New network facilitates support for migrants
Thanks to the support of many towards the Global Migrant Project, we are improving access to urgent relief services and creating intercultural spaces that connect migrant and local communities. On 28 June 2018, we organised a meeting between NGOs and government agencies working to reduce the precarity of migrants in Marrakech. Participants highlighted three key challenges that limit their impact. First, poor coordination between organisations working on migration. Second, limited knowledge on the total number and the specific needs of migrants. Third, difficulty in reaching the communities that would benefit from relief services.
To overcome these challenges, we launched the Marrakech Migration Network. This informal entity is facilitating coordination and organising regular meetings between eight public agencies and non-profit organisations, consolidating the information that they collect on beneficiaries and creating a leaflet with clear information on all available relief services for migrants. Collectively, members of the Marrakech Migration Network are able to improve access to healthcare, legal support, job training, education, adequate nutrition and weather-appropriate clothing. We are very excited to carry this project forward and proud to work in collaboration with the Moroccan government.
Our intercultural program is also growing rapidly. In our ongoing collaboration with the Marrakech Museum of Modern African Art (MACAAL), we organised an iftar (a meal of great cultural significance in Morocco which happens daily during the month of Ramadan). The event was attended by West African immigrants, Moroccans from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and Europeans living in Morocco. It was important because it allowed diverse communities that rarely meet to interact and network. In addition to continuing our collaboration with MACAAL, we are working with the French Institute and with Marrakech-based artists and photographers to create multiple spaces where individuals of different cultural backgrounds can interact and network, highlight the importance of diversity, and help migrants overcome the cultural and social barriers that impede their ability to pursue their long-term dreams.
Through the Marrakech Migration Platform and our intercultural programme, we are reducing human suffering and helping migrants take control of their own fates.