THE ADAPT AND EMPLOYMENT COMMUNITY INITIATIVES 
INNOVATIONS SERIES N°9

TOWARDS EMPLOYMENT FOR ALL 

COMBATING RACISM AND PROMOTING THE INTEGRATION OF MIGRANTS

WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND?

The European Social Fund (ESF) invests in people. Its purpose is to improve the prospects of those who face the greatest obstacles in finding, keeping or regaining work. In this way the ESF enables millions of people throughout the European Union to play a fuller role in society and thus improve their quality of life.

The ESF provides European Union funding on a major scale for programmes which develop or regenerate people’s employability. This task centres on providing citizens with the right work skills as well as developing their social interaction skills, thereby improving their self-confidence and adaptability in the job marketplace.

The ESF channels its support into strategic long-term programmes which help regions across Europe, particularly those lagging behind, to upgrade and modernise workforce skills and to stimulate entrepreneurial initiative. This encourages domestic and foreign investment into the regions, helping them to foster greater economic competitiveness and prosperity.

The ESF is the main tool through which the European Union translates its employment policy aims into action. In the six years 1994-1999 the ESF, which operates in all Member States, will have made available ECU 47 billion, accounting for almost ten per cent of the European Union’s total budget. The ESF also helps unlock funding at national level, through the use of a joint-funding principle which permits ESF support to be made available only for active measures already being undertaken by Member States to increase people’s employment prospects.

The ESF’s aims are both preventive and remedial. To help prevent future long-term unemployment, the ESF focuses its support on programmes which prepare young people better for working life, which help those in employment adapt or develop their skills to meet the challenges of change in the workplace, or which intervene early to help those losing their jobs who may be at risk of long-term unemployment to regain work quickly. For those who have reached the stage of long-term unemployment, the ESF concentrates on supporting co-ordinated programmes which provide a step-by-step path for people back into work. Underlying all the ESF’s work is the principle of ensuring equal access to employment for men and women, the disabled, and disadvantaged minorities at risk of social exclusion.

Programmes are planned by Member States together with the European Commission and then implemented through a wide range of provider organisations both in the public and the private sectors. These organisations include national, regional and local authorities, educational and training institutions, voluntary organisations, trade unions and works councils, industry and professional associations, and individual companies. The ESF helps fund a broad range of active schemes and projects, which include: vocational training; work experience and placement schemes; training of teachers, trainers and public officials; employment counselling and job search assistance; employment aids and childcare facilities; schemes for developing or improving in-company training systems and structures; and research projects which anticipate and help plan for economies’ future workforce needs.

The ESF acts as a catalyst for new approaches to projects, harnessing and bringing to bear the combined resources of all involved. It fosters partnerships at many different levels and encourages the Europe-wide transfer of knowledge, sharing of ideas and best practice, ensuring that the most effective new solutions are incorporated into mainstream policies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

INTRODUCTION                                                                                                            

CHALLENGES                                                                                                                

A changing pattern of migration
Racist attitudes 
Discrimination in the workplace
Discrimination in access to employment measures
Impact of employment measures on migrants
Diversity of national and regional contexts

EU POLICY CONTEXT                                                                                                    

Employment policies and migration and anti-discrimination policies
Action plan against racism
European anti-discrimination programmes
Anti-racism and the European Employment Strategy

GRASSROOTS INITIATIVES IN THE FIELD OF ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT       

ANTI RACISM APPROACHES

Promoting good practice in the workplace                                                            
First step: gaining better knowledge of discriminatory behaviour
Making regulations and collective agreements more effective
Changing attitudes in a key sector: media and migrants projects
Promoting the recruitment of qualified migrants

Changing the local culture                                                                                      
Removing physical and cultural barriers
Tackling stigma
Local integrated and participative approaches

Changing professional practice
Intercultural training for information and guidance workers
Intercultural training for workers of migrant origin

POSITIVE ACTION TO RAISE MIGRANTS’ CHANCES OF EMPLOYMENT                         

Culture sensitive pathways to employment					
Adapted pathways: empowering migrants to become agents of change 
Adapted pathways: training and mediation for refugees
Adapted pathways: learning through an enterprising approach

Creating new local structures for inclusion
Opening up local infrastructures to create multicultural meeting points

Tapping into ethnic business creation potential

IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE

	Lessons for policy and programme orientation
	Lessons at practice level

ANNEXES

1.	Key dates in European Union policy developments against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism
2.	References
3.	List of NSS and ESF Missions
4.	INTEGRA in brief

A word concerning terminology

Discrimination can be defined as the different and unequal treatment of individuals or groups according to real or imaginary characteristics that are perceived as negative differences. 

This report is concerned with all groups that face discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin, culture or national origin.

At European level, the word “migrants” is used as an overarching denomination, including persons of many different origins, nationality and place of birth. However, in different Member States, people themselves, administrations and academics use different terms and make different types of distinctions. 

The groups concerned may recognised themselves under a number of categories including: 

•	migrants who are not born in the country in which they live;
•	people of migrant origin or ethnic minorities who are migrants and their descendants, including second and third generations;
•	people of other cultures such as gypsies and travellers who may have been living in the country for many generations;
•	repatriates who have European Union (EU) nationality but still represent an identifiable minority;
•	foreigners and their descendants who do not have EU citizenship but may or may not have acquired the right to live and work in the EU, as well as;
•	refugees with rights to live and work in EU countries and;
•	asylum-seekers who are still seeking the right to do so.

Access to preventive and active measures or to employment may be determined by the legal status of the individual concerned and therefore, certain people have limited opportunities to gain economic independence.

INTRODUCTION

Migrants and minority populations in the EU are over-represented amongst the unemployed and among those in low-skilled insecure jobs. This represents a significant wasted potential, contributes to the marginalisation of migrant groups and reinforces the risks of social rifts and tensions.

Facilitating access to work for migrants, ethnic minorities and similar groups forms part of the European Employment Strategy. At the Vienna European Council in December 1998, Member States and the European Commission agreed to include a new annual Employment Guideline with the objective of “promoting employment for all”. This means developing preventive and active employment measures for ethnic minorities and similar vulnerable groups.

The EMPLOYMENT Community Initiative aims to help those people who have most difficulties in finding or keeping a job and its INTEGRA strand is assisting those who are at greatest risk of social exclusion. INTEGRA puts an emphasis on “the special needs of migrants, refugees and other similar vulnerable groups, who are likely to be faced with greater discrimination on the labour market as a consequence of the rise in social tension, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism that Europe is witnessing” (see annex 4 for further details).

Although issues of racism and discrimination are European in scope, they are essentially national and local in nature, as is the functioning of labour markets. INTEGRA projects operating at local level, using a bottom-up and partnership approach, are uniquely placed to promote a culture of civic responsibility in relation to these two issues. Through innovative strategies and the development of new instruments, enriched by transnational co-operation, projects have been able to point the way towards a more effective delivery of employment policies. 

The European Union’s responses to racism and discrimination include policies on migration and anti-discrimination, as well as employment. This publication concentrates on the world of work. It identifies approaches and tools that can tackle racism in the workplace and these can be of major difference to migrants’ chances of finding a job. It is based on the most successful strategies used by the five hundred INTEGRA projects that have set their sights on reducing racism and promoting the integration of migrants and minorities.

CHALLENGES

Migrants and minority populations can be estimated at around 5% of EU residents. The racism and discrimination they face in access to employment have their roots in complex historical and cultural contexts that vary across Member States. The broad trends point to the urgency of tackling racism in an integrated manner, across all policy fields, whilst giving a central place to employment integration. 

A changing pattern of migration
 
Several decades ago, many people from abroad were enticed to work in Europe contributing to its economic recovery. As this was initially seen to be a short-term expedient, little attention was paid to their social integration or their progress in their new jobs. The numbers of second and third generation migrants is a reflection of the fact that many of these new arrivals decided to settle permanently and gradually restrictions on family reunification were eased. Political events in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world have brought a second wave of new arrivals, with very diverse educational and vocational experience. With the rise in unemployment and social exclusion, tensions have disproportionately affected migrant and minority groups. Direct and indirect discrimination in the labour market and in certain geographical areas has increased noticeably. 

Racist attitudes

Discrimination in the labour market is linked to the rise in social tensions and the growth of uncertainty, individualism and intolerance. Attitudes are an important factor in determining how quickly problems facing migrants can be overcome. The 1997 Eurobarometer public opinion survey confirmed that a number of problems are blamed on people from minority groups. For example, 65% of the population agreed with the statement “our country has reached its limits and if there were more people belonging to minority groups, we would have problems”. The extent to which this view was shared varied from over 80% in Greece and Belgium, to under 30% in Spain and Finland.

Discrimination in the workplace

Acknowledging the existence of discrimination at work is a first step in developing more tolerant attitudes. Statistical evidence exists, although it is difficult to summarise. A study entitled “Preventing racism in the workplace” was undertaken by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in 1996 (Reference 1). It gathered evidence of forms of discrimination in the world of work across the Member States. Convincing evidence is presented from the UK, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Belgium, where studies designed to test discrimination in recruitment have conclusively shown that migrants were treated unfairly, even at the short-listing stage.

Discrimination in access to employment measures

Active labour market policies contain general measures that are sometimes not accessible to migrants either because they may not have a full employment record or a work permit. Measures often favour individuals with better qualifications compared to relatively low-skilled candidates, a category in which ethnic minorities are over-represented. 

Many countries have also set up special positive action measures directed at migrants and minorities. These are gradually increasing especially in France, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal, whilst they are still the exception rather than the rule in Austria (Reference 2). The challenge is to improve the targeting, coverage and effectiveness of these measures. Types of labour market instruments found in some, but not all, Member States include: 
•	migrant information and advice services; 
•	language learning; 
•	pre-vocational and vocational training for migrant groups; 
•	aid towards migrant self-employment; 
•	job search assistance; 
•	training of employment agency staff; 
•	raising the awareness of employers
•	local partnerships projects;
•	opportunities for public debate.
 
Impact of employment measures on migrants

Few Member States produce statistics comparing outcomes of employment measures for people of migrant or minority origin to those of other participants. In Sweden and the UK, figures confirm that, for migrants and minorities benefiting from employment measures, training outcomes are generally worse and the probability of them obtaining employment is lower (Reference 2). 

Diversity of national or regional contexts

Different countries and regions are faced with different challenges, in fighting racism in access to employment. This is due in part to differences in the nature of migrant and minority populations and also to the history of policy development in matters concerning fundamental rights, citizenship, migration and employment.

In some Member States, immigration is a relatively recent phenomenon, whilst others have significant numbers of second and third generation migrants. Certain countries are particularly concerned with the reintegration of returning nationals (repatriates) or with large gypsy or traveller minority groups. While second and third generations are on the whole better educated and first generation has more experience of the world of work, most immigrants tend to be at a disadvantage in terms of qualifications and employment. Access to certain industrial sectors and to career promotion is often very difficult, as is access to permanent full-time contracts.

The historical evolution of policies towards migrants and minorities, whether on rights, employment, or action against racism, affects both the current debate and the presentation of issues. It could be argued that Member States are moving towards a pluralist approach, in which migrants and minorities gain equal opportunities and become full members of a multicultural society. However, laws and regulations may still reflect other “models” such as “differential exclusion”, in which migrants remain outsiders, with only limited social and political rights or “assimilation” where political rights and full social rights only follow from becoming a citizen of the country in question. The challenge may be to make legislation more inclusive or to find ways of turning agreed equality principles into practice.

Many Member States have legislation that guarantees the legal, social and economic position of most of the groups concerned. In a growing number of countries, employers are encouraged to enter into voluntary agreements or codes of practice on equal opportunities for all. Other policies establish contexts in which active employment measures can be more effective. These may include efforts to raise public awareness, the establishment of national, regional or local integration policy programmes, special equality or race relations units. Table 1 on the following page highlights some recent legislative measures that demonstrate movement towards a genuinely multicultural society.

RECENT MEMBER STATE MEASURES TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATION

Belgium
Specific anti-racist legislation has existed since 1981 and was reinforced in 1993 with the creation of a Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism This centre implements anti-racist legislation, supports local integration and advises the public authorities.

