Promoting self-reliance and active participation of refugees and asylum seekers, and wider integration and narrative change, in the city of Turin (Italy) and Europe more broadly.
Location
Turin, Italy
Orientation, Listening, Support and Integration (OASI) project
Key Stakeholders
Refugees / Migrants
Whole Community
Other Stakeholders
Local NGOs, CSOs, CBOs
Faith Groups
City Authorities
Academia
Private Sector
Local Small Business
Professional Associations
Donors
Multilateral Organisations
Relevant SDGS
Disruption
City
Scaleability
International
Summary
Context
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There are around 9,000 asylum seekers and international protection holders in Turin. The main countries of origin are Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Bangladesh, Mali, Syria.3
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Although these actual numbers are low, they are portrayed by politicians and in the media as much higher, which affects public perception.
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Mosaico was entirely run by volunteers for its first 11 years, with three people becoming paid staff members only in 2018.
Interview
In this interview, Yagoub Kibeida, Executive Director of the Italian refugee-led organisation Mosaico – Action for Refugees, tells us about their inspiring journey from a group of volunteers to European-wide network builder, how multi-stakeholder and whole-community approaches are fundamental to their integration work, and the gifts they are giving back to the city of Turin.
In the short excerpt below, Yagoub briefly explains the big idea behind Mosaico’s OASI project. For the FULL INTERVIEW, please visit Soundcloud or Spotify.
Key Programme Activities
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Community engagement
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Data/technology
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Education/behaviour change
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Employment/livelihoods opportunities
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Policy/advocacy
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Research
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Improved service delivery
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Stakeholder co-ordination and network-building
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Technical support
Key Outcomes
Since 2016, Mosaico has:
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Directly supported 400 people through OASI – with numbers increasing every day – including distributing 30,000 food bags and 500 homeless kits, and helping to secure access to housing and services for 80 people, and 30 refugee students. Mosaico has been a key response partner for COVID-19, integrated into Turin’s municipal crisis unit to reach ‘invisible’ at-risk populations.
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Indirectly supported an estimated 1,000 OASI on the Street app users to identify and access basic services available in the Turin metropolitan area.
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Co-founded the National Italian Network for Refugees and Exiles (UNIRE), with 50 members of different refugee communities from ten regions of the country, to support Italian refugee-led associations and activists.
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At a European level, co-founded Refugees’ Ideas and Solutions for Europe (RISE), a network of 22 members from 14 countries, and is also a board member of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), an alliance of 106 NGOs from 40 countries, both important platforms for joining up refugee-led campaigning and policy/advocacy.
- Photo Credits
- – Mosaico
- Notes
- – 1 Statistics from UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018). in his interview, Yagoub uses the 2017 census figures
- – 2 Statistics from UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018), estimated average annual growth rate (2020-25)
- – 3 Statistics from Mosaico
