Local Authorities Open to Services of Intercultural Workers

Since 2011, migrants at Prague's foreigners' residence units of the Ministry of the Interior have had the possibility to use newly created services of intercultural workers. In practice, the application of these services can be extended far beyond immigration authorities.

SIMI, for instance, has been focusing in its project called INTEGRO on the promotion and the development of intercultural services in different Prague districts.

So far, the project has allowed the following authorities to get familiar with the new services: the authorities of Prague 2, Prague 3, Prague 5 and Prague 7 and some of their departments, the Tax Office in Prague 2, the Prague Labour Office as well as a number of NGOs based in Prague 3. Our objective is the progressive implementation of intercultural work services in public institutions operating at the local level in order to improve access of migrants to public services in the place of their residence.

So far, the best cooperation has been established with the Municipal Authority of Prague 3, as Mrs. Ivana Parobková from its Department of Social Affairs also confirmed. SIMI is going to continue to develop the services until 2016 thanks to the support of the Fund for NGOs, funded under the Norway Grants, in close cooperation with the recently created Association for Intercultural Work, whose mission is to promote the development of the profession of intercultural workers and their further education.

Intercultural workers provide assistance, including interpreting services between migrants and public institutions. By doing so, they also encourage the majority's life with migrants and help migrants to integrate into mainstream society. These services are a priori carried out by migrants or persons with migration experience and the knowledge of more languages and cultures.

For further information about the services and contact details for SIMI and its intercultural workers, providing fliers available in all cited languages, go to www.migrace.com. Contact us via email at ip@refug.cz or on the phone number of the social department 605 253 994.