The Greater Amman Municipality, the French Agency for Development, the French Red Cross and the Jordanian Red Crescent launched a joint strategy to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable populations, improving living conditions, expanding social communication between refugees and the local community, and establishing community-based activities and opportunities for capacity building in the Badr Nazzal district.
From the late 1990s until today, the municipality of Barcelona has followed an intercultural strategy to implement inclusive measures for local migrant integration. These measures were reinforced to welcome asylum seekers as the population tripled between 2015 and 2017, through a range of measures, including:
In Tangier, Morocco, the municipality is working closely with civil society initiatives to promote social cohesion and access to services for migrants given the lack of deconcentrated services of the ministry in charge of migration.
In Amman, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) manages the activities of the Hashmy Janoubi community centre, which serves the local community living on the outskirts of the city through projects addressed to migrants and local inhabitants alike.
In Lyon, the Agence Lyon Tranquilité et Médiation (ALTM), an agency of mediation promoted by the municipality, helped to decrease social tension in Gabriel Péri square, which plays a central role for migrant populations in the city. This initiative deploys uniformed mediators to promote long-term social cohesion in a specific and ‘problematic’ area of the city. This state-led intervention exemplifies how social cohesion can be strengthened through a collective, holistic approach that aims at building bridges rather than promoting exclusionary security measures.
The Recycle Beirut initiative aims at “merging two problems into a solution”: the project contributes to solving the country’s waste crisis while offering work opportunities for vulnerable Syrian refugees in the country.
The City of Lisbon’s One Stop Shop that brings together under one roof and streamlines services to immigrants and ensures open access to everyone (regardless of status) has been an inspiration for other cities.
In Castelfiorentino (Italy) under the Castello Alto Project, local residents and civic organizations participate in the reception of new arrivals, which has led to improved social cohesion in the multicultural neighbourhood around the old city centre. Activities include sporting and art activities, a cross-cultural study space, a recreational meeting place, neighbourhood dinners, and the creation of a neighbourhood committee.
The Papyrus Project, which officially began in February 2017, is a project of the Canton of Geneva, supported by the Swiss Confederation. The project aims to initiate a process of regularisation of undocumented migrants in Geneva and to address the economic sectors affected by undeclared work and unfair remuneration. Operation Papyrus was developed and implemented with the active participation of Geneva associations and trade unions, which advised and supported migrants in the preparation of their regularization file.
In Denmark, over 40 municipalities provide a buddying system whereby refugees are matched with a community volunteer who provides practical guidance and support.