Local government authorities have a crucial role to play in pursuing immigrant integration and in managing multi-ethnic diversity. Their involvement in this policy area has rapidly grown in many European countries. In Greece, however, the extent and nature of local government interventions in this policy area have not been yet explored. This is a major gap both in academic research and policy-relevant knowledge concerning the prospects and conditions under which the integration of migrants in the Greek society can be better achieved. Towards filling this gap, the purpose of the project LOMIGRAS is twofold: (a) to investigate the local government’s involvement in the process of migrants’ integration and the extent to which it promotes, or conversely hinders their integration, and (b) to develop a usable interactive tool to monitor and assess the effects of local government in promoting migrant integration. The starting assumption of this research is that local government institutions have a profound role in promoting, or conversely hindering, immigrants’ integration, regardless of whether they explicitly assigned competences in this area.
Based on the knowledge generated from the first research phase, the proposed project will develop a methodology and associated monitoring tool to support effective local immigrant integration in the four largest cities of Greece. Despite the fact that the EU Common Basic Principles have recognized the importance of monitoring and assessment mechanisms, a comprehensive methodology and monitoring tool for effective migrant integration at the local level has yet to be developed. The LOMIGRAS project shall for the first time establish such a tool. Specifically, the project will (a) develop a set of criteria and indicators to measure migrant integration at the local level, and (b) design a technological tool that allows stakeholders, such as local government authorities, other public agencies, and non-government organizations to apply and use this methodology in order to assess migrant integration outcomes. Overall, the project shall make an important contribution to academic research and policy-relevant knowledge both in Greece as well as other EU countries.
In sum, the project LOMIGRAS has the following objectives:
(1) To explore the extent to which local government policies and measures mainstream integration principles, and assess their effectiveness in promoting the integration of migrant groups in Greece’s four largest cities: Athens, Thessaloniki, Herakleio and Patras.
(2) To develop a methodology on the basis of which to monitor and assess the integration of immigrants in five policy areas in which local government in involved and/or has competences: employment, social inclusion, education, combatting discrimination, and civic participation.
(3) To create a technological interactive tool that embeds this methodology and criteria for monitoring and assessing local migrant integration.
(4) To present and disseminate the integration monitoring tool to local government authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders, thereby raising awareness for the need to explicitly introduce integration objectives in the horizontal formulation and implementation of general local government policies, and
(5) To formulate recommendations and best practices for promoting local integration policy management of migrant groups across Greece.
The research program is implemented in 2015-2016, and it is funded by the “Diversity, inequalities and social inclusion” program of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 operated by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of Greece.
For more information, you can contact:
Professor Dia Anagnostou: anagnostou.eliamep@gmail.com
Dr. Eda Gemi: eda@eliamep.gr
On December 2nd, IPI together with the Permanent Missions of Italy and Namibia to the UN cohosted the screening of the documentary film on peacekeeping entitled “The United Nations: The Last Station Before Hell.”
Click here to view the event video on YouTube*>>
In 2015, the United Nations is celebrating its 70th anniversary. Among other innovations, members of the UN devised the novel concept of “soldiers for peace.” But can peace be enforced militarily? The original mission of the United Nations was “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” by maintaining peace and security between states. Now that terrorists and internal conflicts strike far more frequently than traditional inter-state wars, what does international security mean?
For millions of people in conflict zones, UN peacekeepers serve to contain violence, representing “the last station before hell.” From the UN’s oldest mission in Lebanon, to the largest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the newest in the Central African Republic, this film explores the central challenges in UN peacekeeping through field investigations and interviews with key decision makers.
Speakers:
H.E. Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Pierre-Olivier François, Documentary Film Director
Dr. Lise Morjé Howard, Associate Professor of Government, Georgetown University (and Special Adviser for the film)
Moderator:
Mr. Warren Hoge, Senior Adviser for External Relations
*Please note: The webcast includes only the trailer of the film, and not the documentary in its entirety.
The Embassies of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) in Athens and the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) organized a seminar on ‘Security Issues in Europe’s Southern Neighborhood and in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Analysis’ on Monday, 30 November 2015, 10.00-13.00, at Divani Caravel hotel.
The programme is avalaible here.
Fast fünf Jahre nach Beginn des sogenannten Arabischen Frühlings ist die arabische Welt erheblich destabilisiert. Innere und regionale Konflikte stellen das Staatensystem und die Integrität einzelner Nationalstaaten in Frage. In keinem arabischen Land konnte ein breiter Konsens über eine neue Ordnung hergestellt werden.
In vier Ländern – Ägypten, Jemen, Libyen und Tunesien – wurden 2011 Transformationsprozesse eingeleitet, die anhand eigens ausgearbeiteter Fahrpläne eine neue politische Ordnung schaffen sollten. Die bisherigen Resultate enttäuschen indes. Tunesien ist das einzige Land, in dem der Transformationsprozess gemäß Übergangsfahrplan nominell erfolgreich zum Abschluss geführt wurde. Der fragile Kompromiss zwischen den beiden stärksten politischen Kräften des Landes – der säkularen Sammlungspartei Nidaa Tounes und der moderat islamistischen Ennahda – bietet jedoch weder Raum für effektive Partizipation, noch verspricht er substantielle Reformen. Fragen von Verteilungsgerechtigkeit, die im Zentrum der Proteste von 2011 gestanden hatten, bleiben hier wie auch in anderen Ländern weiterhin der politischen Diskussion entzogen.
Deutschland und seine Partner in der EU können sich nicht von der Nachbarregion abschotten. Sie müssen daher nach Wegen suchen, dort wirkungsvoller als bislang zu einer nachhaltigen Stabilisierung beizutragen. Dies kann nur gelingen, wenn europäische Politik der Tatsache Rechnung trägt, dass Sicherheit, Gewährleistung von Menschenrechten, inklusive politische und soziale Ordnungen sowie Entwicklung unauflöslich miteinander verknüpft sind. Deutschland und seine Partner in der EU sollten daher auf Stabilisierung durch Transformation, nicht durch die Stärkung von Repressionsapparaten setzen.
Die von der Nato 2014 auf ihrem Gipfel in Wales beschlossenen Maßnahmen erhöhen die Einsatzbereitschaft der Allianz deutlich – letztlich reichen sie jedoch nicht aus, um die Sicherheit aller Bündnispartner gegenüber Russland glaubhaft zu garantieren. Somit steht das Bündnis vor dem nächsten Gipfel in Warschau im Juli 2016 vor schwierigen Debatten: Die Mitgliedstaaten werden die Einsatzfähigkeit ihrer nationalen Armeen verbessern müssen, was nicht umsonst zu haben sein wird. Die Frage der Rolle von Nuklearwaffen in der Verteidigung der Allianz wird nicht dauerhaft umschifft werden können. Und schließlich: Jede glaubwürdige Rückversicherung des Baltikums würde wohl nicht im Rahmen der Nato-Russland-Grundakte zu erreichen sein. Vorübergehend sind Kompromisse denkbar, so etwa in Form der Errichtung einer hinreichend funktionsfähigen Infrastruktur zur umfassenden Vorausstationierung von Material. Sollte sich das Verhältnis zu Russland jedoch nicht grundlegend verbessern, scheinen langfristig weitergehende Schritte nötig.