In 2016, under the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU, the ‘Urban Agenda for the EU’ was launched to give European cities a greater say in shaping EU legislation, funding, and instruments for knowledge exchange. The initiative brought together cities, Member States and EU policymakers around 12 priority areas key to cities’ future—each area covered by a dedicated Partnership.
Swedish Association on Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) - Launched in February 2015, this fasttrack initiative by the Swedish government is targeted at the quick labour market inclusion of newly arrived immigrants with residency permits and a prior work experience or education connected to a sector in the country facing a labour shortage. The targeted immigrants are offered an initial Swedish language training followed by a profession specific-Swedish language training and eventually an internship in the particular professions or as guidance counsellors and language tutors.
Since 2010, the municipality of Milan has run an innovative employment service, the Centre for Job Orientation and Placement (CELAV), which focuses on empowering residents, including migrants and asylum seekers, to be autonomous and overcome obstacles to labour market participation. Services include increasing beneficiaries’ employability through workshops, CV writing, job placement, facilitation, traineeships for skills development with supporting municipal grants to beneficiaries.
This joint project seeks to improve migrant workers and refugees’ access to decent work and sustainable livelihoods by ensuring their employability, and access to employment opportunities and social protection programs implemented in Mexico City and Santiago. To that end, the project will design and support interventions that strengthen and articulate city services in both cities to provide an adequate response to populations on the move who are facing increased vulnerability. It will seek to create public-private synergies by engaging social actors and strengthening social dialogue.
MeNTOR (Mediterranean Network for Training Orientation to Regular Migration) is a project that promotes legal migration paths through co-development cooperation projects. In its first phase (2017-2018), MenTOR aimed to improve temporary and circular migration schemes for young people between Italy, Morocco and Tunisia.
Norka-Roots training programme for vulnerable women with ‘Trivandrum Social Service Society (TSSS) CSO, provides facilities and training for women from most vulnerable groups via grassroots CSO networks to foster employment in destination countries, and in particular in GCC countries.
The STARTwien Das Jugend Youth College operates in two locations in Vienna by nine partner networks offers around 200 places to young asylum seekers within the age group of 15- 21. It is a fast-track skills training programme that is delivered within a span of nine months, around 20 hours per week of education and mentoring focusing on German and vocational subjects. The prospective candidates are selected and enrolled after their evaluation of language skills and basic competencies in mathematics, English and IT.
Los Angeles, US established a direct cash assistance programme for residents who fall below the poverty line, including undocumented immigrants and informal sector workers. Eligible families received no fee prepaid debit cards of $700-$1,500 based on their income and household size. The Mayor’s office and the non-profit Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles raised $25M from the private sector, philanthropies, and individuals for the programme to distribute directly to residents to meet their basic needs.
Solidarity Cities is an initiative on the management of the refugee crisis proposed by the Mayor of Athens and launched in the framework of the EUROCITIES network. It aims to constitute the framework under which all cities actions and initiatives are presented highlighting the political leadership of cities in addressing this challenge.
In Italy, the System for the Protection of Refugees and Unaccompanied Minors (SIPROMI) is a publicly funded network of local authorities and NGOs, which accommodates unaccompanied children and provides them access to the Italian social protection system, including legal support, legal guardianship, access to health, including psychological counselling, access to Italian language classes and to mainstream education programmes. In some contexts, opportunities for vocational training and job opportunities through partnerships with social cooperatives and the private sector.