Cooperation with the Public

Functioning coexistence in a society that includes foreigners requires, not only mutual openness of its members and civil society activities supporting integration, but also a comprehensive, high-quality and forward-thinking integration policy at local, national, and European levels. Therefore, the Migration Awareness Department has long been working to reach out to the state administration, being the creator of migration and integration policy, and to raise awareness among its representatives.

Our vision is the natural mainstreaming of migration-related issues into various areas of Czech society. Integration and mutual coexistence are helped if foreigners are perceived as an integral part of society, not simply as exotic elements. Our recommendation to the public administration is to not implement integration activities and services exclusively for foreigners and about foreigners, i.e. not emphasising cultural specifics. Mainstreaming means seeing and meeting foreigners in ordinary situations such as local community events, their natural participation in governance and civic engagement, participation in advisory bodies of local governments, membership and activity in associations and societies, or expressing themselves in the media on a variety of topics, not just migration and integration issues.

As an NGO that has been addressing the public image of migrants for over 10 years, we try to contribute to the development of integration policies. We see our role primarily in connecting integration actors from schools to ministries and to migrant associations and the non-profit sector.

• We are active in bodies and groups that advocate for systemic change: we are a member of the Consortium of Migrants Assisting Organizations and a member of PICUM (Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants).
• For the Prague City Council, we have prepared a Czech-language handbook Mainstreaming Integration at the City District Level on how to contribute to a cohesive and diverse society through public events in city districts.
• We participated in the creation of the Prague City Policy for Integration of Foreigners as a member of a group of experts. We regularly visit the regional advisory platform, which serves as a meeting place for actors in the field of migrant integration in the capital. Representatives of the Prague City Hall and individual city districts, NGOs, migrant associations, state institutions, educational institutions and international organisations participate in these meetings.
• We participated in the creation of the Migration Manifesto - a set of recommendations from NGOs working with migrants towards migration and integration policy makers. Our vision is implementation of a systemic integration framework that leads to socially just, happy and mutually beneficial coexistence between migrants and the Czech majority society.
• We organise regular expert meetings of key state and non-state actors in the field of integration, which have become an informal platform for sharing experiences, evaluating integration practices and policies, identifying gaps and conceptual reflection on the future of integration. Our aim is to maintain a mutual dialogue on the topic.
• In October 2018, the Migration Awareness programme, in cooperation with the Association for Integration and Migration and the Viet Up initiative of second-generation Vietnamese, organized a day-long meeting on the topic of Vietnamese integration in the Czech Republic. The aim of the meeting was mainly to connect various actors involved in the topic. Among the participants were not only NGO workers and Viet Up members, but also representatives of education and local governments, employees of the Ministry of Interior and the Refugee Facilities Administration, officials of the Prague and Brno City Halls and intercultural workers. Representatives of the Police of the Czech Republic, the Union of Towns and Municipalities, and the Agency for Social Inclusion also participated. Many participants had the opportunity to share their experiences and found that they often faced similar problems, so the solutions they were looking for have already been found by others.
• A study trip of integration actors from Pilsen, Hradec Králové and Pardubice to Dresden, Saxony, took place in June 2017. The participants were introduced to the activities for the integration in Saxony and examples of good practices. They were able to share their experiences with representatives of local and regional governments and other actors working in the field of integration and social affairs, including the Saxon State Secretary for Equality and Integration and the Integration and Foreigners' Commissioner of the City of Dresden.
• We organise workshops and seminars tailored to the needs of state and local government representatives.
• For example, we organised the workshop "How to communicate about migration and integration with the public" for officials of the Prague City Hall and the Prague Integration Centre.

For more information, feel free to contact us via migrace@peopleinneed.net