At the invitation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, on 29 June 2023 members of the WCRS Intercultural Dialogue Team took part in the first meeting of the Community of Practice on Migration and Human Rights.
The two-year project “Strengthening resilience in local and regional authorities facing migration challenges”, under which the meeting was held, is an initiative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, carried out under the “Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum in Europe (2021–2025)”* with the financial support of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Community of Practice on Migration and Human Rights, established under the project, brings together representatives of cities from three countries: Poland (Hrubieszów, Rzeszów and Wrocław), the Republic of Moldova (Edinet, Straseni and Vinogradovca) and Romania (Bogdan Vodă, Măgurele and Tulcea). This peer-to-peer exchange platform aims to identify the challenges that local authorities face in managing migration and to jointly develop practical tools to address them.
Wrocław, like Hrubieszów and Rzeszów, was selected by the organisers to represent Polish local authorities in the project establishing the Community of Practice. The project is carried out jointly with the Association of Polish Cities and associations of local authorities from Moldova (Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova) and Romania (Association of Communes of Romania).
Taking part in the project is a great honour for our Intercultural Dialogue Team. We are delighted that our work on the integration of migrants has been recognised internationally. In the next stages of the project, WCRS staff will have the opportunity to share local experience of migration and help develop appropriate guidelines, tools and methodologies for migration management policies and practices. Alongside research and analyses carried out by human rights experts, the final outcome of the project will be a Council of Europe document encouraging states to develop migration policies and take legislative action so that local actors are not left to shoulder the responsibility of providing assistance on their own. In this way, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe aims to initiate a dialogue between local and central government that will lead to a legal framework best suited to current and future challenges.
The meeting was also an opportunity to exchange experiences with other members of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. Eirini Dourou (Greece) and James Moloney (Ireland) shared with the Community of Practice their experience of receiving and integrating migrants and refugees at the local level, and Marie Ange Orihuela, representing Rennes Métropole, presented the project “European Citizens’ Initiative for a Dignified Reception of Migrants”.
*The event was organised as part of the project “Strengthening resilience in local and regional authorities facing migration challenges”, implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the “Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum in Europe” (2021–2025), with the financial support of the Federal Republic of Germany.
More about the meeting on the website of the Council of Europe: external link
Photos: Council of Europe
