participants)- Training Course “Training on practices and guidelines on young migrants participation at Local Level” (16 participants)- 3 Transnational partners’ meetings (TPM) (24 pax)- 5 multiplier events (160 pax)<< Results >>The main result is to draw attention and raise awareness in those supporting young migrants that theirparticipation in decision-making processes (and their participation in general) is valuable and key to their integration in thehosting society. We also stressed the fact that inclusion and youth policies at the local level often leave out the needs ofmigrant youth or youth of a migrant background and thus their specific needs are made invisible in both fields, as is theirexistence as a target group that needs special attention from the policy-makers and youth workers.With the publication publication “Models and strategies of involvement of young migrants in decision-making processes atthe local level” (IO1) that includes (a) good practices, models and policies of young migrant participation at the local level,(b) quality indicators to assess their local practices and (c) guidelines on how to improve or how to implement new ones, aswell as with the Study Visit and the Training, we want to achieve these goals, and show that it is possible to haveharmonious and meaningful participation of this target group while improving the competencies of youth workers involved inthe project."