Monday, May 8th, the League for Defense of Human Rights (LADO) Cluj organized the Closing Conference for the project “MigraNet – Regional Network for the Integration of Migrants”. The event was hosted by the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences within the “Babes-Bolyai” University.
The meeting celebrated successes, shared difficulties and offered the opportunity to thank all those involved in the project – both participants and partners, who often exceeded their predefined role in order to ensure the success of the project.
The conference offered insights on the key indicators, activities and outcomes, as well as an opportunity for retrospection – initiated in May 2016 as a pilot project that brought together seven separate activities implemented as early as 2010, MigraNet took on ambitious goals and equally demanding challenges.
Aside from the value that multiculturalism can bring to the city, an idea pointed out by both project managers and Alex Jacho, representative of the Latin American community in Cluj-Napoca and an intercultural mediator within the project, was the importance of initiatives coming from the communities themselves.
We can imagine a constellation in which LADO offers organizational support, and the centers of gravity multiply, shifting more and more towards the different cultural communities, which would evolve as legally registered associations. The Festival of Multiculturalism in Cluj-Napoca already reflects this vision – the leaders of the participating communities organize the activities themselves, involving the interested members throughout the process.
“MigraNet – The Regional Network for the Integration of Migrants” was launched in May 2016 by the League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADO) Cluj, in partnership with the Social and Medical Assistance Directorate Cluj-Napoca, the Professional Non-governmental Association for Social Assistance Baia Mare and the Romania Office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Over one year, more than 120 beneficiaries of international protection and third-country nationals from 9 counties in Romania (Region 4) were offered counseling services on accessing the labor market and health services, psychological counseling, legal services, Romanian language courses, material assistance and school supplies for children, as well as cultural and recreational activities such as museum visits or activities within the Festival of Multiculturalism in Cluj-Napoca.
The project will go on in 2017 in a new, streamlined form, focusing on service delivery. The implementation is foreseen until 2022, which promises valuable opportunities to reformulate responses to the open question of integration, seen as a dynamic and multi-directional process, as well as that of what we mean by a multicultural society.
Upcoming event: May 25 – Africa Day. Check out more details about the event here.
