Three days of empowerment for professionals of the City of Athens with the support of the UNHCR

The year closed with a series of trainings offered by the specialized staff of the UNHCR and the National Referral Mechanism for Victims of Human Trafficking to professionals working in the field of integration of refugees and migrants under City of Athens’ programs and services.

The aim was to empower professionals in order to identify vulnerable cases more effectively and to improve the access of third country nationals to rights. 

Through the trainings, which took place from 19 to 22 December, professionals had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge regarding forms of multiple discrimination and vulnerability that third country nationals often encounter and to be informed about relevant reporting tools. In addition, to this end, UNHCR presented data on the situation of certain categories of particularly vulnerable third-country nationals in Athens, as derived from the mechanisms of communication with communities. 

Finally, the central role of the Migrant Integration Center of the City of Athens was highlighted both in the field of information to immigrants and refugees about their rights and obligations and in the field of coordination among the different departments of the Municipality of Athens to build an inclusive model of social services’ provision.

More specifically, the following topics were covered:

  • Statelessness: Greek legal framework, administrative practices and ways of acquiring Greek citizenship, George Kyriakos, Associate Liaison Expert│UNHCR Office in Greece
  • Human Trafficking: indicators, victim protection and the National Referral Mechanism for the Protection of  Victims of Human Trafficking, E.K.A.
  • Working with refugees in local government: Principle of non-discrimination based on age, gender and diversity, Chara Tsantili, Senior Protection Assistant │UNHCR Office in Greece
  • Current issues  of “Communication with the Communities” – Some insights into the urban setting of Athens , Marco Notarbartolo Di Sciara, Associate Protection Office │ UNHCR Office in Greece
  • Interdepartmental cooperation within the City of Athens, Panagiotis Psathas, Head of the Department for the Support and Social Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees