1 ST TRANSNATIONAL MEETING IN ATHENS, GREECE

The partnership convened in Athens, Greece on the 8 and 9 of June 2017 for the 1st transnational meeting of the project. The meeting was hosted by one of the Greek partners, the Institute of Labour of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (INE/GSEE), and it was attended by representatives of all participant organizations. It was an interactive meeting characterized by dynamic and open discussions, which were held within a positive spirit of collaboration, teamwork and respect. A briefing on the progress of the initial phase of implementation was first held by the Coordinator of the project. The representative of INEK-PEO informed the group on the completed actions and the outstanding commitments showed by the partners during these first months. The Dissemination Plan as well the Quality Assurance Guide were also presented and discussed among the partners. Additionally, the progress of the implementation of the first work-package has been presented by the leading organization. The group discussed the difficulties faced during the initial implementation process and set an updated timeframe in order to fully complete all scheduled activities of the first work-package. Furthermore, the leading organizations of the following work-packages, starting in June 2017, presented their action plans, the content and thematic units 0f each sub-activity and their implementation timeline. Finally, the Evaluator of the project, Iriv Conseil from France, presented and discussed with the group the Evaluation Action Plan and its pertinent evaluation activities. The Iriv Conseil’s representative also presented the preliminary evaluation findings on the implementation of the first work-package and requested all partners to provide an additional feedback during the meeting in Athens.

KICK-OFF MEETING IN NICOSIA, CYPRUS

The kick-off meeting of the project was held in Nicosia, Cyprus on 18 November, 2016, hosted by the Cyprus Labour Institute (INEK-PEO). Its main purpose was to build a strong team spirit among the partnership and to ensure that all participant organizations and individuals working in the project have a good understanding of the project, its planned activities and the timeline directions for their implementation. The meeting also aimed to generate support for the implementation of the project’s activities by equally involving all consortium members since a very early planning stage. In this way, participants had the opportunity to ask questions, to clarify assumptions and to identify potential threats and problems. Furthermore, the meeting aimed to remind all participants of their individual contractual commitments to the project. Finally, the meeting also meant to explain the financial, budgeting and administrative regulations, restrictions and arrangements specified by the project.

Erasmus+ programme “Educating Social Partners towards Ethnic Diversity in SMEs”.

The MigrAID partnership is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the proposal submitted for funding to the Foundation for the Management of European Lifelong Learning Programmes of Cyprus (IDEP), Erasmus+ programme entitled “Educating Social Partners towards Ethnic Diversity in SME’s”. The partnership is a synergy of collaboration of eight prominent and competent organizations from five EU Member States: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France and Denmark. The leading partner of the project is the Cyprus Labour Institute (INEK-PEO); the other partners are:  (1) Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism (KISA), Cyprus, (2) Institute of Labour of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (INE/GSEE), Greece, (3) Small Enterprise’s Institute of the Hellenic Confederation of Professional Craftsmen AE (IME/GSEVEE), Greece, (4) Universita Delgi Studi di Milano (UMIL), Italy, (5) Enaip Veneto Impresa Sociale (ENAIP Veneto I.S.), Italy, (6) Iriv Conseil, France and (7) Videnscenter for Integration, Denmark.

The duration of the project is thirty-four (34) months running since October 1, 2016 with a budget of 361,480.00 euros distributed accordingly to all partners. Thematically and as its title suggests, the project is focused on the integration of migrants working in the sector of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and ethnic diversity through the development and delivery of sectoral training programmes addressed to both the migrant communities in all five participant member states and the sectoral stakeholders, trade unionists and employers. The project, in addition, runs two innovative and interconnected research studies on SMEs, an international conference and several other events.