Denmark 
In 1996, the Act on prohibition of discrimination on the labour market came into force. This Act prohibits employers and other labour market actors from exercising any form of direct or indirect discrimination because of race, skin colour, religion, political persuasion, sexual orientation or national, social or ethnic origin. A Board for Ethnic Equality (Rådet for Etnisk Ligestilling) has also been created to provide advice on the question of discrimination and ethnic equality to the Danish parliament (Folketing), the government, central and local administration, private organisations and public bodies. 

Germany 
The government has recently eased access to German nationality for second-generation migrants and long-term residents who have benefited from a work permit. Special measures are implemented by the Ministry of Labour and by a number of regional and city authorities. 

Spain 
Authorities at all levels attempt to reduce the discrimination faced by the gypsy community and local authorities emphasise the role of mediators in reducing tensions between gypsies and the indigenous community.

France 
A new battery of actions should help turn the principles of equal treatment into practice. This integration policy aims to combat discrimination through the involvement of employers’ networks. The Ministry of the Interior is setting up anti-discrimination offices in each “Département”; the public research body (CNRS) has implemented research to measure the extent of racial discrimination; and an Observatory of discrimination has been set up to monitor the situation, which involves research institutes as well as representatives from the social partners and civil society. 

Italy 
A law on immigration was passed in 1998, which emphasises the importance of intercultural matters in promoting the integration of migrants. There is also a new set of regulations that permits a greater involvement of unemployed migrants in training and employment measures.

Sweden  
In 1994, an Act against Ethnic Discrimination was passed by the Parliament. The Act prohibits unfair treatment of job applicants and employees, especially by applying unfavourable terms of employment or other working conditions. It also prohibits directing and assigning work in a way that is clearly unfavourable to the employee or giving notice, dismissing, laying-off or taking any other comparable action against the employee.

The United Kingdom 
In 1998, the Government set up a new body called the Race Employment and Education Forum (REEF). REEF will play a key role in decisions on what action should be taken to improve the employability of ethnic minorities and the numbers employed. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) for England Wales and Scotland was set up in 1976 under the Race Relations Act and a similar body also exists in Northern Ireland. 

Joint Member State Action 
In October 1999, France, Germany and the United Kingdom outlined a common contribution to the next European summit’s discussions on justice and security. They proposed a comprehensive vision based on an economic approach, co-development with countries of origin, police co-operation, absolute respect of the right of asylum and access to nationality for long-term residents.

EU POLICY CONTEXT

The European integration process has sought to establish the foundations of a Union opposed to violent conflict and committed to the defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms. With the Amsterdam Treaty, these commitments are embodied in particular in Article 13, a non-discrimination clause, which provides for the EU to “take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation”. This step forward will permit new European-level initiatives that will increase the impetus for joint action in combating racism (see annex 2).

Employment policies and migration and anti-discrimination policies

Policies relating to migration and policies to combat discrimination form the framework within which employment policies can underpin the development of common approaches at European level. 

Policies on migration are increasingly discussed at European level under the heading of justice and security matters. A number of Member States are combining tougher measures against illegal immigrants with measures intended to accelerate the integration of persons already established in the EU, including their integration into employment. 

Over many years, a number of efforts have been made at European level to co-ordinate anti-discrimination policies. The European Parliament has played an important role in raising the issue of racism and how to combat it (see annex 2). The Member States, who are primarily responsible for action against discrimination, have acknowledged the benefits of addressing racial discrimination at European level. The European Year against Racism, Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism, in 1997, raised awareness of the dangers of racism. It also created a new momentum, established new networks and partnerships, and highlighted certain solutions.

Action Plan against Racism

Building on these achievements, the Commission proposed a European Action Plan against Racism, in 1998, to develop the scope of co-operation with the Member States and the European Parliament and to pave the way for further legislative proposals (Reference 3). It sets out a framework for joint action against racism that includes recognition of the vital importance of employment integration. Its four strands are:

1.	Paving the way for legislative initiatives: to continue the non-discriminatory application of Community legislation and prepare the ground for an anti-discrimination Framework Directive;

2.	Mainstreaming the fight against racism: integrating anti-racism in all relevant Community programmes and policies, with a strong emphasis on employment policy and its implementation, especially through the Structural Funds and Community Initiatives. 

3.	Developing and exchanging new models: to further develop the achievements resulting from working at transnational level, especially with the direct involvement of immigrant and ethnic minority groups in planning, developing and implementing project work. 

4.	Strengthening information and communication work: to support promotional activities through the media and the Internet, and to explore the feasibility of developing a code of good practice in advertising. 

European anti-discrimination programmes

To date, a number of small annual action programmes have supported pilot projects, and the exchange and dissemination of information. These include: 
(a)	measures in favour of Community and non-Community immigrants; 
(b)	measures to combat racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism; 
(c)	measures to assist refugees in the EU.

After two years of intensive consultations between the Commission and all interested parties, a package of proposals based on Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam was adopted on 25 November 1999.  This new anti-discrimination package comprises:
•	A Horizontal Directive prohibiting discrimination in employment, on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;
•	A separate Directive prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin in a wider range of areas – employment, education, the provision of goods and services, social protection;
•	An Action Programme to support the Directives through exchanges of information, experience and best practice.

The Commission will also propose a programme of action to promote social inclusion under Article 137.

Anti-racism in the European Employment Strategy

The Member States and European Commission agreed a new process for the development of a European Employment Strategy at the Luxembourg Summit, in 1997. Broad priorities are agreed each year in the form of European Employment Guidelines, based on a review of progress in the previous year. At the Vienna Summit, in December 1998, the European Council agreed a new set of Employment Guidelines (Reference 5) that include an extra Guideline with the objective of “promoting a labour market open to all”. This Guideline sets a common objective that includes a pledge to improve the integration of migrants and minorities in the labour market. 

Guideline 9 

Promoting a labour market open to all

“Many groups and individuals experience particular difficulties in acquiring relevant skills and in gaining access to, and remaining in, the labour market. A coherent set of policies promoting the integration of such groups and individuals into the world of work and combating discrimination is called for. Each Member State will:

Give special attention to the needs of the disabled, ethnic minorities and other groups and individuals who may be disadvantaged, and develop appropriate forms of preventive and active policies to promote their integration into the labour market”

The European-level Guidelines are reflected in National Action Plans for Employment (Reference 6) that form a framework for their employment policies and should also guide national priorities in Structural Funds’ planning documents. In the 1999 National Action Plans, Member States have highlighted changes of legislation and government practice as well as a number of active and preventive measures promoting employment for all, including migrants and minorities. For example, Sweden has introduced legislation against direct or indirect racial discrimination at the recruitment stage and the French law on exclusion includes anti-discrimination provision. Other measures in Belgium and Greece include public awareness raising. In the Netherlands, the UK and Finland there are incentives for employers to take advantage of a multicultural society. Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands provide incentives for public services to recruit more migrants and train staff in intercultural skills and new measures to extend access to language learning are available in Germany, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. 

The major Community instrument for the implementation of the European Employment Strategy, is the European Social Fund (ESF). In preparing their national planning frameworks for ESF implementation from 2000 to 2006, Member States are required to link these frameworks to their National Action Plans for Employment and this includes taking account of the Guideline 9 objectives. Indeed, the “promotion of social integration and equality of opportunities for all in access to the labour market” is one of the key objectives set out in the ESF regulations for the period. Local multi-dimensional approaches have been particularly recommended in this respect. 

INTEGRA has paved the way for continued innovation and there are many excellent examples of the successful application of such local approaches. Moreover, the new Community Initiative EQUAL promotes equal opportunities for all in the labour market and will contribute to combating racism and discrimination in the labour market.

GRASSROOTS INITIATIVES IN THE FIELD OF ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT

ANTI RACISM APPROACHES

Policies against racism in the labour market operate in the context of national legislation and regulations that tend to condemn discrimination as a matter of principle and set some legal barriers to discriminatory behaviour. Despite these laws and regulations, it is clear that combating racism is also about changing attitudes and behaviour among individuals, groups, agencies and institutions. This type of social change tends to be slow and involves influencing groups and institutions that perpetrate both direct and indirect discrimination in a more or less conscious manner. It forms part of a more general fight against discrimination. Anti-racism or anti-discrimination strategies and approaches are presented separately from actions that focus purely on the integration of migrants into employment. In this section, project approaches start from the broad principle that minorities or people of migrant origin have a right to be treated as well as other citizens are. This does not simply concern opportunities in the labour market but also applies to their quality of life and their social rights. This more integrated, or at least multi-dimensional, approach often begins with local action that questions the attitudes and practices of a selected range of actors including employers, trade unions, public services and other key agencies. 

INTEGRA projects have had the chance to test methods of tackling racism, adapted to the local situation, and to identify specific processes that can produce changes in attitude or practice. Some are able to capitalise on legislation and agreements that have already set out the principles of integration at national or regional level, or within a particular industrial or commercial sector. Some projects are promoted by associations of employers or trade union affiliated bodies, and make inroads into resolving the issues in the workplace. Other projects developed by local authorities, non-governmental, i.e. voluntary organisations (NGOs) or research agencies tackle attitudes and practice within specific public or private agencies and groupings of professional workers. The presentation of the problem, choice of partners and priority activities all reflect the opportunities presented by the national or local context. 

Promoting Good Practice in the Workplace

The social partners are the key actors in promoting non-discrimination in the workplace. Trade unions have expressed their joint commitment in the Declaration agreed at the Social Dialogue Summit in Florence, in October 1995 (Reference 4). However progress has been made at different paces, in different Member States. Early gains were the participation of migrant workers in works councils and in trade union activities. Many trade unions work towards the introduction of non-discriminatory clauses in collective agreements and then promote their implementation. Others steps have been taken to prevent the development of a discriminatory climate and to remove discrimination in recruitment, in the allocation of tasks and responsibilities and in access to further training and to promotion. Many employers are becoming aware that their overall business can benefit from a strategy of ‘diversity’ that is reflected in marketing approaches, in developing skills for innovation and in personnel management. INTEGRA projects have contributed to the development of new approaches and instruments in all of the above respects. 

The first step: gaining better knowledge of discriminatory behaviour

There is little hard evidence of the experience of migrants in employment.  This shortage of factual information makes it easier to retain the notion that there is ‘no problem here’ and the lack of public awareness of the existence of discrimination means that there is practically no public debate on the issue. So, a first step in any anti-discrimination work is to map out the actual experiences of discrimination and to make more people aware of its precise nature and where it occurs. This acquisition of knowledge is the basis for the formulation of new practical proposals to combat discrimination.

France - Trade unions mobilise to combat discrimination

Recent decisions by the French government to re-launch the fight against discrimination include support for generating a better understanding of the issue and for promoting debates between key labour market actors. Two trade union sponsored INTEGRA projects demonstrate how a transnational perspective on co-operation between trade unions, voluntary organisations and researchers has been of great benefit. It has generated new comparative research, created new information tools and led to a deeper consideration of the role of trade unionists and voluntary sector workers as mediators. 

The OSIME: I-1997-F-629 project (Organisations Syndicales, Immigrants et Minorités ethniques en Europe) works with research, trade union and voluntary organisations in Spain and Denmark. Together they are carrying out a comparative analysis of trade union practice in the face of racism and discrimination in a number of sectors including agriculture, commerce, finance, manufacturing and publishing. Through a number of surveys, information has been collected on the interaction between trade unions and groups at risk of discrimination and about discriminatory acts committed within trade union organisations. A number of seminars have been held in Denmark, Spain and France to raise the awareness of trade unionists, employees and other key actors. A joint White Paper is being produced on the current state of discrimination, which will include proposals for action.

Working in close co-operation with the OSIME partnership, SEREDAT: I-1997-F-623 (Séminaire Européen sur le Racisme et les Discriminations au Travail) has created a network of trade union organisations and voluntary organisations in eight European countries called REDIM. Building on research outcomes, an exchange of experience and opinion has taken place. This has resulted in the development of two new instruments. An ICT-based data bank contains relevant legal and other contextual information, as well as examples of significant achievements in combating racism in the workplace in the eight Member States. It is an important reference source for trade unionists, employers and other advice agencies and enhances the training of trade union representatives. In parallel, a profile of the trade unionist as a “social and professional mediator” has been drafted. 

