SHARE gladly presents the latest short films of the SHARE ‘Voices from the City’ series!
The SHARE Network Conference, held in Brussels on October 20 2015, marked the drawing to a close of the second phase of the development of the SHARE Network. After 3.5 years of engagement in refugee resettlement, protection and integration, at the occasion of the conference, SHARE produced a series of videos with conference participants, including cities, municipalities, civil society organisations and previously resettled refugees. View the 3 short case study videos below highlighting their concerted actions to enable many refugees to settle, integrate and move toward independence in their new societies in a dignified and supported manner.
SHARE video 'Welcoming Refugees to Central-Eastern Europe!'
In the context of the plans set out in the European Commission’s May 2015 ‘A European Agenda on Migration’ and the subsequent Council's conclusions for a European resettlement and relocation scheme, a significant number (just above 24,000) of refugees will be received and integrated in European countries that until now have had little or no experience in hosting refugees including countries in Central-Eastern Europe and the Baltics. As a response to the new pledges for resettlement and relocation, the SHARE Network works to engage national, regional and local actors in these countries in the network’s activities. SHARE builds their capacity to receive, support and integrate resettled refugees through structured exchange with experienced resettlement countries in other parts of Europe. At the SHARE Network Conference, ICMC produced a short video illustrating responses from new resettlement/relocation actors from Poland and experienced refugee supporting NGOs from Bulgaria and the Czech Republic on how to welcome refugees to Central-Eastern Europe.
SHARE Video 'Meet the SHARE Resettlement Ambassadors!'
To ensure that previously resettled refugees have an opportunity to contribute to the development of the SHARE Network, promoting their city's resettlement achievements and advocating for more and better resettlement at the local, national and European levels, the SHARE Resettlement Ambassador Programme, worked with partners UNHCR and ECRE, together with local/regional stakeholders working on resettlement across Europe, to nominate 9 SHARE Resettlement Ambassadors from 7 European countries. All Ambassadors have completed a programme of online training, developed for SHARE by the University of Sussex in the UK, and covering topics including European resettlement programmes and policy, developing communication skills, and planning advocacy activities. Ambassadors have been involved in SHARE Network events and activities, and external events on resettlement and integration taking place in their home countries and cities. At the occasion of the SHARE Network Conference, SHARE Ambassadors Filmon from Belgium, Chaza from Germany, Iman from Norway and Dilorah from the Netherlands gave an account of the assistance they received, their first experiences made when arriving to their communities and reflected on their local integration programmes.
SHARE Video 'Welcomming Communities'
The SHARE Network has become a platform for European exchange on building a culture of welcome and hospitality in communities receiving refugees, and promoting good practice and the full involvement of municipalities and citizens in reception, protection and integration. At the occasion of the SHARE Network Conference, SHARE presented the SHARE Network policy statement 'Protecting and Welcoming Refugees in Europe' drawing on the tools, resources and learning produced by the SHARE Network and offering recommendations to enable actors at all levels to contribute to the successful reception, integration and welcome of refugees in Europe. Click here to access a copy of the joint statment and information on how to sign it. To illustrate experiences and lessons learned during 3.5 years of engagement in refugee resettlement, protection and integration in the framework of SHARE, Network members, share their approaches to reception, welcome and integration in this 6min case study interview. Respondents from municipalities, cities and civil society organisations particularly highlight the crucial role of volunteers in the process of integration, an area in which the SHARE Network has recently published the 'SHARE Volunteering for Refugee Integration' toolkit (available to download in English, French and German).