Increasing the level of social and labour inclusion of people with a migrant background by strengthening the collaboration between public and private actors in order to enhance social and welfare services for them.

This is the main aim of The Game – Orientation to the Future, one of the two local initiatives sub-granted by MoreThanAJob in Italy.

To do achieve it, the project provides activities aimed at activating an orientation path to employment and services offered in the territory to promote the autonomy of migrant communities in Palermo:

• A peer-to-peer orientation desk to employment and services in different places of the city
• Italian language workshops with a focus on vocabulary relevant for the labour market
• Employment orientation workshops
• Promotional events to communicate the services offered by the project as well as to foster dialogue among participants

The project is going on and some of the activities already started, in particular the peer-to-peer desk. We talked about it with Marzia Campione, project manager of Per Esempio, the organization coordinating the project.

What impact is the desk having on the territory?

The desk is the core of the whole project. I believe that one of the most important aspects is the tendency to break a narrative, very present in our society, of migrants being relegated mainly to a certain type of job.

It is a message delivered by the involvement of counsellors with a migrant background. This also gives the possibility to those who access it as users to imagine themselves in a different context than the usually told one. 

Moreover, the desk gives the opportunity to get to know other realities and services that the city offers. The location of the desk in different points of the city gives the possibility to know the realities that are around it. 

What are the main requests?

Mainly, requests related to career guidance and employment support, such as on how to write a CV or to create an email.

And, then, the orientation to services and, in particular, support in filling in documentation, in knowing what are the different steps to do so or the offices to which deliver it.

What is the experience of the peer-to-peer counselors?

Moussa and Karidja – i.e., the peer-to-peer counselors – really believe in the service they are offering: being able to help other people is very important to them.

I believe that an added value of the desk is just their way of approaching people, their proactivity in trying to support the people who access it as best as they can. And this makes the difference in the relationship with them.

What do you think is the added value in collaborating with the public administration?

The possibility of creating a network and reaching a wider range of people.

For example, the collaboration with Casa dei Diritti allowed us to reach people who were then able to use the desk counters in other parts of the city. Casa dei Diritti is a service of the Municipality of Palermo for supporting the welcome and inclusion of people with a migrant background.

This is just one of the reasons why creating networks is fundamental. Often people don't know what are the services and opportunities offered in their territory. Creating synergies between the different actors in the area allows for greater spread of information and gives the possibility to work together to achieve other objectives for the community, in this case the migrant community, in Palermo.

To know more about the MoreThanAJob activities going on in Italy, send an email to giulia.tarantino@cesie.org

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