These projects have assisted the creation of a French network of those trade union representatives that helped to establish the databank and the mediator profile. The inventory of acts of direct and indirect discrimination and the examples of practical responses from other countries have shown how the legal and regulatory framework in France can be made more effective. They have also launched a debate on the need to introduce a set of sanctions against discriminatory acts in the workplace, such as those that exist in the other Member States.

PHOTO / Fille en T shirt “Le racisme ça se combat

Making regulations and collective agreements more effective

For those Member States that have developed a broad panoply of legislation, regulations and positive action, the remaining challenge is to make these instruments as effective as possible. In Denmark, with the backing of the 1996 Act prohibiting discrimination in the labour market, the Ministry of Labour is pursuing a comprehensive approach. This combines incentives to enterprises with the appointment of special immigration consultants in the employment services and the setting up of special projects for the integration of migrants. On the basis of a 1997 national collective agreement, ethnic equality is being introduced into personnel policies, particularly by developing dialogue, information and counselling. INTEGRA projects have been generating change within this framework. 

Denmark - Putting ethnic equality into practice

In the Danish INTEGRA project The Role of Trade Unions in Promoting Ethnic Equality in the European Labour Market: I-1997-DK-508, trade union members are involved in learning intercultural skills. The project adopts a strategy that aims to help them take control over various aspects that affect the quality of their lives. Workers who are migrants or refugees are encouraged to get involved in the fight to obtain recognition of their rights and one experience that prepares them for this involvement is their direct participation in the management of the project.  

This project is part of a wider campaign called “A place for all” that is organised by the Danish trade unions. The campaign has already resulted in the formation of a national network of ethnic minority members of trade unions. Migrant trade unionists are trained to become advisors in social benefits and to help other members of trade unions to deal with related problems like unemployment payments. Through this training, migrants can also have access to a job within the trade unions, thus reducing any indirect discrimination. The project has also resulted in the LO trade union delivering  a course on an “Introduction to the Danish trade-unionist movement”. As might be expected one of the spin-offs of the course is that more people from migrant and ethnic minority groups become members of trade unions.

Trade unions are full partners in the national strategy for combating discrimination. Improving the participation of migrants and refugees in trade unions opens up opportunities for them to play a direct role in the social dialogue and this strengthens the legitimacy of the trade unions’ negotiating stance on matters related to discrimination. Mobilising members to combat discrimination in their own office or factory shows that trade unions can actually implement local policy, as distinct from their traditional role of influencing policy at the more remote regional or national levels. 

Changing attitudes in a key sector: media and migrants projects

The media sector, that includes radio, television and the press, has an important role to play in creating an atmosphere in which racism and xenophobia can be successfully challenged. It can raise awareness of the potential of migrant and minority workers and can have a profound effect in shifting the perceptions and attitudes of the public. The participation of migrants and minorities in programme making and programme presentation has been increasing, as media companies are beginning to acknowledge customer demand for a more appropriate portrayal of the multicultural nature of society. A number of INTEGRA projects and partnerships are training migrants in media professions. At the same time, they are working with broadcasting companies to tackle discrimination in the industry and to develop strategies to increase the visibility of migrants through greater control of programming.

A transnational partnership - More Colour in the Media

Five INTEGRA projects from the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Ireland and the UK have created common products and produced different but significant outcomes in each of their national contexts. Projects’ activities included training and accreditation of migrants as journalists, technicians or programme makers, as well as direct dialogue with senior representatives of broadcasting companies on the sort of changes that could be made to reflect migrant or minority interests. Most projects organised awareness raising activities such as magazines, publications and national seminars to which transnational partners made influential contributions. Topics raised included the need for multi-cultural programming and the impact of the greater participation of migrants, refugees or migrant women in the media. One important result was the adoption of an Equal Opportunities Charter by the European network of broadcasting companies.

The British Commission for Racial Equality was created, in 1976, to support the implementation of the Race Relations Act. One of its functions is to promote the adoption by public and private employers of codes of practice and racial equality standards. Yet, the large broadcasting companies that adopt such standards are increasingly using small programme making companies. This new context offers opportunities for the creation of employment for migrants and refugees in community-based media companies.

The United Kingdom - Developing community-based media companies

The Voices without frontiers: I-1997-Ukgb-524 project in Sheffield aims to help overcome the major obstacles that block the entry of marginalised and ethnic minority groups into the media industry. Rapidly changing technologies combined with the recent introduction of a more open market for programme producers has created a highly competitive sector. This professional field remains largely closed to marginalised groups such as long-term unemployed people, ethnic minorities, migrants and refugees. Yet, immigrant and ethnic minority audiences are increasingly attractive to broadcasters. Professionally trained migrants and refugees can develop a competitive advantage in an increasingly contract-based employment market.

To create a practical model of progression from the training environment to job experience and job opportunities, the Community Media Association (CMA) operates as a support agency for community-based media organisations. These organisations develop community radio services, local training provision or programme production capacity. Key personnel of these organisations can benefit from the project’s new Media Enterprise Course, which leads to an NVQ qualification for owners or managers of media enterprises. The course is delivered in a flexible way, at a variety of locations, to suit the needs of client organisations and individual trainees. Individual guidance and training placements in local companies are arranged alongside the training provision.

Over 160 people from 52 organisations throughout England have benefited from business counselling and advice in the first six months of the project. For example, CMA has worked extremely closely with a community group in the London Borough of Lewisham, called First Love Media Training (FLMT). As a result, FLMT was able to set up a permanent local radio station and to establish a separate non-profit-making organisation that is now capable of providing accredited training programmes to unemployed and migrant local residents.

The project involves a number of local authorities, local training providers, employers’ organisations, local associations and universities. To generate interest in media jobs among unemployed migrants and refugees, it offers many one-day Taster Seminars in collaboration with local organisations, during which interest is generating in working with new technologies such as digital broadcasting and Internet broadcasting.

The project's transnational partners are also members of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters that has spawned European Network of Community Media Centres. This network animates a programme of exchanges with organisations in Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, France and Austria. On the United Nations Days against Racism in March 1988 and again in March 1999, six-hour long co-produced broadcasts were distributed via Eutelsat and the Internet.

PHOTO: femme avec foulard et écouteurs

Italy has recently experienced a new surge of immigration. In response a series of laws and regulations has been adopted that entitle a greater number of immigrants to work permits, health care and vocational training. Despite these efforts to support the immigrant population, migrant workers are largely employed in those jobs that others are unwilling to accept. So, helping people to access quality employment is a key issue for organisations working with migrants.

Italy - New professional profiles for quality employment in the media

Among the wealth of agencies that promote the social and economic integration of migrants in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, the COSPE association is one of the most active and well known. It developed the Epikouros: HD-1995-IT-040 project in 1997, with the full support of the regional and provincial authorities. Anchored in the organisation’s integrated approach to combating racism and prejudice, the project aims to develop new professional profiles to help migrants’ find skilled jobs in the media, in publishing industries or as journalists.

The project recruited about forty trainees who came originally from Senegal, Morocco and Albania and all already had their school-leaving certificates. They followed a series of pre-vocational training modules. These modules improved their command of the Italian language, their job search capacities and their knowledge of banking and insurance systems. They were then offered a choice of several vocational training courses leading to qualifications in radio, TV or press journalism or in other professions in the publishing industry. Common elements in outcomes of these courses were proficiency in several languages and skills in using the relevant new technologies. As part of the training, a multi-lingual newspaper was produced for the migrant communities in Tuscany. The majority of trainees obtained jobs in the local press, radio or TV companies, assisting on programmes or articles aimed at the migrant communities. Most are working in up to 9 different languages and some have now started to free lance. 

The national Italian press agency intends to introduce a more intercultural dimension into the media. It followed this new professional training with interest and has spoken with some of the graduates about the possibility of establishing an intercultural information agency.

Promoting the recruitment of qualified migrants

Some European companies and employers’ associations are taking an interest in the idea of diversity management. This concept sees the employment of people of migrant origin as being beneficial in terms of the maintenance of good personnel relations and productivity, and in the development of exports and sales to an increasing number of customers from different cultures. Where the firm benefits, the local economy can benefit. Promoting enterprise creation by migrants also contributes to an improved recognition of their contribution to the local economy. INTEGRA has developed ways of mobilising networks of employers to recruit skilled migrants and one such Italian network is a project promoter.

A transnational partnership - INTRAINING: Migrants and refugees’ in import-export jobs

Several large employers’ federations in Piedmont formed a partnership to run this INTEGRA project. The idea was to harness the experience and skills of migrants and refugees to meet the need for competent workers to undertake import/export duties. The project Integrazione di immigrati per l’internationalizzaione dell’economia piemontese: HD-1995-IT-012 and I-1997-IT-659 developed training, work experience and guidance activities for twenty students from many different countries of origin. Exchanges with transnational partners in Spain and France enabled the modules on intercultural skills to be refined and a systematic evaluation to be made of their impact on trainees, trainers and employers. The success of the trainees in gaining employment or in setting up their own enterprises has meant that the course has continued to be offered in Piedmont and in Catalonia.

Integration policies recently launched in France aim to combat discrimination by mobilising employers’ networks and other partners. A new study group on discrimination will act as an observatory, bringing together researchers, employers, trade unions and NGOs. INTEGRA projects, which operate at local level and involve employers in reducing discrimination in recruitment, can be expected to make a significant contribution to this debate.

France - Social partners offer support to young graduates of migrant origin

The project Jeunes diplômés: I-1997-F-657 or “Young graduates” is led by the Roubaix neighbourhood development association (Association de développement des quartiers de Roubaix), an agency created by this municipality in the North of France. Roubaix is a town in which 30% of the population is of migrant origin and unemployment has risen to over 34%. Yet there are more jobs in Roubaix itself than there are people in its active working population. Discrimination at the recruitment stage partly explains this paradox and, as a result, many of these jobs are occupied by individuals who live outside the town.

Since 80% of new graduates in Roubaix are of North African origin, the project aims to tackle discrimination at the recruitment stage by bringing employers and new graduates closer together. Employers and trade unions were invited to collaborate with the project managers in designing how the project should operate. At the beginning, a number of awareness raising meetings with local residents, public agencies and NGOs were organised along with “round-tables” for employers’ and trade union representatives to debate the wider issues and the opportunities for action. Increasing employers’ understanding of the issues was a key factor in ensuring the project’s success.

Enterprises that were associated with the Local Insertion Plan (PLI de Roubaix) were approached and many agreed to offer young migrant graduates a three-month placement suited to their qualification. Trade union members, who acted as ‘godfathers’ or ‘godmothers’, supported the young people during this period. The placements resulted in a positive change in the attitudes of fellow workers and managers. Following the placement, employment guidance services within the Local Insertion Plan assisted the young people to capitalise on their new experience and network of contacts.

To benefit other job seekers and employers in the area, the project is setting up a databank of good practice in non-discriminatory recruitment, as well as a free telephone line offering information and advice to local residents and employers about access to employment for migrants.

Changing the Local Culture

Time does not always heal the division or lack or understanding between the indigenous residents and people and families from other cultures. Sometimes, segregation is gradually reinforced by differential treatment and ignorance on both sides and as a result prejudices and misperceptions become entrenched and racism institutionalised. In such a context, employment issues cannot be tackled without a broader campaign to change the local culture. 

Any attempt to construct a more integrated approach to anti-racism begins by identifying the nature of the difficulties faced by migrants and minorities and by selecting priorities for action in relation to certain target groups and target institutions. In this way, the potential multiplier effect of a project is geared to sections of the public, as well as to certain key agencies. The later will not all be directly involved in employment measures, nor be locally based. 

INTEGRA projects have shown how the institutional, physical and cultural segregation that may have been growing for many years can be counteracted. An integrated local approach can also involve the development of constructive relationships with national or regional bodies that aim to combat discrimination.

