The Second National Integration Plan for Costa Rica 2018 - 2022, emerges as a propositive response to guide the country's actions over the next few years in terms of integration of the migrant and refugee population. The initiative is based on the framework of the initiative MIgration EU eXpertise (MIEUX) funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).
The city of Mannheim in Germany is developing a ‘living together in diversity’ alliance across over 300 local actors including schools, cultural centres, sports centres, etc. with a view to jointly deciding, with all including migrants, how society would like to ‘live together’.
The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees is a document providing an assessment of higher education qualifications designed for refugees, including those who cannot fully document their qualifications. This initiative has inspired a UNESCO led initiative to establish a Global Qualifications Passport for Refugees and Migrants.
Numerous programs encourage links between schools and communities to foster social inclusion of children and their families. For instance, in the Netherlands for second-generation Turks and Moroccans; in Pakistan for Hazara girls; in Canada among African and Caribbean-born immigrants; and in the US for Latin America and Vietnamese communities.
Programmes promoting effective management of health workers' migration, health system capacity building, and skill/knowledge transfer from the diaspora are underway in Somalia, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Ghana.
In Somalia, IOM’s "Migration for Development in Africa" (MIDA) is an ongoing capacity-building programme, which helps to mobilize competencies acquired by African nationals abroad for the benefit of Africa's development.
Social innovation initiatives have been launched in many countries to find solutions to local challenges involving migrants, refugees and host communities in social entrepreneurship ventures.
Numerous programs empower young people to identify challenges in their communities and to create entrepreneurial solutions to address these barriers. Through a combination of training, mentorship and in some cases seed funding, youth learn transferable skills to become social innovators and entrepreneurs.
Some examples of these programs (see links below) are:
The Migrant and Refugee Orientation Centre is a place both to meet and to receive support, aimed at all groups and communities that make up the multicultural society of the City of Buenos Aires. It seeks to centralize activities of State bodies and civil organizations and promote initiatives, meeting the needs and demands of migrants and refugees. Its activities are divided into 3 main areas: 1) Guidance and support; 2) Job training; and 3) Sport and recreation.
Uruguay has introduced specific measures to minimize administrative irregularity linked with international human mobility and is pursuing legal framework revisions to promote migrants’ rights, bilateral and multilateral social security agreements, visa waiver agreements, and various measures in line with civil society recommendations.
The most significant examples of regularization and access to residence and identity documents are the following:
Costa Rica has designed a comprehensive National Integration Plan (2018–22) in 2017 that promotes equal opportunities and respect for human rights to improve inclusive social, economic and cultural spaces.
The Youth College is a free education, training and mentoring programme for young migrants (mostly asylum-seekers) aged between 15 and 21 in Vienna. As part of the city’s broader “Start Wien” integration initiative, the aim of the Youth College is to help young migrants lead an independent life as quickly as possible by preparing them for further education, vocational training or the workplace.