The FemTalks Forum project is aimed at female migrants, and especially those who face another disadvantage when integrating in their host community and trying to contribute to society. EU Partners with expertise in theatre, migration, mentoring and gender will work towards the following FemTalks Forum aims: a/ increasing social inclusion b/ increasing digital literacy, employability skills and self-efficacy. c/ tackling stereotypes about migrants There is evidence that people from migrant backgrounds are more at risk of social exclusion: according to Eurostat, in 2014, 40.1% of the non-EU-born population in the EU was assessed to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) compared with less than 22.5% of the native-born population. Recent political shifts have shown a marked move against immigration and reports in the UK media suggest that there have been higher instances of racially motivated attacks towards immigrants (and even towards UK citizens from BAME backgrounds) since the Brexit campaign. In most countries, risks are higher for women than for men and women are more likely to face difficulties integrating into their new home. Across Europe, migrants face particular obstacles to entering employment or becoming self-employed: EurWORK (2007) states that, “in most countries, migrant workers have higher unemployment rates and, when in employment, tend to be segregated in unskilled occupations and exposed to high risks of over-qualification”. This is a loss to the economy of any country as host economies are not benefitting from international talent. To combat these issues, FemTalks Forum aims to: - Develop an innovative training methodology that brings together Forum Theatre and its modalities to increase women’s self- confidence and employability - Increase soft skills of female migrants including self-efficacy, confidence, communication & networking skills via an innovative programme entitled “Forum Circles™” - Develop digital literacy skills for migrant women in order to effectively promote themselves and use social media in a professional setting - Showcase the stories of female migrants to improve the image of migrants and celebrate their contribution to societies across the EU. These stories will also provide role models for other female migrants not directly participating in the programme The project is aimed at: - Female migrants who want to build their self-confidence and develop skills (including digital skills) to better integrate into communities, find work or set up a business. - Wider stakeholders including migrant support organisations, charities, adult learning organisation, employment agencies, local councils and policy makers. A minimum of 100 female migrants will be directly involved in the project activities, and through our wider networks we aim to involve over 3000 people indirectly, through participation in multiplier events and dissemination activities, accessing eLearning resources and engaging with the stories told by women on the FemTalks Forum platform. Partners will work on a range of activities during the project beginning with a Framework report which will work towards further understanding the situation of migrant women with a focus on their skills to develop their confidence and employability via the training proposed. This will be followed by the development of an innovative learning programme using Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) (including Forum Theatre, Self-Representation approaches and Theatre for Living), mentoring, and online tutorials to build confidence and skills in storytelling and using digital tools to share experiences, knowledge and success stories. The training programme will be piloted by women from the target group before being finalised. Alongside the training programme, a new online platform will be developed (inspired by sites such as ted.com and creativelive.com) which will provide a space for women to share their stories with others. As well as providing an opportunity for training participants to practise the skills they have learned, it is hoped that this platform and the stories shared will increase integration by providing a positive image of migrants across Europe. Finally, partners will produce reports, course prospectus and promotional materials which will promote the FemTalks Forum message, empowering female migrants and supporting them to tell their stories and further spreading the positive contributions made by migrants within our communities. FemTalks Forum will hereby achieve broad impact within the European community: - Migrant women will develop soft skills to integrate into their new host country - Migrant women will acquire better digital skills which will enable them to become more confident in actively using digital tools to strengthen their social inclusion and other skills needed for integration - A new methodology combining TO, mentoring and digital training will be adopted by training organisations
Context, background The FemTalks Forum project was designed and implemented by 7 partner organisations from 6 European countries. The partnership recognised the potential migrant women have in their host countries and they also noticed the social, economic and cultural barriers they face to reach their full potential. All migrants face these obstacles regardless of gender, however, women are more affected by these (UNFPA, 2018). In order to increase the employability of migrants, partners offered a comprehensive training package to support the development of migrants’ soft skills, namely their confidence and self-efficacy and subsequently their employability. Objectives Therefore, the objectives of the project were to develop a training programme that addresses the needs of migrant women and also produce materials that can be utilised to develop the target group’s digital skills to tell their stories more efficiently. More specifically the aims of the project were to: Develop an innovative training methodology that uses the Forum Theatre training methodology to increase women’s self-confidence and employability. Increase soft skills of female migrants including self-efficacy, confidence, communication and networking skills via the Forum Circles. Develop digital literacy skills for migrant women in order to effectively promote themselves and use social media in a professional setting. Showcase the stories of female migrants to improve the image of migrants and celebrate their contribution to societies across the EU. The implementation of the above activities subsequently led to: increasing social inclusion increasing digital literacy, employability skills and self-efficacy tackling stereotypes about migrants Activities The partnership implemented 5 outputs: IO1 - Framework Report: partners assessed the situation of migrant women in the host countries. The report is available in English, Dutch, Italian, German, Hungarian and French. IO2 - “What’s my story?” FemTalks Forum Theatre Training programme: the partnership developed a holistic training programme that utilises the Forum Theatre methodology to boost migrant women’s confidence and employability. IO3 - FemTalks Forum Circles: the peer mentoring programme offered group sessions to migrant women to work on their action plans and SMART goals to progress in their career and integrate in their host countries. IO4 - Trainers Guide: it allows future trainers and stakeholders to learn about the methodology of the FemTalks training package (IO2 and IO3) and is available in English, Italian, German, Hungarian and French. IO5 - Online Platform: The E-Learning platform encourages migrant women to share their migration journeys with peers and other interested stakeholders and help them learn about effective digital storytelling through the resources available on the platform. Participants, results and impact The primary target audience of the project was migrant women. 128 women directly benefited from the IO2 training activities and they came from more than 38 countries. 62 women attended the IO3 Forum Circles. Furthermore, more than 250 people attended the 10 multiplier events organised in the project including stakeholders and support organisations. In addition, the website had a total of 6,274 visits and 756 users accessed the online training platform and more than 70 women participated in the digital storytelling workshops (IO5). As a result of the implementation of the project the partnership raised awareness of the potential migrant women have in their host countries, built networks with support organisations and intermediaries to achieve a more comprehensive support to migrant women. Migrant women reported increased levels of confidence and self-efficacy and expanded their personal and professional networks. They also learnt about the power of theatre techniques and how this can be used to boost confidence and subsequently employability. A participant stated that “For me the best takeaway is the feeling of building something together. We came from different countries, different languages, different cultures, and we built something together”. Another participant mentioned that “Personally, these programs strengthened and empowered me not to give up in my career, not to be afraid of trying again even when I fail, and also to believe in my abilities.”.