Removing physical and cultural barriers

Italy - Building bridges between communities in Sicily

Mazara del vallo, in the Basso Belice area of Sicily, has set an example in Italy. Over the last 20 years, a large number of migrants, mainly from Tunisia, have settled in this little town. Most came because there was not enough local labour to meet the needs of the fishing industry. Initially they were seasonal workers, but the Tunisians gradually brought their families and settled in the town centre of Mazara, where they now make up 9% of the local population. Each community lived separately, ignoring the other and maintaining their own customs and traditions. Even the children attended different classes in the school. The immigrant community did not have any assistance for their children’s schooling, their own health care, their dealings with the bureaucracy and their training and employment. The CRESM (The social and economic research centre for the Mezzogiorno) recognised the danger inherent in the situation, particularly as it seemed likely that jobs would soon be lost in the fishing industry. The Centre wanted to prevent any further deterioration in inter-community relations and so it initiated the Project Odissea Basso Belice-Mazara del Vallo: HD-1995-IT-036 to “create the conditions in which immigrants would feel like genuine citizens.”

The project set out to develop a broad strategy to build bridges between the two communities and offer pathways to alternative employment to adults of migrant origin. The first adventurous step was to appoint someone from the migrant community as the project coordinator. All the project’s activities were designed as new opportunities for members of the two communities to recognise their common problems, to get to know each other and to face up to the fact that their futures were inextricably linked. To improve people’s chances of finding jobs, a number of training courses were set up. There was a course that was designed for future employment in tending parks, gardens and other public green spaces.  Another course was for people that were actively involved in the lives of each of the two communities and it prepared them to mediate between the two groups through providing accurate information and assisting in the development of social and cultural activities. An information and guidance centre was opened for migrant families and a series of cultural activities were designed to bring people together across the cultural divide. These included joint social evenings, concerts of Arab music, an exhibition on the history of the immigration, and an exhibition of paintings.

At the same time, the project sought other opportunities for encounters and dialogue. An interdisciplinary group was established to decide how to end the segregation of migrant children and reduce their higher rates of drop out and maladjustment. This group brought together Tunisian and Italian teachers and together they discussed ways of developing a more multi-cultural curriculum and of gradually integrating Tunisian children into the Italian classes. As a result, the Ministry of Education gave its backing to an experimental mixed class that was set up in one of the four local primary schools.

The initial positive response from the local people has been sustained. The Italian community regularly proposes new project activities and a growing number of Tunisian families want to place their children in multicultural classes.

Working with other committed organisations, the Odissea project has already had a significant impact on the strategies for the integration of migrants in other local areas and at higher levels, in Italy. Some towns have opened information and guidance centres for migrants, while the provincial authority has set up an observatory on immigration.  In-service training on intercultural relations has been offered to local government employees working at both of these levels. Even more significantly, a law that had restricted immigrant employment solely to the fishing industry has been modified and the project co-ordinator has become an active member of a national Commission on Immigration, leading a working group on the application of the 1998 law on immigration.

PHOTOs: female singer with band 

Germany - Breaking down the walls in our heads

The northern end of beautiful lake of Ratzeburg actually formed part of old border between East and West Germany. Sixty young people from the lands of Schleswig-Holstein on the west side of the lake and Mecklemburg-Vorpommern on the east side are participating in a joint project that they hope will lead to full time jobs. A college in the west and an NGO in the east have joined forces to create SHIP: I-1997-D-509, the first reconciliation project of this type in Europe. Building a Viking Ship is the main focus of activity but the students are also preparing an exhibition on this process that should be of interest to tourists.

 In this area, the chances of employment have fallen drastically since German reunification. The “border” continued to exist ‘in people’s heads’ and there was little knowledge of life on the other side. The lack of organised activities and the limited employment prospects brought about a mood of ‘living for the moment’ and sometimes the most disadvantaged young people took their frustrations out on foreigners. Usually this was simply reflected in their prejudices or in blaming immigrants for the fact that they had no jobs but sometimes it erupted in arson attacks or in the destruction of campsites. In such a situation, it was not surprising that young people rarely thought about trying to acquire additional qualifications.
 
To try to redress the balance, the SHIP project has developed a flexible programme of guidance, education and training which combines the acquisition of life skills with vocational skills. Individual guidance provides opportunities for the young people to make personal choices, which are adapted to their own motivation and aptitude but also are realistic in terms of expectations. Theory and practice are intertwined. An important aspect of the project is tackling racism and discrimination. Media training has focused on the development of anti-racist programmes with a Lübeck radio station. The preparation of the Viking Ship Exhibition has been an opportunity to develop an awareness of history, a recognition of cultural differences and a new form of solidarity within the European Union.

In the first year, participants included 15 young people from Ratzeburg (Schleswig-Holstein), with a Turkish or Kazakhstani background, and 15 young people from Gadebush (Mecklemburg-Vorpommern), who were mainly long-term unemployed or single parents. These young people quickly recognised that they faced similar problems and had similar anxieties. Despite the mix of cultures, few conflicts actually occurred and when they did, they were used as opportunities to discuss different dress style, attitudes to the opposite sex and to authority. As the course progressed, the idea of improving German language capabilities became more attractive even to those who had initially been reluctant to try. During visits to the project’s transnational partners in Normandy, Ireland and Denmark the young participants were identified as foreigners but received by the local young people as guests. This complete lack of hostility had a major impact in reducing the ‘fear of strangers’ which these trainees had clearly felt before. 

The project works in close co-operation with local firms, trade unions, information centres for migrants from the former Soviet Union and of course employment offices. The progress of trainees towards vocational qualification is now recognised by employers in both Länder.  A ‘round table’ of local actors has been created to ensure that young people are given realistic expectations about living and working opportunities in the two Länder and beyond. These local actors are now working towards creating more permanent employment by setting up a social enterprise catering for the local tourist trade.

2 PHOTOS:

Tackling stigma

In Spain and Portugal, and in the eastern regions of the European Union, gypsies are becoming a more visible minority and this can present a challenge to other cultures. Rapid changes in consumer patterns and life styles are threatening the gypsies’ traditional means of generating an income. However in certain INTEGRA projects, gypsies themselves are finding new ways of surviving in these changed circumstances without abandoning the values and traditions that are the core of their identity. 

A transnational partnership - DYNAMIZACION: cultural mediators as agents of change

“Work is not an end in itself! To have a skill is one thing but to make a career out of it is another.” That is the candid view of one young gypsy, which highlights the need to take account of the gypsy mentality and lifestyle. Eight promoters from Spain, France, Portugal, Greece and Ireland formed the INTEGRA transnational partnership DYNAMIZACION. All the organisations represented had a long history of working with gypsies or travellers and they are active members of the European Network for the Promotion of Gypsies and Travellers. These organisations are familiar with the difficulties and prejudices faced by gypsies and travellers who, in addition, often have no formal qualifications and are sometimes illiterate. 

Alongside a number of training courses leading to qualifications in traditional professions or new service jobs, the various promoters developed activities to train gypsies and travellers in a mediation role. As cultural mediators, the trainees learn to promote a better recognition of their cultural identity, improve relationships with authorities, employers or customers, and manage conflicts arising within the gypsy community or between that community and the rest of the local population. For the Portuguese project, the development of this new role is the culmination of many years spent in establishing relationships of trust with gypsy families through a series of smaller activities including the provision of practical information on health, housing and other matters. The trainees are awarded a national diploma as cultural mediators on completion of the course and some of them have subsequently obtained jobs in local schools. 

The Spanish promoter, the General Secretariat of Gypsies, is an association of gypsies and non-gypsies that has adopted an intercultural approach. Their project Enforma-dynamizacion: I-1997-ES-069 has developed a recognised qualification for the role of social mediator. The training is offered to both gypsies and non-gypsies and includes individual guidance and work experience. Their competence to function as mediators is built up gradually through group dynamics, practising communication and negotiation skills and acquiring core social work skills. All this prepares them to deal with the wide range of issues faced by gypsy families such as health, housing, education, gender issues, substance abuse or family conflicts. Some of the newly qualified mediators have been employed by the city of Madrid to help reduce school absenteeism. As mediators, the trainees are also prepared to be spokespeople promoting a positive image of the gypsy community.

The project has been instrumental in developing a wider awareness of the difficulties facing the gypsy community in Spain. The promoter is regularly consulted by a number of different bodies, including the Ministry of Social Affairs, on programmes for the economic and social integration of gypsies. In a country where xenophobia is often directed at the gypsy community, social mediators who can be trusted have an important role to play in ensuring that the different cultures can flourish in peaceful co-existence.

PHOTO: Femme en train de fabriquer un panier 

Local integrated and participative approaches

Countries that have a substantial number of second and third generation migrants have propagated more comprehensive programmes to combat discrimination. Regional and local authorities play an important role in developing such programmes (see reference text on cities). With the appointment of a Royal Commissioner for Migrants’ Policy in 1989, anti-racism and integration policies have become a political priority in Belgium. On her advice, the government has reinforced its anti-racism legislation and created a national Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight against Racism. This Centre oversees the practical implementation of the law and promotes local action for integration. It was in this context that the Walloon Region passed a decree to develop co-ordinated local action and to ensure that lessons are learnt from this process.

Belgium - Local integration centres

At the regional level, the Belgian INTEGRA project Agents Regionaux d’Intégration: I-1997-Bfr-536 is currently playing a pivotal role in the implementation of the integration policy of the Walloon Region. The project is involved in creating a Local Integration Centre in the Namur area, one of six areas with large communities of migrants and ethnic minorities. The other centres are in Liège, Charleroi, Verviers, Mons and La Louvière. The mission of these Local Integration Centres is to monitor all aspects of the local integration policy, to promote new activities in employment and related social fields and to disseminate their evaluation results.

Under the guidance of a Regional Support Structure, the Local Integration Centre serves as a local second-line agency, co-ordinating the work of all the local actors who have a role to play in integration and anti-racism activities. Each local centre has a management board and half of this board is composed of elected representatives (public authorities) while the other half is made up of representatives of local bodies such as migrants’ associations, solidarity NGOs, trade-unions, and training and employment agencies. There is also an enlarged Advisory Committee comprising all associations or individuals that wish to be involved in the centre’s activities, which are broken down into thematic working groups. These arrangements ensure that representatives of the local community are full partners in the development of the centre and that the principles of participatory democracy are actually put into practice.

The innovative aspect of the INTEGRA project is the creation of some 40 “integration agent” posts within the centre’s total staff establishment. Their task is to support and advise migrant beneficiaries along their insertion pathway and where possible to reduce the barriers to integration. The Local Integration Agents are individuals with a migrant background. They use an innovative tutorship approach that is based on the transmission of an “ethnic know-how”. Their development approach has already spawned many volunteering, training and employment initiatives that take account of the particular motivation of young people, women or specific ethnic groups. Representatives of migrant associations are also involved in the management of these initiatives. The work of the project is monitored continuously so that relevant lessons can be identified and disseminated.

There is a direct relationship between the project and the Regional Government. On the one hand, the project staff is a permanent resource for the Region’s Local Integration Centres during their current phase of establishment. On the other hand, the Regional Support Structure for the Centres, which is the promoter of the INTEGRA project, is ideally placed to draw out the lessons from the new approach.

Finland - A Municipal Integration Programme involving migrant organisations

Immigration in Finland is a relatively recent phenomenon. However in Helsinki, the number of foreign residents increased from 6,000 in 1990 to 25,000 in 1998. The Finnish authorities have decided to strengthen their integration policy and have introduced a new Act that stresses the immigrant’s own active responsibility for his or her new situation.

Cities are required to draw up a Municipal Integration Programme. The goal of the programme should be to promote a culturally pluralistic, ethnically equal, interactive and tolerant atmosphere. The programme has to be developed in collaboration with other local authorities and interested parties. It has to be concrete and, in addition to the goals, define the measures, the resources and the issues for future co-operation. Also the organiser, funding body and the other resources to be used have to be identified for each measure.

At the individual level, the unemployed migrant records the measures to be used to help his/her integration in a three-year Personal Integration Plan. Each person enters into a commitment to implement the measure outlined in his/her plan in exchange for financial support. The measures ensure that unemployed migrants acquire a sufficient command of the language and complement their skills and as a result are ready to settle into Finnish society. While they are working to achieve the goals outlined in their plans, migrants receive financial support in the form of unemployment benefit, and possibly also income support.

