i-WELCOME is a 26 months’ project for adult education in line with the Parliament Assembly (Doc. 14606, August 2018) focused on “Migration from a gender perspective: empowering women as key actors for integration”. i-WELCOME aims to increase TCN women’s capability to enter the labour market and social life of the host society, via the organization of Up-Skilling trainings and Job Shadowing Schemes. The i-WELCOME partnership is composed of 7 partners from 7 countries: GE, IT, FR, CY, GR, BG, SP. More specific the project aims to: • raise TCN women’s awareness in regards to their rights (access to education, work); • develop self-confidence and self-determination; • provide opportunities for vocational training available from an early stage after their arrival in the host country; • integrate gender equality and diversity management in the training of LMS involved in the elaboration and implementation of integration programs; • support Job Shadowing Schemes and the use of positive role models; • facilitate active participation of community members. The objectives described above will be achieved through: • an UPSKILLING PATHWAYS PROGRAMME for enhancing employability competencies of TCN women by developing curricula and implementing trainings, based mainly on the non-formal method (IO1) • An EDUCATIONAL PACK TARGETING LMS for enhancing their capabilities related to intercultural skills, to be more gender-sensitive and raising awareness on obstacles that TCN women face and on ways to empower them as key actors and multipliers of integration (IO2) • a PORTAL (IO3), able to host a community of users as a social environment where everyone can interact and share information, experience and knowledge, offer Skills validation and as an e-learning source. • An A-Z i-Welcome TOOLKIT for setting up the COMMUNITIES The i-WELCOME project is expected to have an IMPACT on: • TCN women • Labour Market Stakeholders • native-born women (from the host community who will support TCN women) IMPACT ON TCN WOMEN: • Acquire employability skills • Make their first steps into the labour market; • better understanding of their right to access to education and work; • develop professional networks with LMS and host community; • Improved independence and self-esteem – embrace them to visualize their role in society; • Get an insight into the employers’ culture of the host country; • Acquire work experience in other sectors except cleaning, catering, and care services; • Be informed about the characteristics of a profession and its limitations; IMPACT ON LMS: • More aware on the characteristics and integration challenges that TCN women face; • Acquire intercultural skills for supporting multiculturalism within the workplace • More aware regarding prejudices and stereotypes in relation to TCN women which are often faced as victims, low educated, threats for the economy of the host society; • Better understanding the need for the application of gender equality policies and equal opportunities in their companies; • Increase their capacity in applying innovative solutions for supporting the integration of TCN women. IMPACT ON MENTORS (women of the host community): • Better understanding of their contribution to the integration of TCN women; • More tolerant towards different nations/cultures/genders; • Change their attitudes regarding stereotypes and prejudices about migrants; • More sensitive on the integration challenges that TCN women face; • Have a more positive image for non-European women, and thus provide support for their integration; IMPACT ON PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS: • Development of groups within the partner associations to build up and manage projects related to promoting labour integration of TCN women in their countries and transferring their gained expertise; • Enhanced skills of project management, which can be helpful for the future implementation of further integration measures. Participating organizations will have the possibility to assess their capacity in the field; • Development of an online network for the promotion of upskilling pathways for TCN women; • Strengthening their links with the community, LMS and TCN women; Considering the crisis in Greece’s borders, were more than 4 million refugees from the Middle East and Africa are seeking asylum in Europe, none can’t doubt that refugee crisis is again at its peak and it doesn’t concern only the participating countries, but also, the majority of EU countries. As the efforts of the EC in designing strategies and tools for the integration of TCNs target all Member States, the aim of the project cannot be restricted only for the national level. It is expected to affect the EU as a destination of cultural and social openness and multicultural diversity. Thus, it can be argued that the project’s aim and scope have to be implemented transnationally as it will produce valid tools that could be transferrable in other EU contexts with minor modifications.
i-WELCOME equipped and supported TCN women with knowledge, key competencies, and tools for employability, with a view to tackling discrimination between genders. Besides upskilling, social inclusion was promoted by offering tailored training to Labour Market Stakeholders, enhancing their capabilities related to multicultural awareness, gender equality, and the elaboration of JOB SHADOWING SCHEMES, to support their capability to gain employment. Furthermore, the involvement of native-born women, as MENTORS during the JOB SHADOWING SCHEMES, promoted interaction, facilitated active participation of community members, and raised awareness of host community members regarding the integration challenges that TCN women faced. The proposed action supplied TCN women with learning opportunities by offering a tailored on/offline training program adapted to their needs and the opportunity to validate their skills acquired using the Open Badges system. The project aimed to upskill TCN women with knowledge, skills, and attitudes that were validated and exhibited in their CVs, and re-skilled Labour Market Stakeholders regarding their contribution to TCN women’s personal and professional development.
Four years after the refugee crisis in 2015, research showed that, compared to men, TCN (Third Country National) women faced more obstacles for integrating into the community, such as child care obligations, gender discrimination, and low educational attainment. Consequently, they had very low employment outcomes in comparison with migrant men and native-born women. Based on the fact that TCN women were both migrants/women and had lower education levels than refugee men (fact confirmed by data from Germany in 2016), there was evidence of a “triple disadvantage”. I-WELCOME aimed to support low-skilled TCN women in acquiring key competences that were in high demand towards employability. i-WELCOME opened new pathways for TCN women who were living in a host community but were directed to jobs and training mostly for household, care sector, secretary, and back office services. The project helped TCN women who faced employment issues and social marginalization problems in the EU, acquire tools for enhancing their knowledge and skills on employability and supported their first steps in the host community’s labour market.