How to foster the local integration of migrant women? PITCH is the project that tries to answer this question by implementing strategies based on a personalized, participatory and multi-stakeholder approach.
A first step, taken from May to July 2023, was to create the Cosy Corners at the Women and Girls Safe Space (WGSS) in Palermo: group discussions, art and play sessions that allowed the participating women to discover their needs, aspirations and knowledge of their own rights. In this way they were able to express themselves in a time of group sharing while taking care of themselves.
The Women and Girls Safe Space was opened in 2020 by the Penc Anthropology and Geoclinical Psychology Center, a nonprofit organization committed to offering support and empowerment to vulnerable migrant people living in Palermo. Today, WGSS is a place where girls and women receive support to improve their psychosocial well-being that works closely with the City of Palermo and international organizations such as UNICEF, IRC, and SOS Children’s Villages
But what emerged during Cosy Corners? By taking the floor and sharing experiences, the women participants expressed a need for socialization, improving their skills and learning about their rights as migrants and the services available to them. It was an important moment of awareness raising, which totally engaged the participants, who then said they had fun and looked forward to participating in the next activities.
New activities created based on their feedback will be presented to women attending WGSS this month, which will also be open to those who have never participated in Cosy Corners, ensuring equal opportunities for all.
CESIE, as coordinator of the PITCH project, is engaged in the co-design of a model that will be adapted in 7 local strategies and put into practice with migrant women in Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania and Sweden, countries that are part of the PITCH consortium and have so far demonstrated cooperation and alignment with the project values.
Cooperation with partners, together with the strategic participation of municipalities in the countries involved, will on the one hand ensure greater socio-economic integration of migrant women and greater interaction between them and the host society; on the other hand, it will pave the way for sustainable collaborations, but also for greater readiness of organizations, institutions and stakeholders to address integration and inclusion challenges in the future.
Stay up-to-date to learn about all the latest PITCH news: visit https://pitch-eu.eu/, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, or contact Giovanni Barbieri: giovanni.barbieri@cesie.org.
About the project
PITCH – A model for gender-sensitive integration strategies based on personalised, participatory, local, and multi stakeholder approaches is funded by HOME – AMIF-2020-AG-CALL-01: Developing and implementing local integration strategies through multi- stakeholder partnerships.
Partners
- CESIE (Italy, coordinator)
- COMUNE DI PALERMO (Italy)
- SYMPLEXIS (Greece)
- Dimos Neapolis Sykeon (Greece)
- ZNANSTVENO-RAZISKOVALNO SREDISCE KOPER (Slovenia)
- MESTNA OBCINA KOPER (Slovenia)
- IINCOMA (Spain)
- AYUNTAMIENTO DE SEVILLA (Spain)
- CSI CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION LTD (Cyprus)
- Demos Ipsona (Cyprus)
- DIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT GROUP (Lithuania)
- SWIDEAS (Sweden)
- Union of the Baltic Cities (Poland)
For further information
Read more about PITCH, visit the website https://pitch-eu.eu/ and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Contact Giovani Barbieri: giovanni.barbieri@cesi.org
