Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
European section of United Cities and Local Governments


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Diversity and integration

"We cannot walk alone" - 26.05.2021

Get inspired with CEMR's sessions at Refugee Week
Ahead of World Refugee Day, CEMR and IncluCities are joining Refugee Week, a global festival where anyone can get involved to support displaced people by organising events and activities.

Refugee Week was founded in 1998 and has since become a growing global movement. Through different events and campaigns around World Refugee Day (20 June) the campaign enables people from different backgrounds to connect beyond labels and stereotypes.

Participants increase awareness and understanding of why people are displaced and what challenges refugees and migrants face in their daily life. The title of the 2021 edition was inspired by a famous quote from Martin Luther King: “We cannot walk alone.”

To shed light on three important aspects of migrant and refugee integration, CEMR is organising three online events during the week of 14-20 June to raise awareness on the contribution of diverse and inclusive cities in the EU. Participants will also be able to exchange with municipal officials working on migrant integration in the IncluCities project.

During the first event, Rabina Khan, a Bangladeshi-born British writer and politician, and Melody Deldjou Fard, an Iranian refugee and young Dutch politician, will discuss the participation of refugee and migrant women in the political arena.

The second event will pose the question: How can new technologies help improve migrant integration? We will showcase some examples from different cities all around Europe. We will discover insights from the MICADO Horizon 2020 project (Migrant Integration Cockpits and Dashboards) which is creating a multi-purpose app supporting the migrant integration process in four European cities.

Seyran Maryam Khalili, service designer and project lead “Young Connectors” at New Women Connectors, will explain her strategy to build up inclusive innovative policies for integration. And Gabriella de Francesco, member of Mechelen City Council and IncluCities partner, will present his city’s best practices and a strategy to use ICT solutions to improve them.

The closing event will explore the political participation and activism of second-generation migrants. Redouan Boudiba, youth engagement officer at CEMR, will speak with Imane Nadif, municipal councillor for Amsterdam Municipality. The guiding question will be: How do young second-generation migrants see and engage in youth movements, public protest and advocacy on global challenges, such as climate change, equal rights, racism and discrimination?

All events will be 30 minutes long and livestreamed via IncluCities’ Facebook page. Video will later beavailable on IncluCities’ YouTube channel)

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