The SISU: I-1997-FIN-519 project, led by the Foreigners’ Unit of the City of Helsinki, is based on a local partnership involving two associations. These are the Familia Club, a multicultural association and Inkerikeskus, an association of repatriates from the former Soviet Union. Through the project, these two associations are contributing to the planning and organisation of the City’s outreach work. They run various club activities, such as children’s clubs, provide counselling and guidance services for migrants within the local communities and take part in the creation of a town Jobs Club for migrants. The regular feedback that the project provides and the growing expertise of its staff helps to ensure that Helsinki’s Municipal Integration Programme can be refined. 

Developing migrants’ knowledge of the Finnish decision-making process is a key objective of the Programme. To create a constructive dialogue with the Helsinki policymakers, information sessions are offered twice weekly in the premises of local associations. Details of the local and national decision-making process are provided in several languages. Public seminars and conferences are also organised, where migrants address their questions or concerns directly to the authorities’ representatives. As a result, direct contacts can develop between migrants’ organisations and local politicians. The project encourages the migrants’ associations to make presentations in the media on the basis of their “expertise in migrants’ issues”. 

The development of an equal partnership between the local authorities and migrants’ associations has meant that the Integration Programme can be better and more quickly adapted to the needs of Helsinki’s migrants. The creation of dialogue and consultation mechanisms has also empowered migrants to play a full role in the city’s democratic decision-making processes.

PHOTO: femmes + agées, assises à une table, une qui explique

Changing Professional Practice

Professionals such as trainers, advice and guidance workers and personnel managers are often at the sharp end when it comes to dealing with the employment concerns of migrants and minorities. They, and others such as doctors and health workers, housing authority and local government employees, and social workers, can undermine efforts at integration unless they understand the situation of migrant job seekers. Several INTEGRA projects have targeted relevant professions to spread good practice in intercultural relations. These are the first steps in building a more consistent multi-disciplinary approach at local level. 

Intercultural training for information and guidance workers

Germany faces a wide range of integration issues, as almost one in ten of its population is of foreign origin. Recent high levels of unemployment and the shift of labour market demand towards higher level skills compound the problems.  The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has concentrated the majority of its funding on the development of advice and guidance systems and German language training including the required “vocational vocabulary”. NGOs and those city administrations that have placed a priority on these activities are building up a significant body of knowledge and there is now an urgent need to accelerate the spread of this good practice.

Germany - Sharpening intercultural skills

The head quarters of the German Red Cross, in Bonn, is pioneering an in-service training course for employment advisers and migrant advice centre staff.  This is being carried out by an INTEGRA project called Arbeitsmarktspezifische Handlungs- und Orientierungshilfen zur Integration von Migrantinnen: I-1997-D-513 (Labour market specific advice and guidance for the integration of migrants) or AHOI for short. This is a pilot distance-learning course, using Internet technology (http://www.uni-sb.de/z-einr/efb), that is being developed and tested by working groups located in Saarland, Berlin and Dresden. The course is being followed by 200 trainees in Germany and also 150 trainees from transnational partner projects in Spain, Austria, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and Great Britain.

In the current economic climate, refugees and migrants that have a German work permit encounter specific difficulties in gaining a foothold on the labour market. There has been a rise in the number of young people who have left school without a certificate, and this is especially noticeable in Berlin. For some of the young migrants, communication difficulties combine with social exclusion to reduce their chances of integration

Many public services and voluntary agencies provide information, advice and guidance to migrant groups. People who work in social, employment or advisory services or in training institutions or migrant organisations see the need to improve their professional skills if they are to be more successful in their mediation activities. While it is important to have an open attitude to other cultures, this is not enough and people often need to understand more about the particular strengths, beliefs and customs of other cultures to play an effective mediating role.

The new internet-based distance learning course will establish a profile for labour market guidance workers. It has an interdisciplinary approach and draws on the most recent approaches to mediation and methods of acquiring intercultural skills. One aspect of the course deals with strategies for introducing specialist knowledge into standard employment service practices. The project design has been improved thanks to the involvement of migrant organisations, municipalities, chambers of commerce, companies and several local Red Cross advice centres. This ten-month course requires a commitment of ten hours per week. The transnational partners are adapting the course to their requirements and some colleges in Germany have also expressed interest in offering it more widely. 

Intercultural training for workers of migrant origin

In Italy, the development of intercultural skills is one of the objectives set out in the 1998 law on immigration. While national efforts concentrate on introducing intercultural understanding in schools, there is also a need to develop in-service training for a wide range of front line workers in the fields of health, housing, social services, training and employment.

Italy - Migrants developing the intercultural skills of professionals workers

More than a third of migrants in Italy have settled in the four northern regions of Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardy and Piedmont. They are primarily first generation migrants from Africa, America and Oceania. They face many problems including xenophobia and difficulties of access to employment and to essential services such as education, training, social assistance and information on their rights. These difficulties in access arise from the migrants’ lack of basic information but are often compounded by the services’ inability to adapt and by their staff’s deficit of knowledge and skills in dealing with people from other cultures. 

This led the NGO Caritas to design the Odissea project: HD-1995-IT-003 that is currently creating a methodology and structure that can be used by other agencies wishing to develop their staff’s intercultural competence. The main achievement has been to devise and test a new course for trainers in intercultural relations in the four regions. This was done with the active support of migrant groups used to working with Caritas. Twenty-four students of both Italian and migrant origin participated in the training course and worked with public agencies or NGOs to put their theoretical learning into practice. They included health professionals, social workers and information and guidance workers. The curriculum focused on identity building, group dynamics in a multicultural context and mediation and conflict management. Most of the trainees went on to provide intercultural training to front-line workers in a variety of health and social agencies.

A second achievement was to capitalise on the experience of the project, and that of its transnational partners, to create a support network for intercultural trainers. This network continues to explore different methodologies in the field of intercultural training and is a resource bank of relevant information.

“It is urgent to change mentalities, to consider that migrant people will stay in Italy, and therefore to organise things so that they are treated like other citizens and not as eternal nomads,” says the project coordinator, “we have to train people to be cultural interpreters and to build bridges between the immigrant population and Italian society.” The graduates of the Odissea course already have many opportunities to try out their new skills. The Italian Ministry of Social Affairs has also indicated its interest in the further development of this new professional profile.

PHOTOs: poster

POSITIVE ACTION TO RAISE MIGRANTS’ CHANCES OF EMPLOYMENT

Positive actions to improve the employability of migrants, minorities and refugees are the mainstay of employment policies in this field. They differ from the broader anti-racism approaches described above that set out to change the environment and culture in which racism thrives. Positive actions concentrate on giving migrants a better chance of competing in the labour market. INTEGRA projects have explored a number of innovative training and employment measures that take account of the particular needs, potential and aspirations of specific groups. While these actions are clearly targeted at certain groups, they also involve the development of new alliances between agencies and the use of a number of different methodologies.

Many of the most successful projects offer pathways to employment that are tailor-made for the group or individual in question. Developing very local access to guidance, training and work experience is often another important factor. New ways are being developed to motivate employers to offer work experience as this can increase the employability of participants and sometimes even result in a job offer at the end of the placement. Tapping into the entrepreneurial potential of people of foreign origin has proved to be particularly successful with young people and with highly qualified job seekers who are highly receptive to this new challenge. Projects aimed at the older generation of migrants who are particularly hard hit by unemployment require longer pathways.

Projects often have to devote some of their activities to creating the conditions in which a return to employment is possible. For example, they need to:
•	operate “upstream” of traditional training, providing basic skills and updated existing skills; 
•	change the structures of front-line service provision;
•	develop follow-up and support networks;
•	influence the operation of those local development partnerships that are already in place.

Culture Sensitive Pathways to Employment

Adapted pathways: empowering migrants to become agents of change

Migrants’ and minorities’ difficulties in joining mainstream training and employment programmes often spring from a lack of initial motivation, linked to their sense of isolation and experiences of xenophobia. Adapting pathways to employment for migrants must tackle cultural differences as a sense of belonging to a neighbourhood and a particular culture are positive elements that can be built upon.

Portugal - New seeds: young people train as cultural mediators

In one of the large shanty towns of Lisbon, the neighbourhood of Quinta Grande in Charneca de Lumiar, young people from migrant families have more limited prospects of employment than their parents. Whilst the older generation can manage to find manual work in the building trade or in cleaning services, young people face high levels of unemployment, despite their Portuguese education. The families originate from Angola, Cabo Verde and San Tome e Principe. Now, after 25 years, they are about to be re-housed and to leave the “bairro”. This is a particularly run down area in terms of housing and amenities that has all the attendant problems such as drugs and other criminal activities. 

For over five years, student volunteers from the University Institute of Solidarity have developed a relationship of trust with local people by organising a variety of social activities in the neighbourhood. Many of the young people, who had previously been regarded as troublemakers, began to seek advice and assistance from the students especially in relation to their job prospects.

Thanks to the INTEGRA project Integraçao social de jovens de minoritas etnicas: I-1997-P-512, there is now a clear emphasis on involving the local residents and mainly the young people in creating new structures to promote the development of this multicultural neighbourhood. Young people are seen as the most dynamic catalyst for further integration and their participation is regarded as the key to a reduction in marginalisation. 

The project combines the vocational training of young people with the development of local capacity to organise social and community activities. The development of skills leading to employment and the extension of networking capacities stemmed from two activities. Ten young people from the neighbourhood receive practice-based training, which leads to a qualification as a “cultural mediator”. Other young people who have dropped out of school can follow a short job search course. One room in the local school serves as a base for new community activities that are stimulated by the mediator training. 

The trainee mediators are young people who have already had some experience in organising local events and activities. During the course, they prepare a profile of needs in the area that will require the involvement of local business. They practise their skills in cultural and social animation by running their own community projects. These include spare time activities for children and young people, excursions, films, celebrations on feast days, a children’s library and reading workshop, and literacy courses for parents. Conflict management and the celebration of cultural diversity are strong themes in the training programme. Placements in local schools, health centres and voluntary agencies provide familiarisation with the world of work and can enhance the trainees’ chances of finding employment. 

The project’s approach is innovative and it enables people to take on more responsibility for their own neighbourhood. This is in contrast with a tendency exhibited by some agencies, which keep their “clients” in a perpetual state of dependency. The activities are designed to extend knowledge and pride in original cultures as well as to establish a dialogue with schools, health centres, businesses and the employment service. The National Youth Institute considers that the project is an excellent example of a participatory approach to community development. 

The United Kingdom - Neighbourhood regeneration by ethnic minority teams

The British government has recently launched the “New Deal for Cities” programme for the urban regeneration of disadvantaged areas. There is a specific priority given to areas with high immigration rates and those where ethnic minority groups make up a large portion of the unemployed.

The INTEGRA project Omega: I-1997-UKgb-509 is based in one of the priority areas covered by the new programme, that is Little Horton, in Birmingham. Little Horton is the second poorest electoral area in England. It has a very high crime level, the lowest school attendance rate and there are also many residents that experience health problems. Some 50% of the population are under 20 years of age and there are large Bangladeshi and Afro Caribbean communities. 

The project aims to improve young people’s employment prospects by developing the knowledge and skills that they have already acquired and by nurturing their autonomy and ability to make independent choices. Through a multi-agency consortium involving the local Training and Employment Council, the police, housing and education providers and the Racial Equality Council, the project enables young trainees to gain a more realistic view of the issues faced by the neighbourhood. A group of young trainees, including many second and third generation migrants, has received a newly accredited qualification on the successful completion of a module entitled “Regenerating Local Communities.” The trainees learnt the basic principles of community consultation and community-based approaches to health promotion, adult education and family support. The module also included work experience in the local social work, youth and police services.

This grassroots approach gives young people a central role in the development of the community’s capacity to help itself. The project is consistent with both the national New Deal for Cities and the New Deal for Young People programmes. It shows that promoting cultural diversity and valuing differences bring considerable added value to these two policy programmes.

Adapted pathways: training and mediation for refugees

Refugees are characterised by the enormous diversity of their situation, legal status, past education and work experience.  Initially, they tend to share a relative lack of knowledge of the workings of the labour market in their host country and the need to resolve other pressing practical problems. Many INTEGRA projects have concentrated on highly skilled refugees. These people often have difficulties because the qualifications they gained abroad are not recognised or because they do not understand the habits, practices and unwritten rules of the local job market and workplace. Sometimes they might also not possess the necessary language skills or the “vocational vocabulary”. Other projects have worked with more mixed groups of refugees and aimed to develop new structures of training and guidance provision geared to their needs.

