+Portfolio of Solutions
―Legal Support
ComParte
Maria Minas
The Problem
Migrants and local communities lack support for integration, which often leads to segregation and feelings of isolation. Additionally, decision-makers use language that refers to integration as the sole responsibility of migrants. They have a limited understanding of how to foster integration and this stands in the way of successful integration processes.
The Solution
ComParte is an initiative that invites citizen participation. It develops participatory methodologies with users of different infrastructures – refugees in the integration system and students in the education system – and brings them together with decision-making entities. ComParte invites refugees in Portugal to reflect on their reception and integration in the Portuguese community and to contribute with proposals and ideas to improve it. It brings refugees together with public and private entities that can take decisions on a larger scale. Through its process, involved communities have a real and direct impact on the existing systems in place.
The Impact
ComParte has impact on three different levels: the individual, the relational and systemic change. On an individual level, the project has helped refugees gain confidence and improve communication skills. The project fostered better collaboration between communities and decision-makers, emphasising the relevance of a horizontal approach. On a macro-level, the project has gained insight about the situation of refugees and influenced social policies to be more closely aligned with their needs. This has also provided decision-makers with access to innovative solutions of refugees, such as increased support during the transition from the refugee centre to new accommodation.
“We need to seed an idea... and let it grow. I think that’s what we’re doing. I think we did it.”
“The way you facilitated this meeting was frankly stimulating and innovative, which made it very productive and enriching. I appreciate this opportunity, and we will certainly have more chances to collaborate in the future.”
Il Grande Colibrì
Wajahat Abbas Kazmi & Pier Cesare Notaro
The Problem
People are being persecuted in their home countries due to their differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and beliefs. Within migrant and other communities in the host country, they often still face similar issues of discrimination.
The Solution
Il Grande Colibrì supports refugees who have been or are being persecuted because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. The volunteer association focusses on struggles of acceptance of homosexuality by people of the Muslim faith. The organisation aims to overcome discrimination and isolation by bringing together a network of volunteers that set up cultural events and provide legal assistance.
The Impact
The organisation continues to grow and includes people from very different backgrounds, amongst whom heterosexual and LGBTQIA activists, as well as agnostics, atheists, Christians and Muslims, and people from all over the world. With their help, the organisation fights prejudice and discrimination of people a currently not yet normalised gender identity or sexual orientation.
KA-MER
Nebahat Akkoç
Founded by Ashoka Fellow, Nebahat Akkoç
The Problem
One of the regions in Turkey has a long history of women abuse. There is little support and few resources are available to change this and stop violence against women.
The Solution
KA-MER is a support and resource centre for women in Turkey. Based on the firm belief that stopping violence against women is the first stop to ending conflict, the project challenges the normalisation of domestic violence. KA-MER increases awareness of women’s rights as citizens, wives and mothers, and provides tools that empower them. At the centre, the women have access to counselling and childcare, and are supported to find employment with the aim to achieve financial independence and gain self-respect.
The Impact
KA-MER has expanded to 23 centres across many provinces and districts in the South-eastern and Eastern Anatolian regions. Despite initial disregard of the ideas behind the centres, the project is slowly expanding its reach across villages and regional communities. Through this work, KA-MER challenges the poverty, male sovereignty and political turbulence that obstruct democratic ideals in these regions. The project was internationally recognised and continues to affect communities at both a local and global scale.
MyGrants
Chris Richmond N’zi
The Problem
The social problem addressed is the underemployment and lack of recognition of talents and skills of migrants. Many skilled migrants are all digitally literate and 60% of them can read and write in English or French.
The Solution
Chris Richmond, a native of the Ivory Coast, came to study in Europe and later worked for the European Commission. Dealing with an influx of migration and seeing the statistics regarding young people arriving on the European coasts, Chris designed an application capable of screening the skills and talents of these individuals through games and quizzes. The MyGrants app provides a six-month training course that prepares young migrants for a professional life. Upon the completion of the course, the candidate is introduced to various companies they could work for.
The Impact
The MyGrants app provides useful training and support for individuals to enter the job market successfully. Right now, thanks to MyGrants, there are about 25 new hires per week, and since 2017, MyGrants has made 950 placements in total.
The Good Lobby
Alberto Alemanno
Founded by Ashoka Fellow Alberto Alemanno
The Problem
Many people feel secluded from politics and powerless in the process of the policymaking. Despite European countries aspiring a democratic model, many people living within the EU are not allowed to vote on local issues or Europe-wide processes that affect them directly.
The Solution
The Good Lobby is a civic start-up committed to equalizing political power and influence in Europe and beyond. The project fosters bottom-up civic capacity via cross-societal forms of collaboration, such as through skill-sharing and skill-based workshops. The Good Lobby emerged from eLabEurope, which addressed the expanding crises in European citizenship, civil society and social movement. The organisation is devoted to popularising and democratising the various channels of participatory democracy both on a national and an EU level.
The Impact
Since its foundation in 2015, The Good Lobby has trained thousands of people and developed a community of over 10,000 people across numerous countries. Being the first organisation dedicated to popularising and democratising the different channels of democracy, it provides legal and strategic assistance to a continuously growing number of NGOs and a large network of European citizens.