The Partnership on Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees is one of the pilot Partnerships launched as an integral part of the Urban Agenda for the EU process. On 3 October 2017, the partners convened for the 8th  time.  

What was discussed? 

Firstly, the Partnership members reviewed the results of the Public Feedback to the Partnership's draft Action Plan. Following up on the Public Feedback, the Partnership had reached out to many of the parties that had commented on the draft Action Plan. The final version will be made available in the Action Plan section in November 2017.

Sheena Keller of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) joined the meeting and provided feedback on the actions. On a general note, she praised the Partnership’s participatory approach of including migrants and refugees in the Partnership work and called on the partners to further strengthen the participation element. She also proposed to distinguish clearly between refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, to mention the human rights aspect in the Action Plan, and to sharpen the role of cities and urban authorities, also for specific actions. 

Secondly, all action leaders provided an update on the implementation of their actions. This was followed by a detailed discussion of individual actions (see the graphic below for an overview of the actions).

Actions of the Partnership on Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees (graphic made by Sabina Kekic using piktochart.com) 

What’s next? 

The action leaders will continue their tasks laid down in the Action Plan and in light with the decisions taken at the Partnership meeting. The next Partnership meeting is planned to be held in Athens in January 2018. Before that, the Partnership will hold a workshop at the CITIES Forum in Rotterdam on 27/28 November. Please contact s.kekic@amsterdam.nl for more information and possibilities of joining the workshop.

Stay informed by following the Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees Partnership via the yellow button on the top right of the page and via Twitter @EUUrbanAgenda.