Ireland - Providing language learning for refugees

Recent increases in numbers of refugees and asylum seekers have triggered a heated public debate, in Ireland. Despite its long history of providing asylum for refugees, Ireland is only now having to face up to the challenge of becoming a more multicultural society. 

Without developing an appropriate level of proficiency in the language of the host society, refugees cannot enjoy access to education, training and employment. The Refugee Agency is the lead agency in the Interact Ireland: I-1997-IRL-518, a partnership project involving FAS (the national Training and Employment Agency), the Bosnian Community Project, the Centre for Language and Communication Studies of Trinity College Dublin, the Irish Refugee Council and the Department of Education. Interact Ireland has established the Refugee Language and Training Centre that co-ordinates the provision of English language training to refugees throughout Ireland. It provides linked language learning and vocational training for refugees in various settings. It is also concerned with the development and delivery of a quality language training system and works with a variety of agencies, offering in-service training for front-line workers including work placement organisers and tutors. The Centre also believes that part of its mission is to promote a positive image of refugees amongst the general public. 

The Netherlands - Bringing refugees closer to their own choice of employment

The Dutch government has delegated major responsibilities for the integration of refugees and asylum seekers to municipalities. It has specified that offers of assistance must be made as soon as possible after arrival and that these can include help in relation to housing, language, social guidance, social care and employment.

The Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf municipalities in the province of Friesland have decided to address the practical difficulties that exist, despite a legal status that allows refugees to work. The project Statushouders: I-1997-NL-540 offers a course, which has been devised to help migrants and refugees. During the course, they acquire a technical vocabulary and an understanding of the verbal and non-verbal behaviour expected in certain occupations. They also have a chance to spend time in a Dutch working environment either with a private enterprise or a non-profit making organisation. If they receive a positive assessment on completion of the course, the trainees are also offered opportunities to update particular skills or to move to a different occupation.

Traditional assessment methods used by employment agencies, training providers or employers have been devised for use with the native population, and not with refugees. To overcome this problem, the project develops, tests and evaluates assessment methods and programmes that are “culture-fair”. This involves the refugees themselves in analysing the elements that are likely to lead to misunderstandings and in proposing alternative tests that are free of any cultural bias. It has been found that the use of language often needs to be revised or replaced by practical tests, slow reading must be permitted and different explanations need to be offered before the test.

The implementation of culture-fair assessment methods makes it possible for individuals to choose a pathway on the basis of more complete and accurate information and to be more autonomous in pursuing particular training or employment prospects. It reduces the chances of wrong advice being given, as any guidance will be based on more accurate information about the individual’s capabilities. The new culture-fair assessment method has been widely disseminated to other municipalities. It can assist them in fulfilling their guidance role more effectively and can also be used by local employment agencies, training providers and personnel departments in enterprises.

Adapted pathways: learning through an enterprising approach

Employment pathways increasingly aim to provide trainees with the skills to develop independent projects and business activities. Innovative INTEGRA projects have used enterprise education as a means of developing the independence, autonomy and self-reliance of migrants and minorities.  In the following examples, an enterprising approach is adopted mainly as a learning tool that prepare trainees for employment in small enterprises. The resulting creation of new enterprises is not the primary objective.

Austria – Romany women prepare for new occupations or self-employment

Finding regular employment is not easy for Romany people living in the Burgenland region of Austria, which is at the border with Hungary. Although established in this area since the 16th century, gypsies continue to face severe discrimination, have a low level of education and experience a high level of unemployment. A new law passed by the Austrian parliament, in 1993, granted them the status of ethnic minorities and this gives them some access to active employment measures. The acquisition of qualifications is an absolute must for this group if they are to find a job. It is in this context that the Euroteam association, as part of its action to promote involvement in European dialogue and programmes, has joined forces with a Romany association that supports their social and economic integration. 

The Proroma project: I-1997-A-508 works with a group of Romany women to provide a vocational qualification based on learning acquired while running a simulated enterprise. Students are helped to create a simulated enterprise after having mastered the relevant computer software. In this way, they learn all the skills and techniques necessary to set up, develop and manage an enterprise on a day to day basis. This “learning by doing” method has motivated the trainees who are not unfamiliar with the basic buying and selling processes.  The qualification may lead to jobs for some but now the project is trying to transform the virtual enterprise into a real co-operative that would sell arts and craft products.

Such a business would demonstrate the Romany women’s ability to participate fully in the local economy when given the opportunity to gain qualifications. 

 

Spain - A production school leading to the creation of social enterprises

Over 7000 migrants, mainly from North Africa, have recently arrived in the Murcia region of Spain and some have not respected the official immigration procedures. They take temporary manual jobs in agriculture and live in precarious and isolated conditions, being paid wages that are significantly lower than the Spanish workers. About half of them cannot speak or understand Spanish. Given the existing high rate of local unemployment, these new arrivals have highlighted the difficulty of access to quality employment for those migrants who wish to settle in the area. The Columbares association which has considerable expertise in working with migrants in Murcia felt that it was essential to do something about this problem, especially as this might help to reduce the growing social tensions. 

Initiated in 1995, the Tierra project: I-1997-ESP-679 has built a working partnership with the local authorities, employers and NGOs and generated a common recognition that the overriding goal is to reduce xenophobia in the Murcian society. The project offers programmes of advice, guidance and training that assist migrants to resolve their social and survival problems and offers pathways towards qualifications. An advice centre is now functioning and there is a choice of language training, basic education, pre-vocational and vocational training. Vocational training programmes have been planned in conjunction with local employers to ensure that the skills provided are in demand on the local labour market. The latest teaching methods are applied, new technologies are used and the training also incorporates intercultural learning. Employers have entered into agreements to provide work experience opportunities and to guarantee to give an employment contract to a certain proportion of these migrant trainees.
 
Another innovation was introduced in 1997, based on the expectation that it would soon become easier to set up social and insertion enterprises, in Spain. Two “production schools” were created in which trainees could simulate the operations of a social enterprise. One of the schools produces educational toys and the other develops biological agriculture. The latter is particularly future-oriented, as this largely agricultural region urgently needs to introduce new practices that take more account of environmental sustainability. The production schools boost the migrant trainees’ motivation and they often ask for more intensive guidance and greater learning opportunities.

Columbares has chosen to train both migrants and Spanish people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the production schools. This provides trainees with a ready-made multicultural work environment. Basic training, technical training, skills updating and individual guidance are all provided. Activities geared to creating a realistic understanding of the life of a small company permeate the learning programme and cover market research, management, accountancy, legal requirements, public subsidies, labour law and health and safety obligations. The promoter is committed to changing the two simulated firms into genuine social enterprises, as soon as the new Spanish regulations are in force.

Finally, a Swedish project is typical of those that accept a broader definition of enterpreneurial spirit, which includes the capacity to organise initiatives that support local economic development. Conceiving and creating this type of social project requires the skills of a social entrepreneur.

Sweden - Migrants as Local Agents of Economic Change
Since the early sixties, there has been an increase in the number of migrants and refugees coming to Sweden. These groups now form about 10% of the country’s total population and often suffer social exclusion and long-term unemployment.  The project run by Kooperativ Konsult: I-1997-S-514 is developing a programme to train unemployed immigrants to become agents of change capable of generating new initiatives in the social economy. It is hoped that the final outcome will be more employment opportunities for their local communities, in Göteborg and Stockholm.

In the programme, training, a work placement and project development activities are run in parallel.  The ten participants in Göteborg and the 12 participants in Stockholm spend one year in a local organisation, such as a co-operative development agency, a regional labour market office or a women's resource centre.  Half their time is devoted to the training, which was developed by the University of Göteborg and is delivered via the Internet using a problem-based learning method.  This method enables participants to develop their learning on topics such as integration and cultural change in Europe, enterprise and the social economy, and local development, while improving their problem-solving techniques.  Case studies might include ways of using migrant associations to integrate migrants into working life, or how to mobilise resources for project activities.  The written assignments and associated reading also greatly enhance the participants' use of Swedish in this vocational context.  

The theoretical aspects of the training can be applied immediately to each participant's work situation, with the staff of Kooperativ Konsult and KIC in Stockholm offering tutorial support.  The participants are also allocated a mentor for their work placement. This person offers general support and specialist help with the participant's project. Whilst participants have to come up with their own idea for their project, the tutors and mentors help them develop it into a viable venture that will attract appropriate funding. Where possible, Kooperative Konsult uses its transnational partners to provide weeklong work placements for its trainees.

Kooperativ Konsult organises regular meetings with the mentors to ensure that the objectives of the work placement are understood, to monitor progress towards the goals that have been agreed with each participant, and to provide a forum for mutual support. 

One spin-off from the project is the fact that the work placements are raising agencies' awareness of the difficulties faced by many migrant communities.  It also helps them appreciate the potential contribution of such groups to local economic and social development.

Creating New Local Structures for Inclusion

Some INTEGRA projects in France have created new ‘meeting spaces’ as a method of contacting people who are isolated from the labour market.  This approach was a response to the fact that there is a weak presence of public services in those most deprived urban areas, which have the highest migrant populations. Unemployment, run-down housing, insufficient public transport and frequent violence are all problems that stigmatise these areas and marginalise their residents. The principle of equal access to public services is clearly not translated into reality and national urban policies have stressed the need to re-introduce the presence of these services. It is in this context that employment programmes can be used to train staff or to organise activities in premises in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. This can help to create or to re-establish a relationship between residents and the service providers. 

France - Public services move into disadvantaged neighbourhoods

The INTEGRA project Points d’Information Médiation Multiservices: I-1997-F-625 was set up on the initiative of several large public service enterprises. These included those companies responsible for gas, electricity and water supply, the post, telecommunications, railways and other public transport. Workers in these public services had developed the idea of banding together to create local access points that would serve their customers better and improve the image of these public companies. PIMMS to give the project its abbreviated title, has created three local information centres, open to all, at the heart of deprived neighbourhoods, in Lyon. The centres have made life much easier for the local residents as they can sort out their problems and have their enquiries answered much more quickly and efficiently.

In the INTEGRA project, the PIMMS from the three neighbourhoods have been able to combine their new information service with helping young people towards employment. Each centre recruits young people from the same neighbourhood who have registered with the local employment services. They are then trained for a role, which involves offering information and advice and also acting as a mediator to establish good relationships between local residents and the public service companies. The young people learn to establish relationships of trust, respond to the myriad problems presented by the residents and refer them to the appropriate agencies. They also assist job seekers by showing them the basics of operating a computer and how to write a CV. 

Local resident associations, including migrants associations form half of the management committee of each centre, the other members being public company representatives. The project is receiving a growing number of requests from other municipalities in France to help in the setting up of local PIMMS advice centres. 

Opening up local infrastructures to create multicultural meeting points

Urban policies seek new ways of bringing together migrants and other local residents who face similar difficulties. The modernisation of premises that are under-used can provide the opening for training and employment services to move into the heart of neighbourhoods that lack such provision. Once buildings are renovated, INTEGRA projects have helped to create new multicultural meeting points from which employment support and advice are directly available.

France - Migrant ‘foyers’ become open employment resource centres 
 
Built in the 1960s and 70s to give temporary shelter to isolated migrant workers, the “foyers” have become permanent homes for some 140 000 people, including non-migrants. Over time, some buildings have become too expensive to maintain and some are overcrowded whilst others are underused. In general, more and more of the residents are unemployed and there is an increasing number that have other problems in their lives. SONACOTRA, the company that manages the foyers has formulated a modernisation strategy that is in line with the new national policy priorities for integration. The main principles are that the ‘foyers’ should be upgraded. They should remain a transitional option for migrants seeking more permanent accommodation but should also develop other functions, according to local needs. 

The INTEGRA project Foyer dans la ville: I-197-F-625 has established a new role for these temporary hostels that involves opening them up to non-migrant people in the localities. STARTER, the association promoting the project, has considerable expertise in assisting migrants into employment. Its idea is to use the “foyer” to develop local employment, provide a resource centre to tackle the problems faced by its occupants as well as other residents in the neighbourhood and through these activities to begin to reverse the negative image of the “foyers”.  The Verrière district is in the centre of Saint Quentin, a town to the north of Paris. The vast majority of the population live in subsidised public housing while those who live in the Verrière “foyer” are seriously affected by unemployment and discrimination and have little prospects of geographical mobility.

