São Brás de Alportel is already part of the “Mentors for Migrants” program network, taking another “important step in the social inclusion and integration polices”.
The protocol was signed last November 26th, with the High Commission for Migration.
This program consists in the creation of a network that works with a model of mentoring and promotion of volunteering and participatory citizenship and aims to promote the insertion in Portuguese society of immigrants, providing support, follow-up, guidance for solving difficulties.
«The promotion of equal opportunities, awareness of the richness of diversity, the promotion of volunteering and the positive exchange of experiences are other objectives of this initiative», explains the City of São Brás.
This is a «project that is precisely in line with the São Brasense municipality's policies for the integration and support of the migrant community and its good practices of community involvement in welcoming and supporting citizens arriving from other parts of the country and the world. and that in São Brás de Alportel they should feel at home», according to Marlene Guerreiro, vice-president of the City Council.
The mayor presented the main axes of municipal policy for the integration of the migrant community, which is coordinated by the Local Support Center for the Integration of Migrants (CLAIM), "listing the many projects, programs and initiatives" that are developed as the Ombudsman of Foreign Citizen, the Intercultural Column in the local newspaper, the organization of the Quinzena and the Mercadinho Intercultural or the Kit Novo Residente.
Marlene Guerreiro also referred to the «extraordinary work being carried out by the Group of Friends of the Museu do Traje de São Brás de Alportel, a true intercultural embassy that is made up of different nationalities, hosting, among many other initiatives, a Multilingual Choir Group, a Ukrainian Traditional Music Group and an International Theater Group».
In São Brás de Alportel, more than 10% of residents are foreign citizens of 50 different nationalities.
After learning about the various projects in progress in the municipality, the member of the Board of Directors of the High Commission for Migration (ACM) Romualda Fernandes congratulated the Municipality of São Brás de Alportel for promoting a natural integration of its migrants.
For that representative of the ACM, the work carried out in the council is, «more than a policy, it is an attitude of the Municipality and the community».
The session was attended by citizens of São Paulo, of different nationalities, and representatives of a network of
volunteers for the integration of migrants, created as part of the elaboration of the Municipal Plan for the Integration of Immigrants.
«The session also had a very special intercultural musical moment: the unlikely duo of saxophone and accordion, provided by British musician Paulo Carter and young Portuguese David Mendonça. Both have a São Brasense heart and the same passion for music. Paul is part of the Traditional Portuguese Music Group “Veredas da Memória” and David has joined his accordion in the Traditional Ukrainian Music Group Jasmim».
With the signing of this protocol, the Municipality of São Brás de Alportel undertakes to «execute and promote the development of the program in the municipality, as well as to develop and disseminate activities and promote the registration of volunteers and migrants in its IT management platform ».
Interested parties can request more information at the Local Support Center for the Integration of Migrants of São Brás de Alportel, which operates at the Community Support Center.
The “Mentors for Migrants” Program is an initiative of the High Commission for Migration, developed in partnership with the Reflection and Support Group for Corporate Citizenship – Grace, which aims to promote and create intercultural links, through the relationship between volunteer mentors and the migrants (emigrants and immigrants).
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