ABOUT US

ACCMR – Coordination Center

Coordination in support of Social integration & Cohesion

The Athens Coordination Center for Migrant & Refugee issues (ACCMR) was established in 2017 on the initiative of the City of Athens.

ACCMR is the first municipality – led coordination hub in Greece, facilitating cooperation between the City of Athens and civil society, international organizations and central government and enabling effective integration policies.

Support

Since April 2020, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, have been jointly supporting ACCMR on the basis of a trilateral cooperation with the City of Athens.

The Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee Issues (ACCMR) was established in June 2017 with Stavros Niarchos Foundation as founding donor under the coordination of the Athens Partnership.

How it all started 

This is an innovative initiative, born of the great refugee crisis of 2015, which highlighted significant shortcomings in terms of resources, structures and mechanisms, capable of ensuring the management of flows at national and regional level. At that time, the focus was on the role of local government, as the institution closest to the citizen, but without a central action plan. The City of Athens, with a high sense of responsibility, developed structures such as the ACCMR, contributing to the development of a culture of cooperation and promoting positive perceptions.

Today, integration is a central challenge for the City of Athens working for a city that is inclusive and sustainable for all its inhabitants, while it is widely recognized that the integration of immigrants and refugees requires a multifaceted approach, the involvement of different actors and coordinated actions. ACCMR is the place where the departments of the municipality meet with all these different bodies, which provide services to immigrants and refugees, exchange experience, information, good practices and develop synergies.

An acknowledged Good Practice

ACCMR enjoys international recognition as an innovative and effective coordination mechanism that supports local government in policy-making (Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development – OECD, Network of major European cities EUROCITIES, IOM Brussels etc.). It’s worth noting that ACCMR, in November 2021, contributed to the development of the Brussels Employment Agency (Actiris) platform, which has been supported by IOM Brussels.

ACCMR

An ever-expanding network
of 450 professionals.

ACCMR started its operation with 35 members and today consists of over 113 member-organisations, represented by 450 professionals in the field.

ACCMR members cover a wide range of organizations, such as municipal services and bodies, local NGOs, international NGOs, International Organizations, refugee and migrant fora, Departments of Ministries, National Institutions as well as International Institutions.

At the same time, it has a central role in the formation, coordination and transfer/exchange of know-how, within the “Cities Network for Integration’’, which so far consists of 18 Greek municipalities.

ACCMR

WHAT WE DO

We facilitate the collection and dissemination of information regarding the provision of integration services within the City of Athens.

We utilize the valuable experience and knowledge from ACCMR’s member – organisations, to identify needs, and develop good practices for integration.

We promote the cooperation between the City of Athens, civil society, international organisations and central administration with the aim of developing complementary interventions in the field of social integration.

In cooperation with our members and in connection with the priorities of the City of Athens, we design tools and mechanisms for the support of institutions and professionals as well as for the most effective policy planning and the best response of the Municipality in emergency situations.

HOW WE WORK

The 5 ACCMR Working Committees meet once a month, currently online due to COVID-19 restrictions. During the meetings, representatives of ACCMR member bodies exchange information on the provision of services and programs, identify gaps and needs, plan and organize initiatives that promote integration in the city, develop policy improvement proposals and provide useful information to the Municipality for the development of actions.

The 5 Working Committees:

  • Education & Learning
  • Employability & Access to Livelihoods
  • Gender Equality in Refugee Protection & Integration
  • Health & Wellness
  • Urbanisation and Legal Rights

The Forum meets with the participation of all ACCMR member bodies and the competent elected representatives of the City of Athens with the aim of informing and defining next steps.

The Digital Service Mapping platform

An important tool of ACCMR is the digital service mapping platform. This participatory tool provides information on social programs and services offered in Athens by public stakeholders and civil society organizations, facilitating the work of professionals. ACCMR launched the operation of the Digital Platform in March 2018 based on the synAthina platform.