The ‘foyer’ opened its premises to local residents by turning it into the base for the planning and delivery of a number of training activities. It also opened its doors to a ‘chantiers-école’ (training- on-site) that is currently training multifunctional industrial cleaning workers, for which there is a large local demand. In return, it receives financial support from FARE (Fonds d’Action pour la Réinsertion et l’Emploi), which is a special fund to promote training and employment in the industrial cleaning sector. In addition, the “foyer” provides an employment advisory centre that also offers a mediation service. 

SONACOTRA has endorsed these first steps in developing a social care function in addition to the traditional building management function. The project experience has shown that “foyer” premises can serve as a meeting point between migrants and other local residents, provide a resource centre for training and employment and play an active role in neighbourhood regeneration. 

INTEGRA projects also make qualitative improvements in the co-ordination and delivery of public services to migrants. This can greatly reduce the number and scale of the problems that they encounter on their route towards employment.

Italy - Developing synergies to improve services 

The chances of migrants finding a job are hampered by the fact that they often do not know which public or private services could help, nor do they always know how to use them. The complexity of administrative procedures is a major barrier for all service users, but the lack of understanding of the migrants’ situation and the absence of direct communication and co-operation between front line services can present particular difficulties. The INTEGRA project Leggere, scrivere, inserirsi: I-1995-IT-002 networks front line operators to create more co-ordinated and more specialised service provision. 

The project operates in areas of Naples, Perugia, Rome and Turin. It was conceived by SMILE, the vocational training agency of the CGIL trade union, with the co-operation of municipalities, employment services and universities. Employees of these municipalities were put into contact with representatives of employment agencies, trade unions, NGOs, migrants’ associations and local universities. This exchange of views resulted in the proposal to mount in-service training courses on intercultural skills and on the issues facing migrants in terms of housing, health, employment, children’s education, and retraining. At the same time existing knowledge on all of these topics was pooled.

This practical co-operation has resulted in more regular contacts and permanent programme agreements between local agencies and a general recognition of the need to provide specialist training and services for migrants. In Naples, an agreement between the city authorities, the university, the employment agency, the CGIL trade union and the NGO Caritas continued to provide support to the operators’ network established by the project. The province of Turin took the experience one step further by opening an information point to provide an interface between employers and migrant job seekers. In Perugia, an agreement signed by the local health agency, local NGOs and the municipality has resulted in number of promotional programmes designed to make migrants more aware of the health services and facilities that are available. 

Although a trade union organisation was the catalyst, the positive outcomes of the project owe a great deal to the priority accorded to the integration of migrants in national policies and to the growing commitment of the local and regional governments in the four areas concerned. 

Tapping into Ethnic Business Creation Potential

Ethnic business, which is business managed by migrants, is becoming an established part of the landscape of economic activity in Europe. Appropriate measures can help to ensure that new arrivals such as refugees or migrants have the possibility of starting up a business in their newly adopted country. INTEGRA projects have focused on specific groups of migrants who had a particular motivation to set up a business.

Sweden - Rinkeby Business House

Rinkeby Business House: I-1997-S-503, in Stockholm, is an excellent example of the promotion of self-employment by immigrants and refugees. Of the 13 600 inhabitants in Rinkeby, some 74% come from 65 other countries on all the five continents. Government services are largely decentralised and this stimulated the district to test an innovative concept, which has gained the support of the City administration, the employment services and local enterprises.

The enterprise development centre identifies would-be organisers of viable enterprises and supports them in the preparation and start-up phase of their new venture. This Business House model has been so successful that other regions in Sweden are planning to adapt it to their needs.

The project takes its participants through all the stages involved in the creation of an enterprise. But at the beginning, twenty potential entrepreneurs were carefully selected from a much larger group of interested people who responded to advertisements placed in the local press. The offer applied to unemployed migrants over 20 years of age who were eligible for certain continuing support from the employment office and who already had the necessary capital to start their enterprise. Selection was on the basis of commercial criteria, personal capacities and motivation so that the new enterprises might be stable enough to provide further employment opportunities for migrants. In accordance with the principle of equal opportunities, half of the potential entrepreneurs selected were female. All twenty live in the district and are from diverse foreign origins. 

They followed a training course in the creation and management of a Swedish enterprise and also had the chance to meet with other successful entrepreneurs. The Business House offers expertise and advice in marketing, legal aspects and accounting, provided by individuals who were recruited through contacts that had been established by the municipality. In addition, it offers subsidised access to a marketing specialist based in the same location. This proximity enables experts to be consulted and, at the same time, contact to be maintained with the other members of the training course. Common premises offer many opportunities for informal mutual support during the early stages of business development.

At the end of the 700 hours of training, each participant had set up a new enterprise. These new enterprises include a design studio, a firm importing and exporting foodstuffs with Pakistan, an interpretation service, a newspaper for the Iraqi community in Scandinavia, a cleaning firm, a legal advice service, a tourist agency and a multi-media production studio. After two years, 75% of all the firms were still in existence and this is well above the average survival rate for new SMEs, in Sweden.  

France - Promoting young migrant entrepreneurship

In a period of high unemployment, French policies are attempting to foster local initiatives that combat discrimination and encourage migrant people to become more involved and responsible for their own integration. At the same time, economic activity in the more deprived areas has been decreasing considerably while the “black” economy continues to thrive. This illegal entrepreneurship is an indication of the potential for business creation but how can this be channelled to create proper jobs. 

The INTEGRA project Migrants en réussite: I-1997-F-639 pioneered business creation training for 140 young people of migrant origin living in the town of Aubervilliers, on the outskirts of Paris. The project promoter, FACEM-repères is an association that has a long history of providing training for migrants and it also belongs to the European Migrants Forum. 

The trainees work in small groups of nine or ten and receive standard business training, backed up by individual support for business ideas. They are encouraged to take a critical view of their initial idea and to ascertain the extent to which their business would find a market in the community in which they plan to operate. Project staff also undertake research into the needs of the migrant population of Aubervilliers and seek to identify gaps in the local market. The end result for each trainee is a business plan that stands a reasonable chance of success. “The most interesting part is to be able to create your own business and to earn a living, not too much and not too little,” says one of the trainees. However, he also feels that it is important “to able to do what I want and when I want and to decide by myself!” So it is evident that for some young people, independence and a social status are clearly more attractive than wealth.

The project also analysed the mechanisms that lead migrants to decide to shift from activities in the informal economy to a regular business. This revealed the great influence that other people can have on any decision to set up a normal business. As a result, managers of ethnic businesses were invited to speak to the trainees and an awareness-raising campaign was launched in the town to promote a more positive image of migrant entrepreneurship, especially in employment agencies, in public service agencies and in voluntary organisations. 

The promoter is now planning to capitalise on the project’s success by setting up an NGO capable of sustaining and disseminating the know-how that has been acquired in this field. He is confident of obtaining sponsorship from large companies and support from enterprises owned by people of migrant origin. 

 

IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE

INTEGRA projects have developed new ways of delivering active employment policies that combat racism and help integrate migrants and minorities into employment. A number of important lessons have been learnt about the targeting and operation of labour market measures. 
Lessons for Policy and Programme Orientation

A Focus on Changing Attitudes and Practices in the Workplace

Successful approaches are based on an initial recognition of racist elements in existing personnel regulations and in-company personnel policies. They focus on combating direct and indirect racism through a better identification of discriminatory behaviour. They are able to build a catalogue of better practices, which can be enriched by transnational co-operation. They are generally initiated by trade unions or associated organisations and can lead to better industrial relations and more effective business organisation.

Other successful approaches are more market oriented. They aim to demonstrate the business advantage in hiring skilled employees of migrant or minority origin, as it helps meet customer expectations, develops exports and builds a better image of the company. These may involve the creation of new training instruments to skill up personnel of migrant origin and the offer of support to ethnic business creation. Such approaches may also speed up the adoption of equal opportunities codes of practice. 

A Focus on Combined Approaches to Combat Racism at Local Level

Multi-objective employment projects at local level are in a powerful position to tackle the direct and indirect discrimination that operates in a variety of policy fields and in different types of agencies. By adopting a combined approach to combating racism in access to education, training and jobs, they can promote changes of attitudes and practice among key actors and respond more precisely to the needs and aspirations of groups suffering discrimination. These combined approaches involve different modes of co-operation or partnership development. They create and test new instruments or adapt existing ones, but their main added value lies in stimulating a new momentum in the process of change and development. In particular, by involving migrant organisations in decision-making, they can begin to reverse the local dynamics of discrimination, and promote a more multicultural society. 

A Focus on Specific Measures for Employability and Entrepreneurship 

These approaches either introduce new types of labour market instruments or identify ways of improving the anti-racist impact of existing instruments. They tend to be target-group specific. Better results are obtained when measures are designed with the direct involvement of migrant and minority people, as well as employers. Impressive multiplier effects can be achieved by training front-line workers to adopt non-discriminatory practices.

Employability measures involve alternative designs of assessment, mediation and training services. Entrepreneurship measures mainly adapt business training to the development of ‘ethnic business’, which are companies owned and managed by people of migrant or minority origin. 
Lessons at Practice Level

The following are selected examples of instruments that have been successfully developed. Some are setting new goals by defining new professional profiles linked to new qualifications or by defining a new approach to job creation. Others have introduced new elements in the integration process within the framework of anti-racism principles.
A Focus on Promoting Anti-Racism in the Workplace

In this context, project promoters have developed innovative methods at selected points in the process of employment integration where discrimination was identified. These necessitate new forms of co-operation between employment projects and company management. New instruments support engendering a change of attitudes among key personnel, specialised offers of information and mediation both in and around the work place environment, assessment and recruitment procedures, design and management of in-work training programmes and the creation of new job profiles. Several features of these new instruments can be identified.

•	Dialogue and co-operation between employment projects and large companies at senior management level has yielded less discriminatory recruitment practices and led to the introduction of codes of practice on equal opportunities for all.

•	Transnational co-operation has facilitated the recording and subsequent imitation of new functions being undertaken by trade unions and trade union training bodies. For example, different models of race awareness training for managers, staff and trade union members have been disseminated. The information, counselling and mediating role of trade union shop stewards has been developed into a profile of a ‘workplace mediator’ on employment issues for migrants and minorities. A database of these and other innovations has been created.

•	Specialised information and mediation offers, complementing public employment services, facilitate non-discriminatory recruitment. Progress can be made by setting up specialist quick-response services such as a free telephone line, by training specialist employment agents or by promoting employers’ networks.

•	Personal assessment methods, used by both employers and employment and training services, can be evaluated and revised to make them freer of cultural or racist bias.

•	In-work training or placement programmes result in higher rates of subsequent employment of migrant and minority trainees when the company is directly involved in their design and supervision alongside the employment project. 

•	New jobs for migrants and minorities can be created that capitalise on their knowledge of other languages and cultures. This also requires collaboration with employers in tailoring  vocational training programmes. Such jobs have been created for migrants and minorities in export development, television and radio programme making and presenting and in the care sector. 

A Focus on Integrated Approaches to Anti-Racism at Local Level

Local integrated approaches to combat racism in employment have been shown to be successful at neighbourhood level, municipality level and regional level. Innovations related to the inclusion of an anti-racist objective have taken place mainly at the municipal level. An important factor of success is a policy context, at national or regional level, in which anti-racism is a priority.

Integrated approaches often go hand in hand with a citizenship approach that supports the development of a more participatory democracy. In this developmental process, the presence of a variety of cultures cannot be ignored. Promoting social cohesion alongside employment integration requires particular organisational practices that include taking the interests of all residents into account at all levels of decision-making, recognising and spreading intercultural skills and providing more opportunities for encounters, debate and negotiation.

•	In integrated approaches that combat racism, a vital element is the involvement of migrants and minorities in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the whole programme. This requires a higher degree of transparency in the decision-making and the establishment of a hierarchy of consultation and decision-making. It requires technical and financial support for migrant organisations to develop their knowledge and skills in promoting the interests of those they represent. In individual ventures within the overall programme, all actors, including migrants themselves, encounter opportunities for intercultural learning.

