ADVOC-ACT: Enabling newcomers citizens of Europe for direct participation, was implemented by two refugee-led organizations in Italy and the Netherlands, to enhance good practices and new educational approaches for adult migrant & refugee inclusion. It aimed to strengthen migrants and refugees’ competences to deliver self advocacy, becoming agents of change and playing a catalyst role in their communities. Moreover we aimed to create inclusive (online) spaces for new narratives in migration debates.
A major challenge in refugee and migrant self-representation at the European level is the lack of opportunity for refugee/migrant-led and diaspora-led organizations, networks and advocates to come together and collaborate on areas of shared concern. Advocating effectively in national and regional dialogue requires the resources to travel and time to develop collective policy positions as well as access to advocacy opportunities. Effective refugee-led and migrant-led advocacy can occur only when attention is paid to the barriers that these self-led organizations, networks and advocates confront in coming together, including limited mobility due to legal status, lack of access to resources and the time and practical pressures on the volunteers who lead these networks. We believe that ADVOC-ACT is the ideal proposal to facilitate the strengthening of skills through educational activities that will also help to overcome the above mentioned barriers.