Academic speakers, migration experts, policy makers, UN agency representatives and governments gathered in New York to share good practices of integration, showcase projects aimed at promoting tolerance and understanding in multicultural cities and examined the next steps.
As a follow-up to subsequent discussions held in New York in 2009, in Rio de Janeiro in 2010, and in Rome in 2011, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) joined forces with the Italian Permanent Mission to the UN to organize a working lunch on “The Inter-ethnic City” on Monday, September 26th 2011.
“National governments, local authorities, civil society organizations, NGOs, UN agencies have a responsibility in providing spaces for understanding differences and working on the common goals. We are all responsible to make inclusive societies”, Marc Scheuer, Director of the UN Alliance of Civilizations stated.
The integration of migrants, specifically in cities, is critical for the improvement of cooperative relations among peoples across cultures and religions. This working lunch examined good practices and processes for better integration at the level of cities as experienced by local administrators, policymakers and other stakeholders.
Among other good practices, the UNAOC presented its video project which aims at showing examples of good integration of migrants in Italian cities and shifting the focus of the immigration debate towards the human side of the story.
UNESCO and UN-Habitat presented the project ‘Migrants’ Inclusion in Cities: Innovative urban policies and practices’, a toolkit for local decision-makers providing guidelines and examples of good practices to improve the inclusion of international migrants in the city.
According to Michelle Klein-Solomon, the Permanent Observer for the International Organization for Migration, “there is no one model of integration, there is no one model of migration, we have to acknowledge these differences while giving a feeling of citizenship to build more inclusive societies”. But overall, as stated by Vincenzo Scotti, Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Italy, it is a question of tolerance and respect.
For more information on the UNAOC’s work on Migration and Integration, visit our Integration: Building Inclusive Societies website: http://www.unaoc.org/ibis