•	In integrated approaches to combat racism, the development of a multicultural perspective is accelerated by the creation of a learning culture at all levels. In particular, for practitioners such as information, counselling, training and development agents, it is essential to provide training and support. This facilitates recognition of anti-racist behaviour and the development of intercultural skills. 

•	Attitude change can be promoted by the creation of platforms for dialogue, consultation and decision-making at all levels of responsibility in both the public and private sectors. It can be facilitated by awareness-raising campaigns and also by public events such as festivals and exhibitions that celebrate the diversity of cultures. 

•	In practice, combating racism in access to employment requires a number of pre-conditions so that dialogue and trust can be established. In neighbourhoods with a large population of migrant origin but where migrant organisations do not exist or public services have a weak presence, innovative approaches to a change of culture include the following: 

•	Cultural and social activities, especially for young people, can generate better intercultural understanding and respect for different identities, as well as intensify the voluntary involvement of local residents;
•	‘Cultural mediators’ can be trained from among the local migrant population, to act as development agents;
•	Neighbourhood information or resource centres can be the focus for new forms of understanding and dialogue between cultures and with public services;
•	Underused premises at local level can be transformed into information, training and employment centres;
•	Public debate, and features or interviews in local newspapers and broadcasts are important complementary tools in accelerating a change of local culture.

A Focus on Developing Employability Measures for Migrants and Minorities 

To render employability measures less discriminatory, certain key practices can be introduced in designing comprehensive pathways towards employment. These include developing the job seekers’ ability to make independent choices, designing pre-vocational training to overcome language and cultural barriers and promoting multicultural understanding among trainees. These approaches are dependent upon training front-line workers in intercultural skills and supporting potential employers to introduce less discriminatory recruitment process.

•	In designing the stages of an integrated pathway to employment, a participant-led approach invites the front-line workers to respect the needs, aspirations and insights of migrants and minorities and to reduce the built-in cultural bias of assessment and training tools and recruitment practices.

•	The mix of employment measures must include language and basic life skills for those migrants, refugees and minorities that need them. For recently arrived migrants and refugees, vocational training should be accompanied by an introduction to the local work culture, practise in the technical language required and support in developing personal networks of contacts. 

•	Training environments can use the development of soft skills such as team building as an opportunity to understand cultural differences better and to learn to cope with them constructively.

•	New in-service qualifications for all front-line workers involved in information, training and employment services are essential to the provision of more effective labour market action for migrant and minorities. These qualifications promote awareness of cultural difference, intercultural skills and technical knowledge of special regulations and opportunities for migrants and minorities.

•	Recruitment of skilled migrants can be made less discriminatory by the creation and support of employers’ networks, that can testify to the benefits of employing migrants and minorities

A Focus on Developing Entrepreneurship among Migrants and Minorities

Entrepreneurship training is often attractive to migrants and minorities as an alternative to low status employment in a limited range of industrial sectors or to involvement in the informal economy. To build on these incentives, entrepreneurship training programmes for migrants and minorities adapt standard business training to overcome skills deficiencies, legitimise prior knowledge, develop understanding of local market conditions, facilitate access to start-up finance and assist the creation of collectively managed social enterprises. Experience shows that the resulting enterprises make a significant contribution to the local economy. The innovative adaptations vary according to the group concerned.

•	Entrepreneurship training for young migrants stresses the attraction of status and independence and the avoidance of lengthy formal vocational training. It builds on family business traditions and sometimes plays a role in reducing the drift towards the informal economy.

•	Highly educated migrants or refugees are very likely to be able to set up successful firms. They require relatively short training in business creation, accompanied by introductions to key actors in the local economy and support during and after start-up.

•	The option of creating co-operatives or social enterprises is particularly relevant in economically depressed areas or to those individuals that are not ready to start-up in self-employment after a short period of business training. 

•	Local ethnic minority employers can be mobilised to provide extra motivation as well as training and placement opportunities. 

Annex 1

Key dates in European Union policy developments against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism 

1977	Joint Declaration on Fundamental Rights signed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission	
1986	The European Parliament adopts the first report of its Committee of Inquiry on the Rise of Fascism and Racism in Europe 
The Council, European Parliament and Commission adopt a Joint Declaration against Racism and Xenophobia	
1989	The Community Charter of the Fundamental Rights of Workers mentions the importance of combating every form of discrimination, including discrimination on the grounds of sex, colour, race, opinion and beliefs	
1990	The European Council adopts a resolution at the Dublin Summit on the struggle against racism and xenophobia 
The European Parliament adopts the second report of its Committee of inquiry calling for increased action at European level	
1991	The European Council adopts a resolution at the Maastricht Summit promising to act "clearly and unambiguously” to counter the growth of racism and xenophobia	
1992	The Economic and Social Committee adopts a resolution on racism, xenophobia and religious intolerance 
The European Council adopts, at the Edinburgh Summit, a third resolution against racism calling for "vigorous and effective measures to be taken throughout Europe to control this phenomenon both through education and legislation"
The European Commission sets up the European Union’s Migrants’ Forum, representing migrant communities from all Member States.	
1993	Several European Parliament resolutions are adopted on racism and xenophobia and the danger of right wing extremist violence 
The European Council adopts a fourth declaration at the Copenhagen Summit condemning racism and xenophobia. It states that it has "decided to intensify the efforts to identify and root out the causes" of racism and pledges "to do the utmost to protect immigrants, refugees and others against expressions and manifestations of racism and intolerance"	
1994	At the Corfu Summit, acting on a Franco-German initiative, the European Council decides to set up a Consultative Commission on Racism and Xenophobia to make practical recommendations favouring "tolerance and understanding". It is agreed to develop a global strategy at Union level to combat racism. Also in 1994, at the Essen Summit, the European Council asks the Commission "to step up its discussions" in particular in the areas of education and training, information, the media, police and justice 
The European Commission in its White Paper on Social Policy announces its intention to "press for specific powers to combat racial discrimination to be included in the Treaty" 
A European Commission Communication on Immigration and Asylum policies devotes the last chapter to combating racial discrimination and to tackling racism and xenophobia 
A European Parliament resolution on racism and xenophobia calls for an EU directive to reinforce existing provisions in Member States’ legislation	
1995	The Consultative Commission presents its final report, containing wide-ranging recommendations for action to the European Council meeting in Cannes. The European Council asks the Consultative Commission to extend its work, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, to study the feasibility of setting up a European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia 
Two European Parliament resolutions on racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism urge for safeguards to ensure equal employment opportunities, irrespective of age, race, sex, disability or beliefs 
The Social Affairs Council and the Education Council adopt resolutions on combating racism in work and in educational systems 
The European Commission proposes a Council Decision to designate 1997 as the European Year Against Racism. The Commission indicates the specific role it could play in complementing national action. The key areas identified are: promoting integration and opening pathways to inclusion, promoting equal opportunities and reducing discrimination; raising public awareness and combating prejudice; preventing racist behaviour and violence; monitoring and punishing racist crime; international cooperation; strengthening anti-racist legal provisions including those on a European level 
The Social Dialogue Summit of employer and trade union representatives adopts a joint declaration on the prevention of racial discrimination and xenophobia and the promotion of equal treatment at the workplace	
1996	The European Parliament, Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions give backing to the 1997 European Year proposal 
The Consultative Commission completes the feasibility study. The European Council asks this Commission to continue its work until the Monitoring Centre is established and gives the go-ahead to the European Year	
1997	Member States and the European Parliament agree to the setting up of a Monitoring Centre in Vienna. It will have a dual role: to take stock of and evaluate racist and xenophobic phenomena and analyse their causes and to formulate concrete and practical proposals to combat them	
1997	The European Council adopts the new Treaty in Amsterdam. Its Article 13 gives the Community and Council powers to take necessary measures to combat any discrimination based on sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, handicap, age or sexual orientation.	
1999	After two years of intensive consultations between the Commission and all interested parties, the package of proposals based on Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam was adopted on 25 November 1999.  This new anti-discrimination package comprises:
•	A Horizontal Directive prohibiting discrimination in employment, on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;
•	A separate Directive prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin in a wider range of areas – employment, education, the provision of goods and services, social protection;
•	An Action Programme to support the Directives through exchanges of information, experience and best practice.	

Annex 2

References

1.	Preventing Racism in the Workplace	- A report on 16 European countries -
	European Foundation for the improvement of Living and Working conditions (EFI)
	Dublin , 1996
	Catalogue Number : SY-95-96-576-EN-C
	ISBN : 92-827-7105-9

2.	Ethnic Minorities and Immigrant Groups in the Labour Market
	European Commission, Employment Observatory 
	SYSDEM Trends N° 32 , Summer 1999
	Catalogue Number : DL-99-001-EN-C

3.	An Action Plan Against Racim
	European Commission
	Communication from the Commission COM (1998) 183 final of 25 March 1998

4.	Joint Declaration on the Prevention of Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia and 
Promotion of Equal Treatment at the Workplace - adopted by the Social Dialogue Summit in Florence, on 21October 1995. 
Text of the declaration to be found in :
"The European Institutions in the fight against racism : Selected texts"  (1997)
European Commission 
ISBN : 92-827-9841-0

5.	European Employment Guidelines 1999
	European Commission , Employment & Social Affairs
	Catalogue Number :CE-18-98-542-EN-C
	ISBN : 92-828-6375-1
	http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/employment_social/index_en.htm

6.	From guidelines to action: the  national action plans for employment
	European Commission , Employment & Social Affairs
	Catalogue Number : CE-14-98-162-EN-C
	ISBN :92-828-3916-8
	http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/employment_social/index_en.htm

Annex 3

List of NSS and ESF Missions

TO BE ADDED AT LAST MOMENT TO ENSURE THAT LISTS ARE AS UP TO DATE AS POSSIBLE

Annex 4

INTEGRA IN BRIEF

INTEGRA is one of the four strands of the EMPLOYMENT Community Initiative and aims to improve access to the labour market and the employability of vulnerable groups. 

Member States implement EMPLOYMENT in partnership with the European Commission. National Support Structures (NSS) have also been established in each Member State to assist in the implementation of EMPLOYMENT, and the European Commission has additionally established a technical assistance office at European level, entitled EUROPS.

EMPLOYMENT is implemented in two phases: 1995-1997 and 1997-1999, involving two waves of projects, each project usually lasting between 2 and 3 years. In the period 1994-1999, the European Union contribution to INTEGRA will be 385 million ECU, mainly through the European Social Fund. This combined with the national contributions will bring the total budget to almost 750 million ecu.

EMPLOYMENT aims to identify new solutions to the problem of unemployment in the European Union by funding pilot projects. Projects should be innovative, collaborate transnationally with EMPLOYMENT projects in other Member States, adopt a bottom-up approach and seek a multiplier effect through evaluation and dissemination of their results.

In its first two years, the EMPLOYMENT Initiative supported projects in favour of vulnerable groups through the HORIZON strand. In July 1996, new guidelines were issued which established INTEGRA as a separate strand for disadvantaged groups while HORIZON continued to support actions for people with disabilities. A new emphasis was put on supporting strategies to combat racial discrimination and on local integrated approaches, especially in disadvantaged urban areas, which promote the active participation of target groups and persons concerned in decision-making processes. 

INTEGRA offers a unique opportunity to experiment with new approaches which help those groups at most risk of exclusion to find their way towards employment - in particular, migrants, refugees and other similar groups which increasingly face negative discrimination, racism and xenophobia. Other target groups include long-term unemployed people, jobless single parents, the homeless, prisoners and ex-prisoners, substance abusers, etc.

Supported measures include:

•	the development of new models of access to a full range of services and for developing grass-roots capacities;

•	assessment, counselling, training in basic skills and new skills;

•	job creation including the development of social enterprises, self-employment and public-private partnerships;

•	awareness-raising and the development of self-help networks.

Since 1995, nearly 500 projects in the HORIZON-Disadvantaged strand of the EMPLOYMENT Initiative have been working together in transnational partnerships to develop and test new models and practices in the field of reintegration into employment of the groups most at risk of exclusion. At the end of 1997, another 1100 projects were selected by the Member States to take part in the new INTEGRA strand.