Project name: “Young Migrant Voices: a training course for boosting participation of young migrants in decision-making processes at local level”
Project dates: 15 – 21 November 2016
Project place: Odiliapeel, Netherlands
Application deadline: 19.09.2016
About the project
The training will be a space for development of competences, dialogue and sharing of experiences among 26 youth workers, local authorities/municipal officers responsible for youth and youth leaders working with young migrants and youth with migrant background. Named and shamed throughout political debates and electoral campaigns, the millions of
immigrants living all over Europe are completely excluded from the political discourse, hearing themselves called in the news but without any open avenues to respond and express their opinion, becoming the mere subject of the conversation, not the participants. Similarly, young people are excluded from social and civic life and the recent terrorist attacks reminded us of the grave risks of disengagement and marginalisation of youth as the way it reacts can dangerously reach up to violent radicalisation. Overall, the 2015 EU Youth Report highlights young people with migrant background as 1 the 2 groups most at risk of poverty and social exclusion, making them the most voiceless category of all.
Participants will re-think their interventions related to young migrants and youth participation at local level answering questions like:
– how can institutions better respond to the need of young people?
– How can they better shape their initiatives to offer real scope for them to become actors and to take decisions, thus concretely encouraging their participation?
– are they prepared for the possibility of young people changing the old script?
– Which support should come from civil society and youth workers to support both parties?
Objectives
This project aims at addressing the current gap of participation of migrant youth and young people with migrant background by supporting local authorities and institutions in working with and for them, by offering them the tools and competences needed to involve young migrants in the decision making process. During the training course, activities will be developed to reach the following objectives:
Empower CSO and local authorities to better involve young people with migrant background in their programmes;
- Improve local and regional integration policies and the competences of local stakeholders to work together (multi stakeholders and cross sectoral initiatives) and with migrants in developing new programmes;
- Support the integration and the development of a sense of belonging of young migrants in their host communities;
- Increase the involvement of all sectors, including the private one, in migrant youth integration.
- Build capacity of municipality officers and youth workers to work with young migrants and youth with migrants background
- Improve our understanding of youth participation and our work with migrant youth,using non-formal education methodologies, building positive, non-judgemental relationships with young people with fewer opportunities.
- Design inclusive practices of participation for and with migrant youth, able to offer learning opportunities for all, conceiving, also, the differences as an asset to optimise the complete process and not as a hindrance to own learning.
- Promote interaction between young people and youth workers who come from diverse backgrounds at home and abroad so that they can learn about other countries, cultural contexts, political beliefs, religions, etc
The participants must:
- Be able to work in English
- Be willing to contribute with their experience to the training course
- Be able to attend the whole duration of the training
- Have relevant experience in the topic of youth participation at local level, young migrants
- Present the project they are working on, regarding migrant youth and young people with migrant background and/or youth participation at local level
- Motivated to do follow-up activities after the training
Practical and financial conditions
The training course will take place in Odiliapeel, near Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Accommodation and meals will be provided by the organizers.
Travel costs will be refund up to 275 EUR. Reimbursement will be done via bank transfer after the training.
Sending fee 500 MKD
Participation fee NONE