Early this month, 12 representatives of our member organizations gathered in Rome for Eurodiaconia’s Migration Network Meeting, focused on a gender sensitive approach to integration and service provision.

The meeting was hosted and co-organized by the Salvation Army Italy and aimed at facilitating the exchanges of experiences and best practices among members on how to develop a gender sensitive approach to migration.

During the meeting, the participants had the chance to interact with Anna Zobnina, from the European Network of Migrant Women, on the challenges faced by migrant women and girls.

Then three Eurodiaconia member organisations – Diaconia Valdese, the Church of Sweden and Diaconia Austria – shared their work and experiences on the integration of migrants, asylum seekers and refugee women. They illustrated different types of project such as legal counselling center for women, language training and psychological support.

These presentations were followed by working groups on the implication of a gender-sensitive approach in members praxis and on how to better support diaconal actors to develop such approach.

Starting from these fruitful workshops, Eurodiaconia will develop new Guidelines for best practices for a gender-sensitive approach to migration from a diaconal perspective. The Guidelines will be available soon: stay tuned on our website and social media channels.